CHAPTER XIII 



LEAF AND BRANCH 



IT is commonly stated in the encyclopedias, 

 I believe, that the lakes of North America 

 contain half the fresh water on the face of the 

 globe, that the rivers of the Western continent 

 are the largest and the longest in existence, 

 and that the whole area of North and South 

 America is the best-watered and the most fer- 

 tile land in the world. The truth of this state- 

 ment granted, it should follow that the land of 

 the two vast countries is more productive of 

 vegetation than any other known to man. 



This is not merely an inference, it is a state- 

 ment of fact. The palms of South America 

 have a maximum height of from one hundred 

 and fifty to two hundred feet, the red- woods of 

 California are sometimes ninety feet in girth, 

 and how tall were once the pines of the North- 

 west woods I cannot now say, but their ranks 

 were countless, and they covered millions of 

 acres. It is true that these are growths of ex- 

 253 



The New 



World 



vegetation. 



