TREES OF AMERICA, 15 



burning glare as completely, as any contri- 

 vance we could imagine ; yet it costs nothing, 

 and puts on its thick covering of leaves sum- 

 mer after summer, without any assistance 

 from us, who receive so much benefit from it : 

 and see, boys, how bountiful God is to us ; he 

 makes the sun to pour down his hot beams to 

 ripen the corn, and the fruit, and every thing 

 that grows in the earth, for our use ; and the 

 large trees to give shade for us when the heat 

 is greatest, or else we should hardly be able 

 to bear it." 



" But these huge trees must be good for 

 something besides shade, are they not, Uncle 

 Philip? We know that apple-trees, and peach- 

 trees, and all the other trees that bear fruit 

 are useful, but they are not near as large as 

 the great trees down by the river, and over on 

 the other side of the bay ; but these have no 

 fruit, and some of them are not good even for 

 burning; yet I suppose they are good for 

 something." 



" You may be very sure of that, boys ; God 

 has created nothing in vain, though we may 

 not be able always to see what things are 

 good for. There are a great many things in 

 the world that nobody has found out the use 



