TO THE 



MESSRS HARPERS, IN NEW-YORK. 



MY DEAR NEPHEWS :- 



As you expressed a wish in your last letter to 

 have our Conversations on Trees, of which I spoke 

 on a former occasion, I now send them. Others 

 may not like trees as much as your old Uncle does, 

 and may therefore conclude that the children and 

 I might have found a more agreeable subject ; but 

 I believe it did not prove tedious either to them or 

 me. Indeed I have often been struck with the fact 

 that children seldom become weary of having their 

 attention directed to the objects of nature. I hope 

 it will not be deemed time misspent to have taken 

 some pains to acquaint them with the wealth and 

 beauty of those magnificent forests which spread 

 over the broad surface of our dear country. Amer- 

 ican children ought to know something of Ameri- 

 can trees : and when I look around upon the 



