260 
NATURE FOR ITS OWN SAKE 
Tree- 
motion. 
Sounding 
trees. 
about the oak. At least such is the romanti- 
cist’s point of view. 
The only power of motion possessed by a tree 
lies in its growth upward, downward, and out- 
ward. It is capable of being moved, however, 
and the great mover is the wind. The slender 
trees like the birch, the willow, the elm, and the 
maple, are swung and tossed in their branches 
as well as in the upper parts of the trunk ; 
whereas the sturdier growths, like the oak and 
the chestnut, are moved only in their leaves or 
smaller stems. In a heavy gale the large 
trees often rock when they will not bend. 
The pines, the spruces, the hemlocks—all the 
conifers—are great rockers. And they are also 
great whisperers, great musicians. The slightest 
wind will start the white pine sounding its 
Holian harp of needles, and ina gale the whole 
tree will sometimes hum like the wires strung 
on telegraph poles or the wind-swept cordage 
of a ship’s rigging. The elm is one of the 
most graceful of the bending trees, and in fresh 
winds its branches will roll on for hours, an 
epitome of poetic motion. The birch is still 
more easily bent, and the very word “ willowy ” 
indicates the elasticity of our common meadow- 
tree. The poplar, though often a tall tree, 
