VI PKEFACE. 



ble. But when a few weeks later I crossed Lake Michigan, and 

 travelled across Southern Wisconsin into Iowa, and in return- 

 ing passed over the great prairies of Illinois, I began to realize 

 the fact, that while there were great forests not far distant, 

 there were also still more extensive regions of country that 

 would and must be supplied with lumber and timber of various 

 kinds. 



A nine years residence in Wisconsin and Illinois, and several 

 journeys across the Great Plains, west of the Mississippi Valley, 

 with rambles in the Rocky Mountain regions, both in summer 

 and winter, have added something to my acquaintance with 

 our great forests, and strengthened my convictions as to their 

 importance and value to the country. During all these years I 

 have been engaged more or less in raising and planting forest 

 trees, sometimes as a business, but frequently as a pastime, or 

 for the purpose of experimenting "with the different species, 

 both exotic and indigenous. Twenty-five years ago I com- 

 menced writing about forest trees, and from that time to the 

 present, I have never allowed a season to pass without urging 

 upon our people the importance of not only preserving the forests 

 we now possess, but also the necessity of planting new ones. 



In 1864, at the urgent request of my former publishers, I 

 wrote a little hand-book called the " Forest Tree Culturist," 

 which was to be issued in a pamphlet form and sold at a low 

 price, but after it was out of my control, these former publish- 

 ers saw fit to add a cover of cloth, and offer it at the same price 

 as my larger works, a change that I have always regretted, as 

 it was not just to the author or purchaser. 



Many a time during my life have I felt the need of some one 

 volume of moderate size, containing the names and descrip- 

 tions, however brief the latter might be, of all the trees indi- 

 genous to the United States. Having waited in vain for the 

 appearance of such a book, I have attempted to write one my- 

 self, with the hope that it will be of service, not only to those 

 who may desire to raise forest trees for pleasure or profit, but 

 to others, who, like the author, may occasionally visit different 

 parts of the country, and need some such guide, that will 

 help them to call to mind the names, as well as assist in identi- 

 fying the different species of trees to be found in our forests. 

 I have written it for those who are not supposed to have given 

 the subject of forestry any special attention, and for this rea- 

 son purposely avoided using any greater number of scientific 



