26 THE GOLD MINE. 



stood their business and all lived. The dead limbs were 

 cut off and the cedars made a fine growth and are really 

 beautiful trees. 



Trees will not only go after water but they will go 

 after food. I once lived on a place which had a very 

 rich piece of ground for a garden, which a former 

 resident had discarded. He said he could not make any- 

 thing grow there on account of the shade. Digging 

 down in the rich soil I found it so full of tiny rootlets 

 that it seemed like a piece of sponge. T dug a trench as 

 described, cutting off' the roots, and had the "finest gar- 

 den in town. When I left they invaded the ground 

 again and it was given up. 



Some years ago I addressed the Horticultural Society 

 of Worcester, Mass., on this topic, ^^Intelligence in 

 Trees." 



At the close of the meeting that venerable prince 

 of horticulturists, O. B. Hadwin, the president, said : 

 "1 am glad you spoke on that topic. I had a row of 

 apple trees that of course were throwing out their roots 

 as foragers in every direction to gather food for the 

 trees. One side of the row I dug a trench and put in a 

 lot of manure and made it very rich for pieplant. Two 

 or three years after I had occasion to dig up those trees 

 and I was astonished at the keenness of intelligence 

 displayed. I found the roots had all turned and made 

 for that rich food, some had gone past the trees, some 

 had gone under, and all with a keen scent aimed for 

 that trench." 



Did you ever stop to think of the splendid civil en- 



