AND THE WILDERNESS BLOSSOMED 



among the old or young groups, was the Birch, 

 of which we had two species, the Paper, or Canoe 

 Birch, and the Yellow, or Silver Birch. The 

 well-known Rock, or Sugar Maple, is common in 

 this region. A few Elms are also to be found; 

 but as we had none on the island, I transplanted 

 a dozen young trees some years ago, and all 

 lived and are thriving. One of the most beauti- 

 ful of our smaller trees is the Mountain Ash, 

 which grows freely in this part of Maine. In 

 the forest it grows tall, and is apt to be some- 

 what ungainly, but given plenty of space it 

 develops symmetrically and is a most charming 

 feature on the lawn, with its clusters of white 

 blossoms in the spring, and its brilliant bunches 

 of red berries in the fall. A year of profuse 

 bearing is sure to be followed by a season of 

 scarcity ; and when the crop of berries has been 

 remarkably generous, we will often have two 

 successive years with scarcely any fruit. The 

 White Pine once covered Maine with dense for- 

 ests, while now there are but few left in the State. 

 We have, however, about six large trees on the 

 island, and numerous small ones are scattered 

 about in the woods and on the lawn. The 

 Spruce still is present in the forests in consider- 



28 



