220 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



W/"HII.K the patriots in Boston were rallying beneath the branches of 

 the Liberty Tree and the Great Elm, events of a similar nature were 

 taking place in one of the small towns in the center of the State. Not 

 far from the town square in Grafton stands a very fine red oak, bearing 

 iiii inscription on a copper tablet. It has witnessed some stirring scenes 

 in its day, among which may be mentioned the departure of troops for 

 the battles of Concord and Lexington in the war for Independence. This 

 old oak is 14 feet 5 inches in Circumference, 6a feet in height, and 75 feet 

 in the spread of 

 its branches. 



OEYONPthe 



town of 

 Palmer, a quar- 

 ter of a mile 

 from the rail- 

 road bridge, and 

 near the center 

 of a broad 

 curve of the 

 main road to 

 Springfield, is a 

 wide - spreading 

 elm of the oak- 

 tree type, corn- 

 par a t i v c 1 y 

 strong and most 

 pleasing in its 

 proportions. Be- 

 neath this tree 

 Washing ton 

 rested and re- 

 freshed himself, 

 and delivered a 

 short address 

 only three days 

 previous to tak 

 ing command of 

 the army at 

 Cambridge. The 

 elm took its 

 name from the 

 tradition, appar- 

 ently well at- 

 tested, that Gen- 

 eral Washing- 



' j l . c- er /- ton, accompa- 



nied by his Staff, General Lee and the deputation sent from Cambridge to 

 Springfield to meet and escort him to headquarters, halted with his party 

 under the shade of this tree to rest and lunch about noon, June 30, 1775. 

 Very naturally the party ordered milk and other necessaries from Captain 

 Graves' tavern. Like many trees of its kind, this elm has developed 

 greatly at the base. At one foot from the ground the circumference is 

 nineteen feet, while at breast height it diminishes to fourteen feet and 

 one inch, increasing again as the branches are approached. The height is 

 fifty-five feet, and the spread of branches ninety-five feet. 



THE GRAFTON OAK 



THE SPRINGFIELD ELM 



'"PHIS is the last survivor of a little 

 group that stood in Springfield 

 Court Square in the days of Wash- 

 ington, near the Old Tavern, "allow- 

 ing the old yellow-bodied stage just 

 room enough to swing around to the 

 front door in fine style !" General 

 Washington rendered the elms his- 

 toric by his visit there when on his 

 way between New York and Cam- 

 bridge, and he rendered one more 

 famous than the others, 1. c, the elm 

 that stood directly in front of the 

 tavern door, for here it was that he 

 sat and "drank his flip." The city 

 may well be proud to call the sur- 

 vivor of the group the Springfield 

 Elm. Its dimensions are surprising 

 and gratifying height 102 feet, 

 spread 112 feet, circumference at 

 breast height 19 feet, 9 inches. 



THE WASHINGTON ELM AT PALMER 



