OLD ORCHARDS. 119 



now and then a white-pine rears its summit above all the 

 other trees, exceeding even the oak in grandeur. AU 

 these forest trees, with a variety of undershrubs, enclose 

 the old orchard, hide it from distant view, and render it 

 a sacred preciact where we may saunter as in an old 

 graveyard, and read from the parasitic mosses and lichens, 

 and the hieroglyphical patches and incrustations, many a 

 quaint incident in the history of the old trees. 



While strolling among these old trees, we are struck by 

 their expressions of dignity and pathos. There is about 

 them also a rusticity not to be discovered in a young and 

 thriving orchard. Upon the moss-covered bark of the 

 aged apple-trees, and in the hollow branches, that afford 

 a retreat to the woodpecker and the bluebird, we see a 

 picture of that rudeness we observe in the rocks that pro- 

 ject from the sides of the steep hills and crown their sum- 

 mits. We feel easy in their company, as in the presence 

 of the old yeoman who has always garnered their fruit. 

 The operations of tillage have been almost obliterated by 

 crowds of spontaneous wildings. We look upon the wide 

 and frequent clumps of moss upon the greensward, inter- 

 spersed' with low shrubs and groups of wild-flowers, and 

 we say, " Here we may repose, under the shade of these 

 trees, and hear the voice of the Echo as before she was 

 banished to her shell, and breathe the incense burned by 

 the Dryad in her own temple." 



, In early summer the singing-birds" carol their rapid 

 notes in multitudes, crossing and recrossing the field and 

 careering in circles over the trees, and pouring out their 

 wUd notes while on the wing in the joy of that freedom 

 designed by Nature for all her creatures. An old or- 

 chard is the favorite resort of birds at aU seasons. More 

 nests are built in these rugged apple-trees than in any 

 other grove of equal si^ie, especially if there be woods and 

 thickets around to afford them shelter and seclusion. The 



