10- 



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



at the ground, crossed but not joined 7 feet from the root. At a 

 height of 30 feet the two trees are joined together, forming one 

 complete tree. 



ILLINOIS 



Near Norris City is the Vaulting-Pole Cottonwood. In the spring 

 of 1815. two boys returning from a log rolling on a farm near Norris 

 City, made a wager as to who could vault the farther, using their cot- 

 ton wood handspikes as vaulting poles. They left their handspikes in 

 the soft earth, and during the spring rains of 1815 the handspikes 

 both took root and lived. One has since died, but the other, when 

 last reported, had passed the century in age and had grown to more 

 than 30 feet in circumference and 175 feet in height. 



Figure 48.- 



-Live Oak on a "Table" BuiltofItsOwn Roots. Ocala National 

 Forest. Fla. 



INDIANA 



A remarkable example of tree adaptation is reported from Greens- 

 burg. On the courthouse tower there is thriftily growing a large- 

 tooth aspen which is about 20 years old. Several other trees have 

 grown on this tower, which is built of blocks of limestone. Seem- 

 ingly the trees draw their nourishment from the mortar between the 

 stones. There is no way to get to the tree except by a scaffolding 

 or by employing a steeple jack. Therefore the belief that Greens- 

 burgers have some secret way of watering it is clearly in error. It is 

 sustained by the sun and the rain and the persistence of its root 

 system. 



Naturally grafted beech trees are to be found 4V 2 miles south of 

 Salem. These two trees were united when first discovered nearly 

 100 years ago. The connecting limb is about 20 feet from the ground 



