22 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [15:1— Jan., 1919 



factor in all past time, it may be of the utmost significance. It is 

 worth while, to say the least, to see the possible importance. 



Other economic values of local trees, will be mentioned and not 

 fully discussed. Without trees in the community, a scarcity of 

 certain birds would follow for the want of food and nesting places. 

 The bees might experience a deficiency in nectar for honey. The 

 squirrels would leave for the forests for homes and food; The 

 absence of some of the birds, the bees, and the squirrels from our 

 villages and small cities, would deprive these places of much charm, 

 richness, sweetness, and enjoyment. 



Besides these material reasons, a true lover of trees will see 

 other reasons for the study of local trees. Some of the finest 

 ethical lessons can come from meditation on trees. Not until a 

 person establishes an intimate acquaintance with a tree or trees, will 

 inspirations arouse responses from the inner man. Permit an 

 illustration to show the thing in mind. Many a tree in the 

 temperate latitudes is injured, in a greater or less degree, by the 

 severity of winter weather. Many a bud of a summer's growth is 

 nipped by the winter's freezes, and dies without notice. Also 

 many a spray and branch are broken by the weight of the snow and 

 sleet on them, and by the force of the winter storms. In spite of 

 the rebuffs of winter weather, with the advent of higher tempera- 

 ture, and the relatively warm rains of the spring, a change begins 

 in the tree. The new green from the unfolding buds transforms 

 the austerity of the tree. The application to human life is easy. 

 At times, all forces seems far-fetched to weigh down the soul of 

 man. But the lesson from the tree teaches that under the spell of 

 the soft rays of the sun and the gentle rain, namely, the kindness 

 and appreciation of friends, the sorrows and disappointments 

 should be forgotten, and the new green, that is, the good cheer of 

 the soul, should have its way. Such may be the ethical instruction 

 of the person whose heart strings are set into vibration by God's 

 creations, the noble trees. The individuality and sacredness of the 

 souls of men, suggest the inadvisability of nimierous specific 

 prescriptions for ethical responses ffom reflections on trees. The 

 record of another fancy can be justified only on the basis of illus- 

 trative value. The bare spray, branches, and the sturdy tnmk 

 of the hard maple in the winter may suggest power or possibility; 

 the unfolding of the leaves and flowers from the buds in the spring 

 may intimate activity; and ,the development of the fruit from the 



