222 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



CINCE the great "Willard Elm" is no more, the elm on the Albany 



^ Road competes for honors as Deerfield's most famous tree. It is 



worthy of note that the Indians usually led their captives past this tree 



to a ford in the river, and thence to the Mohawk trail. The tree is known 



as "the elm by the little brown house." Thickly growing bushes and 



vines conceal its huge abutments, which stretch out on each side of the 



tree to a distance of seven feet. In girth this tree qualifies as an elm of 



the first class, 



being 20 feet in 



circumference. 



82 feet in height 



and 100 feet in 



spread. With 



the exception of 



a few dead 



b r a n c hes the 



tree appears to 



be in good 



health. 



rPHE Harring- 

 ton Elm 

 stands in front 

 of the L. A. 

 Austin place on 

 M a ssachusetts 

 Avenue, East 

 Lexington. A 

 legend upon its 

 trunk informs 

 us that "This 

 tree was plant- 

 ed in 1732 by 

 Jonathan Har- 

 rington, father 

 of the last sur- 

 vivor of the 

 Battle of Lex- 

 ington." It is 

 70 feet in 

 height, 16 feet 

 4 inches in circumference and 90 feet in spread. At about ten feet the 

 trunk divides into four great limbs. One of these, on the northerly side, 

 divides again into four branches. There were originally five sub-divisions 

 to the trunk but one fell in a heavy gale. The wound has been treated 

 and is properly healing. 



'THE ELM BY THE LITTLE BROWN 

 HOUSE" 



rif HARRINGTON ELM 



THE CHARLEMONT BUTTONWOOD 



(~)NE of the most picturesque spots 

 on the "Mohawk Trail" may be 

 found in the westerly portion of the 

 little town of Charlemont, just be- 

 yond the old covered bridge which 

 crosses the Deerfield River. At this 

 point a buttonwood tree stands on 

 the side of the slope a few feet 

 above the road, and leans slightly 

 forward as if to protect a spring of 

 sparkling water near its base. Not 

 far away, on the hill above, the first 

 pioneer settler of the township per- 

 ished at the hands of the Indians. 

 Much bloody warfare surrounded the 

 settlement of this part of the coun- 

 try, to all of which the old button- 

 wood was a silent witness, and it 

 stands today the most fitting mem- 

 orial to those frontier heroes a liv- 

 ing monument. Its topmost branches 

 reach to a greater height than the 

 graves on the hill, for the tree is 

 rinety-eight feet high. Beneath the 

 branches, which spread themselves 

 over eighty-five feej of space, passes 

 the "trail ;" and near the massive 

 trunk, sixteen feet in circumference, 

 still bubbles the crystal spring water. 



