1 6 THE TREE FOLK 



COOPERATION is another strong point with the 

 Tree Folk. They know how to pull together to 

 maintain the family traditions. 



They are not like old man Black at Hatherly Centre. 

 I pled with him once to work with the rest of us in get- 

 ting out a strong vote in favor of an improvement that 

 would benefit the whole town. "Yes/' he said at last, 

 " I '11 cooperate; but I be darned if I '11 change one of my 

 ideas." That sort of cooperation means "nothin' doin'." 



When I was a student at the Massachusetts Art 

 School, and went to Boston daily on an Old Colony 

 train, we used to see, above the roof of the Pumping 

 Station at Cohasset, what appeared to be the top of an 

 immense elm tree, a great green dome, glittering in the 

 morning light (Plate VI). But as the train moved on 

 we discovered that the dome was supported not by one 

 giant trunk but by three common trunks. 



After midnight, when things come alive, the three 

 trees must have discussed the situation somewhat as 

 follows: ''Here we are growing so near together that 

 no one of us can be a perfect Elm. We will cooperate 

 to show the world what a first-class Elm looks like." — 

 (The middle one was speaking.) — "We can do that if 

 you, brother, will agree to grow southward mostly, and 

 you, brother, will agree to grow northward, while I 

 grow eastward and westward only." Whether they came 

 to that agreement in so many words or not, I do not 



