SECRETARY'S REPORT. 135 



the species would be destipyed. One single winter would ruin 

 our elms and maples and kindred trees, if their leaves remained 

 upon them. Their trunks divide into large branches, that in 

 some old trees break down by their own weight ; and these large 

 branches, if loaded with snow and ice, would be torn from them 

 by the winds, and decay and death would follow. But our 

 northern evergreens, the spruces, the firs, and pines, were made 

 to endure the frosts and snows without danger. Their whole 

 plan of structure is different from that of the broad-leaved trees. 

 Their trunks rise a single shaft, never divided except by acci- 

 dent. Their limbs are disposed in circles ; they are small com- 

 pared with the size of the trees. They are not subdivisions of 

 the trunk, but are fastened into it as pins are driven into posts. 

 The well arranged, bending limbs remind one at once of a well- 

 formed roof from which the snow easily slides. Even when the 

 ice gathers upon them they are with the greatest difficulty 

 broken from the trunk, and if broken, their structure is such 

 that no harm is done to the main shaft. Here, then, we have 

 all wide-leaved trees, like prudent mariners, furling their sails 

 when the dangers of winter approach, thus presenting only bare 

 poles to the wind, while cone-bearing trees, as though conscious 

 of the strength of their spars, keep every stitch of canvass 

 spread, and bid defiance to the storm. 



Did the elm form the joint to its leaf, and determine the time 

 for it to do its appointed work before the frosts and snow ? Did 

 the pine and spruce find, by experience, how their limbs must 

 be fastened to the trunk, and that the trunk must be kept solid 

 and entire, a single shaft ? Did any force in nature establish 

 these relationships by which the tree is not only fitted to the 

 earth and air, but to the dangers of particular zones ? 



The position of the bud is also worthy of attention. Every 

 plant has a specific form, and this form is due mainly to the 

 position of the buds upon the stem. They appear in exact rela- 

 tion to each other, which, in each species, can always be repre- 

 sented by a fixed mathematical expression. Since buds represent 

 leaves, and flowers and branches, not only the symmetry, but 

 the welfare of the tree demands that there should be some 

 definite order or plan in their distribution. Were it not so, 

 leaves might be crowded together on some branches and scat- 

 tered far apart on others ; and the same would be true of the 



