TREE, OLIGE 
‘* Are not these woods 
More free from peril than the court ?” 
—SHAKESPEARE. 
HE next best thing to getting the reader out 
among the trees is to bring the trees home to 
the reader, and this I have endeavored to do in 
subsequent chapters, which aim, not so much to present 
a few bare facts—statistics and purely botanical lore— 
as to be a sort of cordial introduction to the numerous 
arboreal individualities all around us, and to help the 
novice to find a new significance in natural scenery. 
In order to realize the extent and variety of tree-life, 
which makes this section of our vegetation so important, 
it will be well to preface the description of particular 
species by a broad survey of our native sylva. The 
best method of grouping the species, for such survey, is 
by the variations in some conspicuous feature common 
to all the trees; and by such subdivision the majority 
of nearly two hundred species can easily be remem- 
bered. 
For this purpose we take the blossom, in which the 
variations are more radical than in any other part of the 
plant. For those who feel that all classification should 
proceed upon the orthodox lines laid down in current 
botanical science it may be a satisfaction to know that 
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