INTRODUCTION xvii 



In the following chapters it at least is shown 

 that these noble forest giants which the average 

 man looks upon as mere food for the pulp mills, 

 are living, growing, thinking creatures, with def- 

 inite habits of life, efficient business methods, and 

 characters often more to be admired than the men 

 who chop them down. 



From earliest times men have recognised psychic 

 personalities among the trees. For long periods 

 they worshipped them as incarnations or temporary 

 abiding places of supernatural spirits. The selec- 

 tion of certain trees as sacred has happened many 

 times and through all ages. In every land the in- 

 stances of plant deification are numerous; even 

 in the present day, superstition attributes innumer- 

 able mysterious powers to trees. In the annals of 

 every great religion, from Confucianism to Chris- 

 tianity, trees have stood forth prominently ; in every 

 sacred volume from the Zend Avesta to the Old and 

 New Testaments their acts are recorded. 



Great men of all ages have felt a peculiar kin- 

 ship for their forest friends. Under the inspiring 

 shade of sympathetic branches some of the world's 

 greatest thoughts have come to birth. At all 

 times the trees have exercised a profound influence 

 upon the universe. 



The functions of the trees are many. They give 



