lo THE TREE FOLK 



ters do not marry under thirty." "No Litchfield ever 

 died with his boots off." "The Lowells do not speculate 

 in oil." "All the Cushings have legal minds." "There 

 has been a clergyman in every generation of Emersons." 

 Family pride gets itself handed on from sire to son, 

 wrapped in some such verbal robe of righteousness. 



Righteousness among the tree folk consists in main- 

 taining the family traditions as to what constitutes good 

 form, not only in appearance but in structure (Plate 

 III). The growth of limbs, branches and twigs must be 

 according to the tribal Hoyle. 



Poplars must be upright, with every shoot a curve of 

 force (4). Elms must be graceful, with Hogarth's Line of 

 Beauty throughout (3). Every spray of the Maple must 

 be supported by a reversed curve (7). Young Tupelos 

 are a level-headed race, with all the main branches 

 nearly horizontal (2). All the branches, twigs, and 

 needles of the Pine must radiate (8). In short, radiation 

 in one pattern or another is the fundamental law of tree 

 life, each family interpreting that law in its own way. 



Radiate structure in trees may be obvious in the Ash 

 (i), or occult as in the Tupelo (3). It may be from a 

 fount within the body of the tree as in the Palm (6), or 

 outside that body as in the Pine (8). In any case it is 

 a fascinating element. A Palm stem explodes into leaves 

 at its summit. A Pine's branches radiate like the fingers 

 of your hand. 



