AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
325 
rise perpendicularly. This is one of the quali¬ 
ties that causes that appearance of sturdiness 
which is peculiar to the genus. It is true that 
we seldom see in our fields an oak of this shape 
in perfection, because almost all that are in ex¬ 
istence in this country took their first start in a 
forest, and have retained more or less of that 
imperfection of development which was caused 
by their cramped position, while they were 
receiving their earliest bent. The spray of the 
oak has the peculiarities of its longer branches. 
The terminal branches are short and angular, 
but when viewed against the sky, they exhibit 
a net-work which, without any formal regular¬ 
ity, is rather pleasing to the sight. 
In our orchards the apple tree most nearly 
resembles the oak in its general outlines, having, 
like the oak, though inferior to it in size, more 
sturdiness than grace. A standard apple tree 
commonly resembles a hemisphere, being in 
diameter about twice its own height. The pear 
tree is taller, more near pyramidal, and perhaps 
more graceful. Its branches have not the hori¬ 
zontal tendencies of those of the apple tree. It 
divides the stem into several branches, which, 
after making a slight horizontal curve, extend 
upwards almost perpendicularly. As the pear 
tree grows older, it loses its beauty of form, on 
account of the weight of its fruit, which bends 
down the branches and gives them a peculiar 
straggling growth. No such effect is produced 
in the apple tree by the weight of its fruit. 
One fact is worthy of notice with respect to 
our own fruit trees, which is, that a large pro¬ 
portion of them are perfect trees, having always 
had ample room to expand, and to develop their 
lateral branches. A large proportion of our 
forest trees, on the contrary, arc either pollards 
and suckers, or individuals which have lost their 
beauty and their characteristics, by growing in 
a crowded forest, during the early stages of their 
existence. Even among those trees which have 
been planted by our roadsides, so many were 
mutilated for the purpose of transplantation, 
that but a few have attained a perfect shape and 
size. The present generation, therefore, must 
go to England, if they wish to see the indigenous 
trees of our own woods in all their beauty and 
perfection. 
Another fact is noticeable in the growth of 
fruit trees as compared with the seed-bearers in 
the forests. The former arc greatly deficient in 
any thing like grace, beauty, or elegance in 
their spray. Their smaller branches arc blunt, 
short, crooked, and- standing apart. A differ¬ 
ence too may be observed in all the forest trees 
in this respect. The nut-bearers, in general, 
have a coarser and shorter spray than the small 
seed-bearers, with some exceptions. Compare, 
for instance, in this respect, the elm with the 
horse-chestnut. There is no quality of more 
importance to the beauty of a tree, in winter, 
than a full, dense, fine and elegant spray. Hence 
the superior beauty of forest trees in general, 
compared with the trees of the orchard. 
Nothing can exceed the American elm in a 
certain harmonious combination of two qualities 
which are seldom united in the same tree— 
sturdiness and grace. One of its manifest pe¬ 
culiarities is the length and slenderness of its 
branches, which, at the same time, exhibit no¬ 
thing in their appearance that is at all suggest¬ 
ive of weakness. There is nothing so agreeable 
to the mind as a truly happy combination of 
two qualities which are generally considered in¬ 
compatible. This remark applies particularly 
to the creations of art and genius, but may be 
applied with equal truth to the productions of 
nature. The American elm possesses a femi¬ 
nine gracefulness, in alliance with masculine 
strength, that affects every observer with a 
peculiar sensation of beauty and grandeur. 
The trunk of the elm, after ascending to a 
certain height, divides itself into many branches 
of equal size, given out from a common center, 
at an acute angle. These, after gradually di¬ 
verging, are constantly sub-divided into smaller 
branches, that bend over and downwards with 
a graceful sweep, reaching in old trees almost to 
the ground. There are, among our elms, ex¬ 
ceptions to this weeping habit, which have led 
some botanists to divide them into two distinct 
species. There are but few trees in our forests 
that equal the elm in the beauty and graceful¬ 
ness of its spray. On account of the length and 
multiplicity of its branches, diverging, in a per¬ 
fect tree, almost from a common center, then 
bending over, and forming in their outline an 
almost hemispherical head, the elm is the most 
beautiful of trees when divested of its foliage, 
and, more than any other tree, resembles in the 
general arrangement of its branches, the spray 
of a jet-d'eau. I do not except the weeping 
willow, whose large branches are not so gene¬ 
rally given out from a common center, but are 
sub-divided at different places. The weeping- 
habit of the willow is conspicuous chiefly in the 
sudden droop of its slender terminal branches ; 
whereas the large branches of the elm make an 
arch, by gradually bending over from their 
joints to their extremities. Hence of the two, 
except when covered with foliage, the elm ig the 
more graceful and elegant. The foliage of the 
elm is neither beautiful nor brilliant, not deeply 
green in summer, nor very brightly tinted in 
autumn, nor are its leaves tremulous in the 
wind. In richness of foliage it is surpassed by 
the English elm. But in its general aspect, 
both in summer and winter, it exceeds every 
other tree that can be named, in a rare combi¬ 
nation of grace, majesty, and beauty. 
Another peculiarity of the elm consists in a 
habit of throwing out small branches, resem¬ 
bling vines, often arranged all along its main 
stem, and sometimes creeping downwards. 
These might almost be mistaken for a parasitic 
growth; and they have a singular beauty which 
does not detract from the majestic appearance 
of the perpendicular trunk. I have sometimes 
found birds’ nests in the little tufts formed by 
these vine-like branches, that seldom project a 
foot beyond the stem of the tree. This sin¬ 
gularity of growth is chiefly confined to trees 
which have grown up spontaneously in the 
fields, and is seldom observed in those in our 
town avenues. It is associated in our minds 
with the country, and serves to add a pictu¬ 
resque expression to the other beauties of the 
elm. 
The maple divides into numerous large 
branches, -which are of unequal size, and run 
out in a straight direction, diverging always at 
the same angle, instead of curving outwards. It 
is a very elegant tree, but does not often attain 
that size which is necessary to yield it an aspect 
of grandeur. Its foliage is surpassed by that of 
only a few trees in beauty of shape and hues, 
being of a very deep green in summer, and hav¬ 
ing a great variety and brilliancy of coloring in 
the autumn. The maple runs up in height like 
the lime, more than it spreads horizontally, so 
that its height in general exceeds its diameter. 
Its outlines, therefore, are those of an elongated 
hemisphere, and are remarkable for their even¬ 
ness and regularity. A tree of this genus 
seldom exhibits any gaps in its outlines, .on 
account of a certain constitutional vigor, which 
enables it to restore the branches which have 
been broken or lopped from it. The maples, 
being distinguished for the smooth and cinereous 
surface of their branches, and the agreeable 
regularity of their forms and manner of growth 
have a singularly elegant appearance in winter. 
There is no tree in our woods that is so prim 
and formal in its growth as the ash. The same 
formality is observed in a greater or less degree 
in all trees whose branches are opposite,' as in 
the horse-chestnut. The ash attains a very 
great height and size, and on account of the 
tendency of its branches to curve inward as they 
ascend, it exhibits more convexity beneath than 
most other trees, whose general outlines beneath 
are horizontal. The head of the ash is globular 
rather than hemispherical, like the oak; and 
the primness and formality in the arrangement 
of its branches are unfavorable to the expression 
of grace. It is distinguished by a general blunt¬ 
ness in the terminations of its smaller branches, 
and has, for this and other causes, but little 
elegance of spray. But there is a stateliness in 
the general bearing of the ash, and a beauty, 
when it is in full foliage, that make some amends 
for these unfavorable qualities which I have 
named. — Wilson Flagg, in Honey's Magazine. 
(To be continued.) 
- o o • - 
THE CALIFORNIA TAXODIUM. 
This magnificent ever-green tree, from its ex¬ 
traordinary height and large dimensions, may 
be termed the monarch of the California forest. 
It inhabits a solitary district on the elevated 
slopes of the Sierra Nivada, near the head waters 
of the Stanislau and San Antonio rivers, in lat. 
38° N., long. 120° 10' W., at an elevation of 
5000 feet from the level of the sea. From 80 to 
90 trees exist, all within the circuit of a mile, 
and these varying from 250 feet to 820 feet in 
height and from 10 to 20 feet in diame¬ 
ter. Their manner of growth is much like 
Sequoia (Taxodium) sempervirens, some are sol¬ 
itary, some are in pairs, while some, and not 
unfrequentty, stand three and four together. A 
tree recently felled measured about 300 feet in 
length, with a diameter, including bark, 29 feet 
2 inches, at 5 feet from the ground ; at 18 feet 
from the ground, it was 14 feet G inches through; 
at 100 feet from the ground, 14 feet; and at 200 
feet from the ground, 5 feet 5 inches. The bark 
is of a pale cinnamon brown, and from 12 to 15 
inches in thickness. The branchlets are round, 
somewhat pendent, and resembling a Cypress 
or Juniper. The leaves are pale grass green; 
those of the young trees are spreading, with a 
sharp acuminate point. The cones are about 
2£ inches long, and 2 inches across at the thick¬ 
est part. The trunk of the tree in question was 
perfectly solid, from the sap-wood to the center ; 
and judging from the number of concentric 
rings, its age has been estimated at 3000 years. 
The wood is light, soft, and of a reddish color, 
like redwood or Taxodium sempervirens. Of 
this vegetable monster, 21 feet of the bark, from 
the lower part of the trunk, have been put in 
the natural form in San Francisco for exhibition ; 
it there forms a spacious carpeted room, and 
contains a piano, with seats for 40 persons. 
On one occasion 140 children were admitted 
without inconvenience. An exact representation 
of this tree, drawn on the spot, is now in the 
hands of the lithographers, and will be published 
in a few days.” 
What a tree is this! — of what potentous as¬ 
pect and almost fabulous antiquity ! They say 
that the specimen felled at the junction of the 
Stanislau and San Antonio was above 3000 years 
old; that is to say, it must have been a, little 
plant when Sampson was slaying the Philistines, 
or Paris running away with Helen, or iEncas 
carrying off good pater Anehises, upon his filial 
shoulders. And this may very well be true if 
it does not grow above two inches in diameter 
in 20 years, which we believe to be the fact. 
At all events we have obtained the plant. 
The seed received by Messrs. Veitch has all the 
appearance of vitality, and since the tree is 
hardy and evergreen, it is a prodigious acquisi¬ 
tion. But what is its name to bo ?— Gardeners' 
Chronicle. 
A Malay’s Test of Honesty. —A New-Eng- 
land sea captain who visited “ India beyond the 
Ganges,” was boarded by a Malay merchant, a 
man of considerable property, and asked if he 
had any tracts he could part with. The Amer¬ 
ican, at a loss how to account for such a singu¬ 
lar request from such a man inquired. 
“What do you want of tracts? you cannot 
read a word of them.” 
“ True, but I have a use of them, neverthe¬ 
less. Whenever one of your countrymen, or an 
Englishman, calls on me to trade, I put a tract 
in his way, and watch him. If be reads it 
soberly and with interest, I infer that he will 
not cheat me; if he throws it aside with con¬ 
tempt or a profane oath, 1 have no more to do 
with him, I cannot trust him. 
