84 THE MOUNTAINS 



Tree-Friendliness 



Another tree-quality is what one enthu- 

 siast has termed "their friendliness toward 

 men." In any case, due probably to the 

 combination of practical, aesthetic, and 

 mystic features, trees, especially large and 

 towering trees, make a powerful appeal 

 to man's nature. They easily fit into his 

 many moods. They influence him sub- 

 tilery. They sometimes inspire him. They 

 sometimes quiet his stormy heart. Only 

 indirectly do they reach his moral per- 

 sonality, but they do have complete access 

 to his total impersonal individuality. To 

 a sensitive soul, a perfect tree is, in effect, 

 much like a perfect symphony. 



Beyond all this too there is between 

 trees and certain men an indescribable 

 reciprocity. There is an intricate cosmic 

 entanglement. Thus certain men care for 

 trees as instinctively as John Ruskin cared 

 for the mountains. Plato was fond of 

 great trees, and under them would walk 

 and sit and meditate for hours. Xerxes 



