Arranged for the "ARBOR DAY MANUAL."

HISTORIC TREES.

HE following list includes some of the more prominent trees that have been

uous event in the history of our country.

They all have a place in our national history, and are inseparable from it because they were so consecrated. A knowledge of the events associated with their memories cannot but engender patriotic emotions in the breast of every true American citizen.

ness.

I. One of the best known trees in American history is the Charter Oak which stood in Hartford, Conn., until 1856, when it was blown down. This tree once preserved the written guarantee of the liberties of the then infant colony of Connecticut. In 1687 Governor Andros, whom King James had sent across the sea to be Governor of all New England, appeared before the Connecticut Assembly, then in session in Hartford, and demanded the Colony's charter. Tradition tells us that the charter was brought in and laid upon the table. In an instant all lights were extinguished and the room was wrapped in total darkNot a word was spoken. The candles were again lighted, but the charter had mysteriously disappeared; and though Sir Edmund searched diligently for it, his search was in vain. Captain James Wadsworth had seized the precious charter and concealed it in a hollow in the trunk of this friendly tree. 2. All strangers who visit Cambridge, Massachusetts, look with interest upon the remnants of the venerable Elm tree under which Washington sat, when on the 3rd of July, 1775, he assumed command of the Colonial army. It stands in the center of a great public thoroughfare, its trunk protected by an iron fence from injury by passing vehicles, which for more than a century have turned out for this tree.

3. "The Cary Tree," planted by Alice and Pœbe Cary. As these sisters were returning from school one day they found a small tree in the road, and carrying it to the opposite side they dug out the earth with sticks and their hands, and planted it. When these two children had grown to womanhood and removed to New York city, they never returned to their old home without paying a visit to the tree they had planted. That tree is the large and beautiful Sycamore, which one sees in passing along the Hamilton turnpike from College Hill to Mount Pleasant, Hamilton county, Ohio.

4. A tree interesting from its association with the General of the American Army, is the Washington Oak at Fishkill. Washington's headquarters remained on the west bank of the Hudson, between Newburgh and New Windsor, from the spring of 1782, to August 18, 1783; and during this time he crossed the river frequently for the purpose of visiting the troops in camp upon Fishkill Plain, near the village of that name. The most convenient landing-place on the east bank was upon a long, low point of land formed to the north of the mouth of Fishkill creek, and here, according to the tradition of the locality, under two large Oak trees, Washington always mounted and dismounted from his horse as he started and returned from the camp. The tree is a Chestnut

Oak, still healthy and vigorous, and standing directly at the top of the low river-bank. The trunk girths at the present time, over twenty-one feet, and, judging from the age of its companion, which was blown down a few years since, eight or ten centuries may have passed since the acorn from which it sprang fell to the ground.

5. There is a Weeping Willow in Copp's burying-ground near Bunker Hill, that has grown from a branch taken from a tree that shaded the grave of Napoleon at St. Helena. Under this tree are buried the remains of Cotton Mather, so noted in Salem witchcraft. Copp's burying-ground is so near the Bunker Hill battle-field, that a number of grave-stones can be seen to-day which were pierced through by bullets fired by British soldiers in that battle. 6. It was the custom of our New England ancestors to plant trees in the early settlement of our country, and dedicate them to liberty. Many of these "Liberty Trees," consecrated by our fore-fathers are still standing. "Old Liberty Elm" in Boston, was planted by a school-master long before the Revolutionary war, and dedicated by him to the independence of the Colonies. Around that tree, before the Revolution, the citizens of Boston and vicinity, used to gather and listen to the advocates of our country's freedom. Around it during the war, they met to offer up thanks and supplications to Almighty God for the success of the patriot armies, and after the terrible struggle had ended the people were accustomed to assemble there year after year, in the shadow of that old tree, to celebrate the liberty and independence of our country. It stood till within a few years, a living monument of the patriotism of the people of Boston, and when at last it fell, the bells in all the churches of the city were tolled, and a feeling of sadness spread over the entire State.

7. The Ash trees planted by General Washington at Mt. Vernon. These trees form a beautiful row, which is the admiration of all who visit the home of the Father of his Country.

8. The Elm tree at Philadelphia, under which William Penn made his famous treaty with nineteen tribes of barbarians, the only treaty never sworn to and never broken. This Elm was carefully guarded until 1810, when it was unfortunately blown down. A monument now marks the spot.

Other familiar trees are the wide spreading Oak tree of Flushing, Long Island, under which George Fox, the founder of the society of Friends or Quakers, preached.

"The Burgoyne Elm," at Albany, which was planted on the day the British General Burgoyne was brought a prisoner into the city, the day after the surrender.

The lofty Cypress tree in the Dismal Swamp, under which Washington reposed one night in his young manhood.

The magnificent Black Walnut tree, near Haverstraw on the Hudson, under which General Wayne mustered his force at midnight, preparatory to his successful attack on Stony Point.

The huge French Apple tree near Fort Wayne, Indiana, where Little Turtle, the great Miama Chief, gathered his warriors.

The grand Magnolia tree near Charleston, South Carolina, under which General Lincoln held a council of war previous to surrendering the city.

The tall Pine tree at Fort Edward, New York, under which the beautiful Jane McCrea was slain.

The great Pecan tree at Villere's plantation, below New Orleans, under which a portion of the remains of General Packingham was buried.

The Pear trees planted respectively by Governor Endicott of Massachusetts, and Governor Stuyvesant of New York, more than two hundred years ago, and the Tulip tree on King's mountain battle-field, in South Carolina, upon which ten Tory murderers were hung at one time.

Sodus Centre, N. Y.

EDWARD C. DELANO.

T1

THE USE OF ARBOR DAY.

HE subject of forestry is, of course, an appropriate one for Arbor Day, if there is any person available who is competent to present or discuss it. Almost any time would be suitable for the intelligent treatment of this topic, if people will come together to hear and consider it. It is vitally related to the public welfare in a variety of ways, and serious injury to the prosperity and civilization of our country is almost certain to result from the lack of sufficient knowledge to enable our people justly to estimate its importance. Oratory without knowledge is of little value, and will not long be found entertaining; but knowledge regarding the subjects which are appropriate for Arbor Day can be acquired only as knowledge of other important subjects is acquired, by serious interest and application, by study and adequate observation.

The planting of trees by a person able to use it as an object-lesson for popular instruction by describing the structure and functions of the various parts of the tree, and their relations to each other in its life, would in many places be an admirable use to make of Arbor Day. The proper care of trees and shrubs in villages and along country road-sides, their economic value as related to bird-life and insect-life, their influence on health, and on the interest and happiness of human life, their value as a means of seclusion, and their effect in landscape everywhere, are all good subjects for consideration on Arbor Day, if they are seriously and intelligently presented.

If a few public-spirited young men and women in every town will read the new literature regarding these and similar subjects, they will soon be able to supply competent direction for Arbor Day observances, and, what is more important, to give good counsel, and to act intelligently when questions of pruning trees, widening streets and destroying road-sides are under discussion. Garden and Forest. April 17, 1889.

Germany has made great progress in tree-planting. It was a part of the national policy of Frederick the Great by which Germany was raised from a small power to a great one. Where once the sandy deserts would not nourish a flock of goats, vast armies have been maintained, and regiments of hardy soldiers have poured forth from the fertile soil, where two hundred years ago the thorn and the thistle overspread an impoverished land.