96 MISC. PUBLICATION 295, U. S. DEFT. OF AGRICULTURE 



F-321107 



Figure 44.— Veteran Rock Maple. Sole Survivor of Vermont's Oldest 

 Sugar Orchard, pine Grove Farm, Vt. (Courtesy of American For- 

 estry ASSOCIATION.) 



A sassafras on a farm near Keswick has a circumference of 18 feet 

 4 inches, 5 feet from the ground, and is probably the largest sassafras 

 in the country. According to Lay (S) — 



some years back this tree was a hollow trunk, broken off at the top and languish- 

 ing. Someone built a fire in the interior which was quenched with difficulty. 

 It was thought that the fire would finish the tree. Instead, it killed the bugs 

 and hardened the interior surface and the old tree stump branched out, like 

 a dressy old woman, in a new Easter bonnet, with a crown of strong healthy 

 boughs. 



