134 



TREES GROVVlNCi NEAR WATER. 



North American tree to be known in Europe and has been cul- 

 tivated in Paris since before the middle of the XVIth century. 

 It forms an excellent hedge. When under the gardener's care 

 it is very prone to vary and produce new varieties, but it can 

 hardly be said to become more beautiful than when in its 

 wild state. The extremes of climate affect it very little. In 

 America it becomes smaller and grows less abundantly as it 

 reaches the limits of its southern range. Northward it covers 

 large areas of swamp land, and the forests that it forms are al- 

 most impenetrable. As of all coniferous trees, its fruit is inter- 

 esting. The tiny cones remain on the branches over the winter 

 to greet the new growth in the springtime. This is an act of 

 pure courtesy on their part, as during the preceding autumn 

 they have finished their own work and ripened and scattered 

 their seeds. 



Speaking of this tree, Thoreau says : *' How little I know of 

 that arbor vitre when I have heard only what science can tell 

 me. It is but a word, it is not a tree of life. But there are 

 twenty words for the tree and its different parts which the In- 

 dian gave, which are not in our botanies, which imply a more 

 practical and vital science. He used it every day. He was 

 well acquainted with its wood, its bark and its leaves. No 

 science does more than arrange what knowledge we have of 

 any class of objects. But, generally speaking, how much more 

 conversant was the Indian with any wild animal or plant than 

 we, and in his language is implied all that intimacy, as much as 

 ours is expressed in our language." 



It is true the Indians had many uses for the fragrant, yellowish 

 brown wood of the tree. They separated its thick layer of sap- 

 wood, as they could do with ease, and with it strengthened 

 their canoes. They also used parts of it in the making of their 

 baskets. Fluids of medicinal value are yielded by the tree, 

 and they have some local popularity for the curing of warts. 

 The fresh young branches are used to make brooms. 



