THE ARCHITECTURE OF TREES 159 



both of its sustenance and its stability. Growth 

 for growth, roots, stem and branches will keep 

 pace together. 



The roots are the tree's foundations ; and it 

 is not, as with a building, only a dead- weight 

 that they have to support ; they have to hold 

 the tree against lateral pressure, against the 

 force of the wind. Thus they are in part 

 buttress as well as foundation. Where the 

 bole of the tree divides into the roots the tree 

 spreads out, and we see something of the 

 foundation-strength. I well recollect when, as 

 a boy at school, I took up to the drawing-master 

 a sketch of a tree in which this swelling towards 

 the roots was not shown ; and it was pointed 

 out to me that I had omitted one of the most 

 important things in the tree's structure. I 

 have never omitted it since that day. The 

 broadening of the silhouette of the tree towards 

 the ground suggests a further spreading under- 

 ground and gives a sense of security. Whether 

 we consciously think of it or not, it gives us 

 pleasure. 



Above the roots and the spreading bole 

 comes the stem, or come several stems, and then 

 — speaking of the majority of trees — comes that 



