Trees, Shrubs and Vines 
birch for spools, red cedar for lead-pencils, red birch 
for wooden-ware, hornbeam for tool-handles, white oak 
the stanchest for ship-building, post oak for railway 
tiers, shingle oak for shingles, beech for chairs, crack 
willow for baskets, aspen and cottonwood for paper, 
pine for masts and piles—though each of the foregoing 
is serviceable for other ends; and for an epitome of 
timber uses, and to learn what a cosmopolitan affair a 
one-horse shay is, consult Oliver Wendell Holmes. 
A strange idiosyncrasy of trees is the gregarious 
habit of some species and the solitary life of others. 
Oaks and maples often cover large areas, and some vast 
forests are composed chiefly of spruces or birches ; but 
the hop-hornbeam, the buckeye, and the elm grow sin- 
gly, and the Kentucky coffee-tree, one of our rarest 
sorts (one or two are in the Park), is always found 
alone; pines show a very sober sociability. And how 
slight a modification of soil or climate proves an insu- 
perable barrier to the further range of many species. 
Some, that are moderately abundant in Northern Penn: 
sylvania and New Jersey, suddenly disappear just 
across the State line in New York. Alders and willows 
congregate by the water, moose-wood loves the moun- 
tain range. Most species require plenty of sunlight, but 
the papaw and striped maple seem quite contented in 
the shade. 
Why do the larch, willow and alder respond with 
such alacrity to the earliest vernal influences, while the 
linden, paper mulberry, and catalpa areso tardy? ‘The 
energetic horse-chestnut has developed all its dense 
foliage ere the ailanthus betrays a single sign of life. 
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