Preface. 



There is a solemnity, a repose about the great trees, and the 

 restless, ceaseless stirring of the small ones is full of mystery. 

 So self-evident are they, so close al hand that we almost find 

 ourselves in danger of becoming oblivious to their presence. 

 They never intrude "oon the attention ; they rather pursue 

 indomitably their own way. As landmarks of history many 

 trees have been revered ; traditions and superstitions have 

 clustered about them while in mute eloquence they have 

 answered the people's expectations. In P^ngland, to-day, there 

 are oaks standing that knew the ground before its conquest by 

 the Romans. Nothing is grander than are trees. Nothing 

 gives of its best more freely to man. And to each one 

 there is an individuality which having once been observed 

 may be traced into the folk-lore of nations. But before the 

 trees can truly impress us, before we can appreciate them in 

 their fullest expression, we should know something of them 

 scientifically, — their manner of growth, their sources of life and 

 the often subtle differences which separate them into families 

 and genera and species. Later we may forget these things, 

 and regard them simply from the standpoint of their appear- 

 ance. To combine, therefore, a necessary amount of scientific 

 knowledge while not to lose sight of the character and recog- 

 nised place each tree holds in its great world has been an aim 

 in the writing of "A Guide to the Trees." 



Nearly two hundred trees and some shrubs have been herein 

 included. Among them are all those prominent in North- 

 eastern America and a few distinctive and rare species from 

 the south and west. Several also that are not indigenous but 

 which have become identified with the tree-life of this country 

 have been presented. That their positions may, after a simple 

 means, be located in the book, they have primarily been classi- 



