47 



wood ; so that this factor cannot be said to affect, to 

 any extent, the tree's record of its own age. 



Attempts have been made to obtain the age of old 

 trees of especial interest by cutting a small section of 

 the wood from them in one or two places, counting the 

 rings in the sections cut, and estimating the age by 

 means of an algebraic formula based on the height of 

 the tree and the diameter of its trunk. This method 

 has, however, proved of no value in cases where it 

 could be tested ; and so we must depend on reliable 

 records, average rates of growth known in trees of 

 the same species, and the application of a great deal of 

 common sense, in order to obtain an idea of the age 

 of trees which we do not wish to destroy. 



It would add very much to our present knowledge 

 of the subject, if persons who have records of the age 

 of large trees of any species would contribute such in- 

 formation, together with the correct measurement of 

 the trunk circumference of the tree, to some well cir- 

 culated botanical or horticultural journal. Statements 

 of 'the habit of the tree, and the conditions favorable or 

 otherwise under which the tree has grown, should also 

 accompany such records. 



Fabulous stories are told of the age of trees, most 

 of which should be accepted with great allowance for 

 error. The olive of Gethsemane, popularly supposed 

 to be the tree referred to in the Bible and to have wit- 

 nessed the vigil of Jesus, is still preserved. A picture, 

 which certainly represents it as a very aged tree even 

 for an olive, may be seen at the Public Library, in 

 "Garden and Forest," (Vol. 1, p. 284), in which mag- 

 azine are also many interesting tree portraits published 

 from time to time, both of natives of this country and 

 others. 



