Gronjoth of Trees in exposed Situations. 



257 



As the north-east side of the tree became thickened in the 

 head, so as to resist the current of the wind, I observed my new 



friends gained strength, 



and apparent courage to 



make further exertions. 



Fig. 95. represents their 



state in about five years. 

 After this, the difficulty 



to contend with seemed 



almost to vanish ; for, as 



the new-formed limbs ad- 

 vanced to bear the stroke 



of the winter's blast {fig. 

 S6.), I saw that the summer's heat had due 

 influence on their growth and formation; and the newly formed 

 head rapidly assumed a state of competition with the older 



branches on the north- 

 east side {Jig'Bl.). They 



are now become so 



nearly round-headed, 



that, in the summer 



time, the difference in 



their growth varies but 



little from those in shel- 

 tered situations. Fig. 



98. shows their present 



state ; and I hope to 



live to see their full 

 heads handsomely completed. 



In my professional journeys during the period herein men- 

 tioned, I have paid peculiar attention to trees similarly circum- 

 stanced ; and having, in the spring of the present year, travelled 

 from Swanage, in Dorsetshire, along the southern coast to 

 Falmouth, and, after crossing thence to Padstow, along the 

 north coast of Cornwall and Devon, I can now speak, from 

 personal observation, that such a progress as I have here de- 

 scribed is common in the growth of deciduous trees exposed to 

 the stroke of prevailing winds. 



The formation of the head may be distinctly traced in nearly 

 every ti-ee we see thus unprotected. Indeed, this course of 

 formation is evident in trees and plantations in situations even 

 moderately exposed. Scarcely a forked oak, ash, or elm, can be 

 seen in which we cannot discover a greater facility of growth on 

 one side than the other, according with the particular current of 

 wind with which such tree has been affected. A man lost in a 

 forest in a foggy day might steer his way with no other compass 

 than tlse general bearing of the heads of the tall trees thereof! 

 Vol. XTII. — No. 87. s 



