Forest Life and Forest Trees comprising winter camp-life among the loggers, and wildwood adventure, etc

Preface

. The writer of the following pages was reared among the Pine forests of Maine, and has spent several of the most pleasant years of his life in active participation in many of the scenes here delineated. The incidents he has related are real, and in no case is the truth sacrificed to fancy or embellishment. When the author commenced writing, his motive was to indulge somewhat in pleasant reminiscences of the past, and to live over again that portion of his life which, in gen eral, was so pleasantly spent among the wild mountains, forests, lakes, and rivers of Maine. It was during this ret rospective exercise with his pen that the idea of writing a book, emhracing his own experience and observations during the time in which he participated in the lumberman's life, suggested itself. Recollecting that, -while the life, habits, and adventures of many classes of men had engaged the attention of tho reading community, and that, among the multitude of nar ratives issued from the press, nothing of interest or importance had been put forth exemplifying the life and adventures of a very large class of persons known as lumber men, he naturally became possessed with a desire to enter tain others with some relation of what appeared to him to

PREFACE.

. afford sufficient material for a hook of some interest, and chiefly because the matter it might embrace had never been presented in a connected detail. Suggesting the substance of what has already been said to several intelligent lumbermen, an interest was at once awakened in their feelings upon the subject, accompanied with an urgent request that the plan should he prosecuted, and that a work should be prepared which might make their pursuits, adventures, and hardships more generally known. To many of these friends the author is also in debted for some assistance in furnishing statistical matter. In incorporating the somewhat lengthy notice of Forest Trees, forming the first part of this volume, the author has ventured to make his own taste and feelings the criterion by which he has been guided in his selections and obser vations for the reader, and although they may not hold a strict relation to the narrative, he hopes that they may not he deemed inappropriate or uninteresting.

This volume makes no pretensions to literary merit ; sooner would it, indeed, claim kindred with the wild and uncultivated scenes of which it is hut a simple relation. In justice to the gentlemen whom he has quoted in ar ranging the statistical portion of this volume, as well as to himself, the author would state that the material was pro cured some four years ago. The statement of this fact may account for any discrepancy which may appear from more recent accounts of the lumbering interests, should they be found to vary from the representations here made. The Author.

Chapter I

Trees, how regarded by Lumbermen. — Cedars of Lebanon. — Oldest Tree on Record — Napoleon's Regard for it — Dimensions. — Durability of the Cedar, how accounted for. — The Oak — Religious Veneration in which it was held by the Druids — The Uses to which their Shade was appropriated. — Curious Valuation of Oak Forests by the Ancient Saxons. — The Number of Species. — Its Value. — Remarkable old Oak in Brighton. — Charter Oak. — Button-wood Tree — Remarkable Rapidity of its Growth. — Remarkable Size of one measured by Washington — by Michaux. — Disease in 1842, '43, and '44.— The Oriental Plane-tree — Great Favorite with tho Ancients. — Cimon's Effort to gratify the Athenians. — Pliny's Account of its Transportation. — The Privilege of its Shade a Tax — Used as an Ornament — Nourished with Wine. — Hortensius and Cicero. — Pliny's curious Account of one of remarkable Size ...Page 13

Chapter II

The Elm. — English Elm. — Scotch Elm. — Slippery Elm. — American Elm. — Superiority of latter. — Different Shapes, how accounted for. — Great Elm on Boston Common — Rapidity of Growth. — The Riding Stick. — Remarkable Dimensions of noted Trees. — Boston Elm again — Its Age — By whom set out. — Washington Elm, why so named. — " Trees of Peace," a Tribute of Respect. — English Elm in England and America. — Uses in France— In Russia. — Birch Family — Its Variety and Uses. — The Maple Family. — Number of Species. — Red Maple. — Unrivaled Beauty of American Forests. — Rock Maple — Amount of Wood cut from one in Blanford. — Curious method of distinguishing it from the River Maple. — Amount and Value of the Sugar in Massachusetts. — Great Product from one Tree. — Sugar Maple in the State of Maine. — Dr. Jackson's Reports, &c CONTENTS.

Chapter III

Beech-trees— Purity, Size, Fruit— Efforts of Bears after the Nut — The Uses to which its Leaves are appropriated — Mr. Lauder's Testimony, &c. — Use of Wood — Singular Exemption — The novel Appearance of the Leaves of a Species in Germany. — Chestnut-tree — Remarkable one on Mount Ætna. — Balm of Gilead.— Willow.— Ash.— Basswood, or Tiel-tree.— The Poplar. —The Hemlock— Beauties of its Foliage— Uses.— Hickory.— The Fir-tree. — Spruce-tree — Its conical Form — Uses. — American Larch — Success of the Dukes of Athol in planting it on the Highlands of Scotland Pago 28

Chapter I

The Pines. — White Pines : rank claimed for this Variety. — Predilections. — Comparison instituted. — Pitch and Norway Pines. — White Pine. — Magnitude. — New York Pines. — Lambert's Pine on Northwest Coast. — Varieties. — Its Rank. — Great variety of purposes to which it is devoted. — Great Pine near Jackson Lake. — Capital Invested. — Hands employed on the Penobscot 37

Chapter II

The Pine twenty-five Years ago — Its rapid Disappearance. — Explorations. — Outfit. — Up-river Journeying. — Its Distance. — Mode of Nightly Encampment. — Cooking. — Disturbed Slumbers. — Ludicrous Fright. — Deer. — Encounter with Bears. — Mode of Exploring. — Forest Observatory. — Climbing Trees. — The Emotions excited by the View. — Necessity of Compass. — Nature's Compass. — The Return. — Annoyances from mischievous Bears. — Stumpage. — Permits. — Outfit and Return. — Crossing Carrying-places. — A Strong Man. — Skill of Boatmen. — Item of personal Experience. — Blind Path. — A Family in the Wilderness. — Things to be considered in locating Camps 44

Chapter III

Method of constructing Camp and Hovel. — Timber. — Covering. — Arrangement of Interior. — The Bed. — Deacon Seat. — Ingenious Method of mak- CONTENTS. IX ing a Seat. — Cooking : superior Method of Baking. — The nightly Camp Fire. — Liabilities from taking Fire. — A Camp consumed. — Men burned to Death. — Enjoyment. — The new Camp : Dedication. — A Song. — A Story. — New Order in Architecture. — Ox Hovel. — Substitute for Lime. — The Devotedness of the Teamster. — Fat and lean Cattle. — Swamping Roads. — Clumps of Pine. — The points of Interest in a Logging Road. — The Team ster's Path. — Regret. — The peculiar Enjoyment of Men thus engaged Page 65

Chapter IV

Tokens of Winter. — The Anticipation. — Introduction of Team. — Difficulties attending it. — Uncomfortable Boating. — The Contrast. — Method of crossing Streams and Rivers. — The Docility of the Ox. — Facilities of Turnpikes. — Stopping-places. — Arrival. — An Adventure. — Ten Oxen in the Ice. — Method of taking them Out. — An uncomfortable Night. — The midnight Excursion. — Oxen running at large in the Wilderness. — Developments of Memory. — Logging. — Division of Labor. — How to manage in the absence of a Cook. — "Uncle Nat." — Anecdote. — Felling Pines. — Ingenuity of Choppers. — Preparatory Arrangements. — The Bob-sled. — Method of Operation described. — The Excitement. — Comparison. — Immediate Length of Pine-trees. — Conclusion 83

Chapter V

The Skill and Enterprise of Lumbermen. — Method of taking Logs down Hills and Mountains. — Dry Sluice. — Stern Anchor. — Giant Mountain Steps. — Alpine Lumbering. — Warping a Team down Steeps. — Trial of Skill and Strength. — The rival Load. — Danger and Inconvenience of Hills in Logging Roads. — A distressing Accident. — Solemn Conclusion of a Winter's Work. — Some of the Perils attendant upon Lumbering. — A fearful Wound. — Narrow Escape. — The buried Cap. — The safest Way of Retreat. — A Sabbath in the Logging Camp. — Sunday Morning Naps. — Domestic Camp Duties. — Letter Writing. — Recreations. — Sable Traps. — Deer and Moose. — Bear Meat. — A rare Joke. — Moose Hunt. — Bewildered Hunters. — Extraordinary Encounter. — Conclusion of Sabbath in the Woods.. 100

Chapter VI

Camp Life. — Winter Evenings. — An Evening in Camp. — Characters. — Card-playing. — A Song. — Collision with wild Beasts. — The unknown Animal in a Dilemma. — ' ' Indian Devil." — The Aborigines' Terror. — A shock- X CONTENTS. ing Encounter— The Discovery and Pursuit. — The Bear as an Antagonist Their thieving Propensities.— A thrilling Scene in the Night. — A des perate Encounter with three Bears Page 129

Chapter VII

Provision Teams. — Liabilities.— A Night in the Woods.— Traveling on Ice. — A Span of Horses lost. — Pat's Adventure. — Drogers' Caravan. — Horses in the Water. — Recovery of a sunken Load. — Returning Volunteers from Aroostook. — Description of a Log Tavern. — Perils on Lakes in Snow-storms. — Camping at Night. — Rude Ferry-boats 142

Chapter I

" Breaking Up." — Grotesque Parading down River. — Rum and Intemperance. — Religious Rites profaned. — River-driving on Temperance Principles. — The first Experiment. — A spiritual Song 149

Chapter II

Log-landing. — Laborious Exposure. — Damming Streams. — Exciting Scenes. — Log-riding. — Fun. — Breaking a Dry-landing. — A sudden Death. — Thrilling Scenes on the " Nesourdnehunk." — Lake-driving. — Steam Towboat. — Remarks on Lake Navigation. — Driving the main River. — Union of Crews. — Substantial Jokes. — Log Marks. — Dangers of River-driving. — Sad Feelings over the Grave of a River-driver. — Singular Substitute for a Coffin. — Burial of a River-driver. — A Log Jam. — Great Excitement. — A Boat swamped. — A Man drowned. — Narrow Escape. — Mode of Living on the River. — Wangun. — Antidote for Asthma. — The Wangun swamped. — An awful Straggle. — The miraculous Escape. — Driving among the Islands. — Amusing Exertions at identifying. — Consummation of Driving. — The Claims of lumbering Business for greater Prominence. — The Boom.. 155

Chapter III

Observations on the St. Croix River. — Boundary Line. — Pine Timber. — Agriculture in the Interior. — Youthful Associations with Grand Lake. — Tradi- C0NTENT3. XI tionary Name of Grand Lake. — Lake Che-pet-na-cook. — Rise of Eastern Branch St. Croix. — Lumbering Prospects. — Hemlock. — Reciprocal Rela tions of the Lumber Trade between Americans and Provincials. — The Machias Rivers. — Origin of Name. — Character of Soil. — Lumber Resources and Statistics. — West Machias. — Narraguagues River, curious Definition of — Capacity of Stream. — Statistics. — Union River — Observations on its Lumbering Interests. — Mills in Franklin Page 176

Chapter IV

Penobscot River — Its various Names — Character of the Country through which it flows — Its Length — The vast Extent of Territory which it drains — Its Multitude of Lakes. — Mount Ktaadn. — Indian Legend. — Elevation of the Mountain. — Overwhelming Prospect. — A Sabbath in the Wilderness. — Moose in the Lake. — An uncomfortable Night. — Dr. Jackson's Narrative. — New Lumber Resources. — The interesting Origin of this new Resource. — John Bull outwitted. — Freshets on the Penobscot. — Freshet of 1846, cause of it. — Sudden Rise of Water. — Bangor submerged. — Bowlders of Ice. — Destruction of Property. — Narrow Escape of Ferry-boat. — Peril of Boys. — Editorial Observations. — Lumber Statistics. — Where the Lumber finds a Market. — Speculations on future Prospects of Lumbering Interests. — Anticipations of the Future. — Bangor 186

Chapter V

Length of Kennebeck. — Moose-head Lake — Its peculiar Shape — Its Islands. — Burned Jacket. — Interesting Deposit. — Mount Kineo. — The Prospect from its Summit. — Moose River. — Old Indian. — The Banks of the Kennebeck. — Beauties of the Country, &c. — Lumber on Dead River. — Falls at Waterville. — Skowhegan Falls. — Arnold's Encampment. — Nau-lau-chu-wak — Caritunk Falls. — Lumber. — Statistics. — Author's Acknowledgments. — Androscoggin — Course and other Peculiarities. — A question of Rivalry. — Water Power. — Original Indications. — Interesting Sketch of Rumford Falls. — Estimated Water Power. — Lumber Statistics. — Droughts and Freshets. — Umbagog Lake. — The serpentine Megalloway. — Granite Mountains. — Beautiful Foliage. — Romantic Falls. — Character of Country. — Manner of Life in Log-cutting, &c. — Statistics, &c. — Presumpscot River, great Water-powers of. — Warmth of Water. — Statistical Remarks. — Saco River CONTENTS.

Chapter VI. New Brunswick

Object of the Chapter.— Description of St. John's River.— First Falls.— Contiguous Country.— " Mars Hill."— Prospect.— Grand Falls.— The Acadians, curious Facts respecting them.— The Mirimachi River.— Immense amount of Timber shipped.— Riots.— State of Morals.— The great Mirimachi Fire. — Hurricane. — Destruction of Human Life. — Area of the Fire. — Vessels in Harbor.— Painfully disgusting Sights.— Destruction among Fish. — Fire, rapidity of Progress. — Curious instance of Escape. — Ristigouche River, its Length — Capacious Harbor. — Appearance of the Country—High Banks.— Groves of Pine.— A Statistical Table Page 244 LIST OF ENGRAVINGS. Frontispiece — Moose Deer. Shooting Deer — Black Bear Page 49 Winter Quarters of Lumbermen 69 Log Hauling — Process of Loading Logs 95 The Common Wolf 113 Log Tavern in the Wilderness 146 River Drivers Breaking a Jam 165 A Coaster ascending the Penobscot for Lumber ..... 187 View of the Penobscot — Forests and Lakes northeast from Ktaadn 189 Northeast View of Mount Ktaadn, from the west Branch of the Penobscot 199 Godfrey's Falls, on the Seboois River 208 Chase's Mountain, as seen from Sugar-loaf Mountain .„ 211 Sugar-loaf Mountain, on the Seboois River 225 View of Lily Bay, on Moose-head Lake 228 Skowhegan Falls, on the Kennebeck 231 Rumford Falls, on the Androscoggin .... . .... .. 235 View of Umbagog Lake — Source of the Androscoggin ...... ..... 237 Frye's Falls, oil a Tributary of Ellis River 238 Rumford Bridge, Androscoggin River 239 Aroostook Falls FOREST TREES.

Part I. Chapter

I Trees, how regarded by Lumbermen. — Cedars of Lebanon. — Oldest Tree on Record — Napoleon's Regard for it — Dimensions. — Durability of the Cedar, how accounted for. — The Oak — Religious Veneration in which it was held by the Druids — The Uses to which their Shade was appropriated. — Curious Valuation of Oak Forests by the Ancient Saxons. — The Number of Species. — Its Value. — Remarkable old Oak in Brighton. — Charter Oak. — Button-wood Tree — Remarkable Rapidity of its Growth. — Remarkable Size of one measured by Washington — by Michaux. — Disease in 1842, '43, and '44. — The Oriental Plane-tree — Great Favorite with the Ancients. — Cimon's Effort to gratify the Athenians. — Pliny's Account of its Transportation. — The Privilege of its Shade a Tax — Used as an Ornament — Nourished with Wine. — Hortensius and Cicero. — Pliny's curious Account of one of remarkable Size.

Lumbermen are accustomed to classify and rate forest trees by the lower, middle, and higher grades, just as animals are classi fied, from the muscle, through the intermediate grades, up to man, the crowning master-piece of the Creator's skill. But while man is universally recognized as first in the scale of animated nature, there is less uniformity of sentiment in respect to trees, as to which is entitled to hold the first rank in the vegetable kingdom. In the days of King David and Solomon, the noble Cedars of Leb anon held the pre-eminence, and were celebrated in verse as emblems of beauty, grandeur, and especially of durability ; but " with the moderns the Cedar is emblematical of sadness and ..I mourning : " Dark tree ! still sad when others' grief is fled— The only constant mourner of the dead." — Byron.

"Perhaps the oldest tree on record is the Cypress of Somma, in Lombardy. It is supposed to have been planted in the year of the birth of Christ, and on that account is looked upon with reverence by the inhabitants ; but an ancient chronicle at Milan is said to prove that it was a tree in the time of Julius Cæsar, B.C. 42. It is one hundred and twenty-three feet high, and twenty-three feet in circumference at one foot from the ground. Napoleon, when laying down the plan for his great road over the Simplon, diverged from a straight line to avoid injuring this tree."* " The Cedar was styled the glory of Lebanon. The Temple of Solomon and that of Diana at Ephesus were built of this wood. The number of these trees is now greatly diminished. They were often of vast size, sometimes girting thirty-six feet, perfectly sound, with a lofty height, whose spreading branches extended one hundred and ten feet."

The durability of the Ce dar is said to be attributable to two qualities : "1st, the bitter ness of the wood, which protects it from the depredations of worms ; and, 2dly, its resin, which preserves it from the injuries of the weather." To the Oak some assign the first rank. It is celebrated in the East, and by many of the ancients was regarded with religious veneration. In the West, and by moderns, it is employed more as an emblem of the strength, compactness, and durability of the state. " The religious veneration paid to this tree by the original na tives of Britain, in the time of the Druids, is well known to every reader of British history." The patriarch Abraham resided under an Oak, or a grove of Oaks ; and it is believed that he planted a grove of this tree. " In fact, since, in hot countries, * Mass.

Reports. nothing is more desirable than shade — nothing more refreshing than the shade of a tree — we may easily suppose the inhabitants would resort for such enjoyment to " Where'er the Oak's thick branches spread A deeper, darker shade." Oaks, and groves of Oaks, were esteemed proper places for re ligious services ; so that while the Methodist denomination may not claim originality in holding grove or camp-meetings, they may, at least, plead the usages of antiquity in their defense. Altars were set up under them ; affairs of state were discussed and ratified under their ample shade. " Abimelech was made king under an Oak." " Absalom rode upon a mule which went under the thick boughs of a great Oak, and his head caught hold of the Oak, and he was taken up be tween the heaven and the earth," and, while there suspended, ■was slain by Joab and his armor-bearers.

" In England, whose Oak forests are now one of the sources of national wealth and naval supremacy, the tree was once prized only for the acorns, which were the chief support of those large herds of swine whose flesh formed so considerable a part of the food of the Saxons. Woods of old, says Burnett, were valued according to the number of hogs they could fatten ; and so rig idly were the forest lands surveyed, that, in ancient records, such as the Doomsday-book, woods are mentioned of a single hog. The right of feeding hogs in woods, called pannage, formed, some centuries ago, one of the most valuable kinds of property. With this right monasteries were endowed, and it often consti tuted the dowry of the daughters of the Saxon kings."* Of the Oak some naturalists have enumerated twenty-four spe cies.

The wood of the White Oak is distinguished by three properties, which give to it its great value : hardness, toughness, and durability. The great variety of purposes to which it is appro- * Mass. Reports, Trees, &c. priated shows it to be a tree of great value. For ship and car riage building, and in the manufacture of implements of hus bandry, it is very valuable. This tree also holds rank on ac count of its size. In the " Report on the Trees and Shrubs of Massachusetts," notice is given of one still standing in Brighton. " In October, 1845, it measured twenty-five feet and nine inches in circumference at the surface. At three feet, it is twenty-two feet four inches ; at six feet, fifteen feet two inches. It tapers gradually to the height of about twenty-five feet, where the stump of its ancient top is visible, below which point four or five branch es are thrown out, which rise twenty or thirty feet higher.

Be low, the places of many former limbs are covered over by immense gnarled and bossed protuberances. The trunk is hollow at the base, with a large opening on the southwest, through which boys and men may easily enter. It had probably passed its prime cen turies before the first English voice was heard on the shores of Massachusetts Bay. It is still clad with abundant foliage, and, if respected as its venerable age deserves, it may stand an object of admiration for centuries to come." The Charter Oak, in Hartford, Connecticut, is said to measure at the ground thirty-six feet ; and in the smallest place above it is eight feet four inches in diameter. THE BUTTON-WOOD TREE. This tree is " remarkable for the rapidity of its growth, especially when standing near water. Loudon mentions one which, standing near a pond, had in twenty years attained the height of eighty feet, with a trunk eight feet in circumference at three feet from the ground, and a head of the diameter of forty-eight feet."

" Nowhere is this tree more vigorous than along the rivers of Pennsylvania and Virginia, and especially on the Ohio and its tributaries." ' General Washington measured a Button-wood growing on an island in the Ohio, and found its girth, at five feet from the ground, about forty feet.' " In 1802, the younger Mi chaux and his companions found a large tree of this kind on the right bank of the Ohio, thirty-six miles from Marietta. Its base was swollen in an extraordinary manner, but, at four feet from the ground, its circumference was found to be forty-seven feet," or fifteen feet and eight inches in diameter. It is said that " it may be propagated with more ease than any tree of the forest." "It is valuable stove fuel." S. W. Pomeroy, Esq., a writer in the New England Farmer, expresses the opinion that, on land possessing the same fertility, this tree will furnish fuel which will give the greatest amount of caloric to the acre, except the locust on dry soil.

It will be remembered that in 1842, '43, and '44, this tree appeared to be under the influence of a general blight throughout the Eastern States. Various opinions were entertained respect ing the cause of the malady which occasioned so much regret. " By most persons it was considered the effect of frost, supposing the tree not to have matured its wood, viz., the new shoots, during the previous summer, so that it was incapable of resisting the effect of frost." Others ascribed it to the action of some insect or worm, and others believed it to be some unaccountable disease, while others regarded the phenomenon as a providential token of the approach of some important event unknown and unantici pated. The tree has now pretty generally recovered from its malady. " The Oriental Plane-tree holds the same place on the Eastern continent which our Button-wood does on this."

It was the greatest favorite among the ancients." " Cimon sought to gratify the Athenians by planting a public walk with them." " It was considered the finest shade tree in Europe." " Pliny tells the story of its having been brought across the Ionian Sea, to shade the tomb of Diomedes, in the island of the hero. From thence it was taken to Sicily, then to Italy ; from Italy to Spain, and even into the most remote parts of the then barbarous France, where the natives were made to pay for the privilege of sitting under its shade. " No tree was ever so great a favorite with the Romans. They ornamented their villas with it, valuing it above all other trees for the depth of its salutary shade, &c. They nourished it with pure wine ; and Hortensius is related to have begged of his rival, Cicero, to exchange turns with him in a cause in which they were engaged, that he might himself do this office for a tree he had planted in his Tusculanum."

" Pliny describes some of the most remarkable planes. In the walks of the Academy at Athens were trees whose trunks were about forty-eight feet from the ground to the branches. In his own time there was one in Lycia, near a cool fountain by the road side, with a cavity of eighty-one feet circuit within its trunk, and a forest-like head, and arms like trees overshadowing broad fields. Within this apartment, made by moss-covered stones, to resemble a grotto, Licinius Mucianus thought it a fact worthy of history, that he dined with nineteen companions, and slept there too, not regretting splendid marbles, pictures, and golden-fretted roofs, and missing only the sound of rain drops pattering on the leaves."* * Emerson's Reports.

CHAPTER II.

The Elm. — English Elm. — Scotch Elm. — Slippery Elm. — American Elm. — Superiority of latter. — Different Shapes, how accounted for. — Great Elm on Boston Common — Rapidity of Growth. — The Riding Stick. — Remarkable Dimensions of noted Trees. — Boston Elm again — Its Age — By whom set out. — Washington Elm, why so named. — " Trees of Peace," a Tribute of Respect. — English Elm in England and America. — Uses in Fiance — In Russia. — Birch Family — Its Variety and Uses. — The Maple Family. — Number of Species. — Red Maple. — Unrivaled Beauty of American Forests. — Rock Maple — Amount of Wood cut from one in Blanford. — Curious method of distinguishing it from the River Maple. — Amount and Value of the Sugar in Massachusetts. — Great Product from one Tree. — Sugar Maple in the State of Maine. — Dr. Jackson's Reports, &c. THE ELM-TREE.

Of this family there are several varieties. The American, the English, the Scotch, and Slippery Elm. Of this enumeration, the American Elm stands first in point of ornament, while the timber of the English Elm is esteemed more highly on account of the toughness of the wood. It has been well said that the Elm is a tree deservedly esteemed for its ornament and shade. " The American Elm assumes many different shapes, and all of them beautiful. Of these, three are most striking and distinct. The tall Etruscan vase is formed by four or five limbs separating at twenty or thirty feet from the ground, going up with a gradual divergency to sixty or seventy, and then bending rapidly outward, forming a flat top with a pendent border." " Transplanting the Elm, it is said, often produces in it a character akin to that of the Oak.

It is then a broad, round-headed tree." " Of this kind is the ' Great Elm' on Bos ton Common." Few trees of other species are to be found standing near the abodes of civilized life which have attained the vast dimensions of the Elm. Whatever may have been the peculiar properties of other trees, they have disappeared. Upturned by the passing hurricane, or leveled by the woodman's ax, they have passed away, while the Elm stands at our doors associated with the his tory and memory of the different generations which, like its au tumnal sheddings, have long time ago mingled with the dust. The Elm grows with great rapidity, which, in addition to its beauty as an ornament, secures for it the favor of man. " I once heard," says the author of Massachusetts Reports, &c, an old man, standing under the shade of a tree nearly two feet in di ameter, which towered above all around it, say, " This tree, after I had been many years successful in business, and in a change of fortune had retired to this farm, with a little that remained, I stuck into the ground after I had used it as a stick in a ride of eight miles from P." " From its having been so long a favorite, it has been more frequently spared, and oftener transplanted than any other tree.

There arc, in all parts of the state, many fine old trees standing." " In Springfield, in a field a few rods north of the hotel, is an Elm which was twenty-five feet and nine inches in circumference at three feet from the ground." The great Elm on Boston Common measures, at the same distance from the ground, seventeen feet eleven inches in circumference. " It is said to have been planted about the year 1670, by Captain Daniel Henchman, an ancestor of Governor Hancock. It is, therefore, more than one hundred and seventy-five years old." " There is an Elm in Hatfield, near the town-house, which measures at the ground forty-one feet ; at three and one half feet from the ground it measures twenty-seven feet in circumference. The smallest place in the trunk is seven feet four inches in diameter.