AMERICAN FORESTRY 



285 



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HALL OF FAME" FOR TREES 



Two and a half miles south of the city of Daytona, Florida, 

 stands a tree well-known throughout the United States, nomi- 

 nated by Miss Viola Overmann for the Hall of Fame. It is 

 a giant oak, measuring thirty-five feet in circumference at the 

 base. On account of the leaning propensity of the large oak 

 it often referred to by artists and botanists as Old Pisa. 

 It stands in the middle of a beautiful orange grove and its 

 branches extend over almost an acre of ground. Props have 

 been arranged underneath the heavy branches to assist Pisa 



OLD PISA 



in its fight to live. A rustic ladder has been constructed, so 

 tree lovers (and other lovers) may climb into its topmost 

 and farthermost boughs. 



Old Pisa's age is a mere conjecture. But it is believed by 

 botanists that it was an old tree when the site, which is now 

 the city of Daytona, was then the Indian village Autumcas. 

 At the close of the Seminole War in 1835, Autumcas was 

 deserted. In 1870, Mathias Day, of Mansfield, Ohio, visited 



. the spot, and founded the town of Tomoka. Later a land- 

 scape artist, whom Mr. Day had employed, changed the name 

 from Tomoka to Daytona. Daytona is now one of the 

 greatest motoring centers in the United States, besides being 

 a fashionable winter resort. The hundreds of travelers, 

 whether they are pedestrians or motorists, find their way to 

 this great old tree. One cannot help but speculate just who 

 or what will be the final straw that will break Old Pisa's back. 



