CHAPTER IV. 



Love of trees. — Preservation of damaged trees. — How tree.s perish. — Wind 

 and rain. — Self-restorative powers of the bark. — Hidden foes. — The 

 fungus and its work. — Use of the woodpecker and titmouse. — How to 

 utilize tree-stumps.— The Cole Titmouse. — Owl-house and seat. — Dry- 

 rot. — When to paint timber. — Oaken gates of the old tower. — Com- 

 mand over trees. — How to make the holly gi-ow quickly — The holly as 

 a hedge-tree — Pheasant fortresses. — Artificial pheasants. — The poachers 

 outwitted. — "Waterton's power of tree-climbing. — An aerial study. — ■ 

 Ascending and descending trees. — Church and State trees. — The yew. 

 — A protection against cold winds. — Yew hedge at back of gateway. — ■ 

 The Starling Tower. — Familiarity of the birds. — The Picnic or Grotto. 

 — Watei-ton's hospitality. — "The Squire" — A decayed mill and aban- 

 doned stone. — The stone lifted off the ground by a hazel nut. 



Watkrton's love of trees almost amounted to veneration. 

 He studied their ways as minutely and as accurately as he 

 did those of the animal world, and in consequence he could 

 do more with trees than any one else. By patient observa- 

 tion of their modes of growth, he knew how to plant them 

 in the locality best suited for themselves, how to encourage 

 them, and, if they were injured, to reduce their damage to 

 a minimum. 



Many a fine tree has he shown me which would have 

 been long ago condemned by ignorant men, but which was 

 then flourishing in full growth, and in such renewed health 

 that scarcely a scar was left in the bark to show the spot 

 on which the injury had occurred. 



One of his triumphs in this art was to be seen by a 

 splendid poplar situated nearly opposite the picturesque 



