With Gun &P Rod in Canada 



limb of an old pine grew inward toward the trunk and 

 chafed in the wind until it grafted to the main trunk, 

 thus forming a truss or brace that will effectually prevent 

 the great tree from splitting from overgrowth or weight 

 of snow and ice. 



Why the poets have not selected the unusual to write 

 about is an unanswered riddle. Perhaps they believed 

 that such irregularities were subjects for scandalmonger- 

 ing society reporters rather than versifiers. But however 

 that may be, it has been my purpose to show that there 

 are some trees of character among many of the common- 

 place. 



248 



