TREES WITH A COLLEGE EDUCATION 



The poplar that with silver lines his leaf. 



COWPER. 



TO-DAY no man is so poor but what he can 

 go to college. In the great school of nature 

 every tree receives an education which at least car- 

 ries it through the secondary grade. To man is 

 left the privilege of adding to, or of aiding in, the 

 university training. 



If experience is the greatest teacher, then the 

 trees are well drilled. The primal forces of the uni- 

 verse are the stern masters before which they sit. 

 Not a day goes by but they are forced to learn a 

 new and difficult lesson whether they care to or 

 not. Long centuries ago the pine discovered that 

 it was perfect folly for it to flaunt wide flat leaves 

 in the death-dealing blasts of winter. To save it- 

 self from being blown over by the first hurricane 

 it was forced to reduce its leaves to long green 

 needles which offered little resistance to the air 

 pressure. The persimmon tree found that it could 



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