MISC. PUBLICATION 295, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



references * are included in this publication. They are from almost 

 every State in the Union and deal with many species. In a complete 

 story of notable trees, however, there would be so many chapters 

 that it is impossible to tell it all at once or for one person to do the 

 telling. The compilation is necessarily incomplete, and many notable 

 tree favorites may have been omitted. 



TREES ASSOCIATED WITH NOTABLE PEOPLE 



Since one almost invariable element of greatness seems to be a 

 love of nature, trees are found entering into the interests of famous 

 men and women. It is significant that tree stories are associated with 

 many of our Presidents. The first tree lover of them all. Washing- 

 ton, planted many trees, and many other trees are living memorials 

 to him. 



Living trees planted by Washington or under his direction at 

 Mount Vernon include tuliptrees, buckeyes, elms, pecans (see front 

 cover), hollies, lindens, hemlocks, mulberries, and others. Trees di- 

 rectly associated with Washington in at least a dozen Eastern States 

 swell the number bearing his name toward the hundred mark. 



Next to the Washington Elm in Cambridge (now dead), under 

 which the leader of the American Revolutionary forces assumed 

 command in 1775, probably the most notable Washington trees now 

 living are : 



The Washington Elm at Berkeley Springs. W. Va., associated with 

 the surveying days of the young Washington while in the employ of 

 Lord Fairfax. In Washington's journal of this survey, written in 

 1747, an entry indicates that he was greatly impressed by the medici- 

 nal value of certain springs near Berkeley, which, according to tra- 

 dition, were exciting factors in Indian warfare. After the settle- 

 ment by white pioneers, Washington planted an American elm at 

 the intersection of the growing town's principal thoroughfare, Wash- 

 ington Street, with another street marking the southern boundary of 

 the grant of Lord Fairfax. The tree today is 21 feet in circumfer- 

 ence at its base. 



The Washington Elm facing the east entrance to the Senate wing 

 of the United States Capitol, under which the first President watched 

 the building of that structure (fig. 1). 



The Washington Elm Grandchild, a descendant of the Washington 

 Elm at Cambridge, Mass., was planted as a Washington Bicentennial 

 tree on the grounds of the State capitol in Hartford, Conn., on March 

 31, 1933. It was accepted by the Governor of the State, and, having 

 been given good care, is in excellent condition. 



A "grandchild" of the Cambridge, Mass., elm now growing on the 

 front lawn of the American Tree Association office building, 12 J 4 

 Sixteenth Street NW., Washington, D. C. 



Among the many descendants of the Washington (Cambridge) 

 Elm are one at Arnold Arboretum, Jamaica Plain, Mass., and "a pedi- 

 greed scion" on the campus of the University of Washington at 

 Seattle. A sturdy sapling, propagated from a limb of the Seattle 



^Acknowledgment is made to Beryl G. Gardner, assistant editor, and Melissa Speer, 

 assistant librarian. Forest Service, for assistance Avith reference material, to donors of 

 photographs used herein, and to others who have offered helpful criticisms in the compila- 

 tion of this publication. 



