l6o AROUND AN OLD HOMESTEAD. 



Lo ! all grow old and die — but see again, 

 How on the faltering footsteps of decay 

 Youth presses — ever gay and beautiful youth 

 In all its beautiful forms." 



A woods suggests everything that is poetic. It is 

 teeming with all sorts of life; it gives forth the purest 

 oxygen; it is a bower of greenness in summer, and of 

 beautiful darker colors in autumn. One feels always 

 in health when in the woods, and to be able to feel a 

 love for the woods is a pretty sure indication of a sound 

 and healthy life. 



Yet there is much difference in the attitude of men 

 toward trees and toward a forest. The worth of a tree 

 to some men is its commercial value in merchantable 

 lumber, and a forest therefore is to be considered in 

 the light of finance; to others a tree is an object merely 

 of scientific investigation as a part of the progress of 

 natural selection; to still others it is of intense interest 

 as a preserver of shade and health, and its growth is to 

 be studied, and the growth and variation of forests 

 also, with a view to the preservation of our timber and 

 the introduction of suitable tree plantations, and thus 

 the conservation of our water supply and the better- 

 ment of life; to the farmer it is of immediate utility 

 for all the usages of his farm; by the hunter it is re- 

 garded with mystery and constant observation as the 

 probable lurking place of game; to many it is an object 

 of wonderful natural beauty, and a spot for all sorts 

 of legends and associations; while to others still it is 

 an emblem of the tree of life, and of the river which 

 forever floweth in the City of God. 



The farmer, especially, gathers his firewood and 

 gets his maple syrup and sugar from the trees, handles 



