Part 1

Chapter 11,793 wordsPublic domain

A YEAR AMONG THE TREES; OR, _THE WOODS AND BY-WAYS OF NEW ENGLAND_.

BY WILSON FLAGG,

AUTHOR OF “STUDIES IN THE FIELD AND FOREST,” “A YEAR WITH THE BIRDS,” “HALCYON DAYS,” ETC.

The temples of the gods made desolate, They leave the earth to curses born of art; Degenerate man resumes the bow and quiver, And beauty sleeps until another dawn.

BOSTON: EDUCATIONAL PUBLISHING CO. 1890.

INDEX.

A. Ailantus 267 Alder _Alnus serrulata_ 265 American Elm 74 American Wayfaring-Tree _Viburnum lentago_ 185 Andromeda 209 Animals of the Primitive Forest 12 Apple-Tree _Pyrus malus_ 70 Arbor-Vitæ _Thuya occidentalis_ 299 Arrow-Wood _Viburnum dentatum_ 187 Ash _Fraxinus Americana_ 8 Ash, Mountain 86 Aspen, large _Populus tripida_ 257 Aspen, small _Populus tremuloides_ 258 Autumn Woods 188 Azalea 18

B. Balsam Fir _Abies balsamea_ 288 Barberry _Berberis communis_ 48 Bayberry _Myrica cerifera_ 178 Beach-Plum _Prunus maritima_ 72 Bearberry _Arbutus uva-urs_ 143 Beech-Tree _Fagus Americanus_ 145 Benzoin _Laurus benzoin_ 135 Bittersweet _Celastrus scandens_ 151 Blackberry _Rubus procumbens_ 152 Black Birch _Betula lenta_ 237 Black Poplar _Populus nigra_ 247 Black Spruce _Abies nigra_ 291 Black Walnut _Juglans nigra_ 164 Buckthorn _Rhamnus catharticus_ 270 Burning-Bushes 269 Butternut _Juglans cinerea_ 163 Button-bush _Cephalanthus occidentalis_ 172 Buttonwood 174

C. Canada Poplar _Populus candicans_ 246 Canadian Rhodora 19 Catalpa 41 Ceanothus 49 Checkerberry _Gaultheria procumbens_ 143 Cherry, Black _Prunus Virginiana_ 81 Cherry, Choke _Prunus serotina_ 82 Chestnut _Castanea vesca_ 154 Chokeberry _Mespilus arbutifolia_ 85 Clethra _Clethra alnifolia_ 173 Clipped Hedge-rows 136 Cornel 200 Cornel, Blue-berried _Cornus circinata_ 201 Cornel, Dwarf _Cornus Canadensis_ 202 Cornel, Florida _Cornus Florida_ 201 Cornel, Purple-berried _Cornus alternifolia_ 200 Cornel, White-berried _Cornus alba_ 200 Cypress, Northern _Cupressus thuyoides_ 293 Cypress, Southern _Taxodium distichum_ 294

D. Dark Plains 223 Dewberry _Rubus sempervirens_ 152 Dogwood _Rhus vernix_ 204 Dutch Myrtle _Myrica gale_ 178

E. Eglantine _Rosa micrantha_ 218 Elder _Sambucus Canadensis_ 206 Elm, American _Ulmus Americanus_ 74 Elm, English _Ulmus campestris_ 80 Elm, White _Ulmus Americanus_ 74

F. Fir _Picea_ 288 Flowering Dogwood 200 Flowering Raspberry _Rubus odoratus_ 152 Foliage 51 Forms and Expressions of Trees 42

G. Glycine _Glycine apios_ 150 Grapevine _Vitis labrusca_ 152 Ground Laurel _Epigea repens_ 142 Guelder Rose _Viburnum opulus_ 186

H. Hardhack _Spiræa tomentosa_ 114 Hawthorn _Cratægus oxyacantha_ 115 Hazel, Beaked _Corylus rostrata_ 172 Hazel, Common _Corylus Americana_ 171 Heath _Erica_ 208 Hemlock _Abies Canadensis_ 279 Hickory 156 Hickory, Bitternut _Carya amara_ 157 Hickory, Fignut _Carya ficiformis_ 157 Hickory, Shellbark _Carya squamosa_ 157 Hickory, White _Carya alba_ 157 Hobblebush _Viburnum lantanoides_ 186 Holly _Ilex opaca_ 113 Honey Locust _Gleditschia_ 108 Hop Hornbeam _Ostrya Virginica_ 61 Hornbeam _Carpinus Americana_ 60 Horse-Chestnut _Æsculus_ 40

I. Indian Summer 240 Insecurity of our Forests 63

J. Jersey Tea _Ceanothus Americana_ 49 Juniper _Juniperus Virginiana_ 297

K. Kalmia 96

L. Lambkill _Kalmia angustifolia_ 98 Larch _Larix Americana_ 277 Laurel _Laurus_ 134 Laurel, Low 98 Laurel, Mountain 96 Lilac _Syringa_ 47 Lime _Tilia Americana_ 93 Linden-Tree 93 Locust _Robinia pseudacacia_ 106 Lombardy Poplar _Populus fastigiata_ 254

M. Magnolia _Magnolia glauca_ 105 Maple _Acer_ 220 Meadow-Sweet _Spiræa alba_ 114 Mespilus, Snowy 84 Missouri Currant _Ribes aureum_ 49 Motions of Trees 100 Mountain Ash _Sorbus Americana_ 86 Mountain Laurel _Kalmia latifolia_ 96 Mountain Maple _Acer montana_ 221 Myrtle _Myrtus_ 177

N. Northern Cypress _Cupressus thuyoides_ 293 Norway Spruce _Abies excelsa_ 291

O. Oak 121 Oak, Black _Quercus tinctoria_ 133 Oak, Red _Quercus rubra_ 131 Oak, Scarlet _Quercus coccinea_ 132 Oak, Scrub _Quercus ilicifolia_ 132 Oak, Swamp _Quercus bicolor_ 130 Oak, White _Quercus alba_ 129 Orchard Trees 69

P. Peach-Tree _Amygdalus_ 73 Pear-Tree _Pyrus_ 71 Pine, Pitch _Pinus rigidus_ 305 Pine, White _Pinus strobus_ 301 Pine Woods 282 Plane-Tree _Platanus occidentalis_ 174 Plum-Tree _Prunus_ 72 Plumgranate _Prunus Americana_ 72 Poison Ivy _Rhus radicans_ 150 Poplar _Populus_ 245 Primitive Forest, The 1 Privet _Ligustrum vulgare_ 270

Q. Quince-Tree _Pyrus cydonia_ 72

R. Red Birch _Betula rubra_ 239 Red Maple _Acer rubrum_ 228 Red Osier _Cornus circinata_ 201 Relations of Trees to the Atmosphere 109 Relations of Trees to Birds and Insects 233 Relations of Trees to Poetry and Fable 260 Relations of Trees to Salubrity 212 Relations of Trees to Soil 181 Relations of Trees to Temperature 159 Relations of Trees to Water 88 Rhodora _Rhodora Canadensis_ 19 River Maple _Acer_ 222 River Poplar _Populus rivalis_ 248 Rock Maple _Acer saccharinum_ 221 Rose _Rosa_ 217 Rotation and Distribution 25 Rustic Lane and Woodside 148

S. Sassafras _Laurus sassafras_ 134 Snow-ball Tree 186 Snowy Mespilus _Mespilus Canadensis_ 84 Sounds from Trees 249 Southern Cypress 294 Spindle-Tree _Euonymus_ 269 Spiræa 114 Spruce _Abies_ 290 Spruce, Black _Abies nigra_ 291 Spruce, Norway _Abies excelsa_ 291 Spruce, White _Abies alba_ 290 Strawberry-Tree _Euonymus_ 269 Sugar Maple _Acer saccharinum_ 221 Sumach, Poison _Rhus vernix_ 204 Sumach, Poison Ivy _Rhus radicans_ 152 Sumach, Smooth _Rhus glabrum_ 204 Sumach, Velvet _Rhus typhinum_ 204 Summer Wood-scenery 117 Swamp Honeysuckle _Azalea viscosa_ 18 Swamp Rose _Rosa Caroliniana_ 218 Sweetbrier _Rosa micrantha_ 218 Sweet-Fern _Comptonia asplenifolia_ 179 Sweet-gale 178 Synopsis of Autumn Tints 197

T. Trees as Electric Agents 137 Trees for Shade and Salubrity 212 Trees in Assemblages 125 Tulip-Tree _Liriodendron tulipifera_ 104 Tupelo _Nyssa villosa_ 58

V. Vernal Wood-scenery 35 Viburnum, Arrow-Wood _V. dentatum_ 187 Viburnum, Hobblebush _V. lantanoides_ 186 Viburnum, Maple-leaved _V. acerifolium_ 186 Viburnum, Wayfaring-Tree _V. lentago_ 185 Virginia Creeper _Ampelopsis_ 149 Virgin’s Bower _Clematis_ 153

W. Weeping Willow _Salix Babylonica_ 32 Western Plane _Platanus occidentalis_ 174 White Birch _Betula alba_ 230 White Pine _Pinus strobus_ 301 White Spruce _Abies alba_ 290 Whortleberry Pasture 165 Whortleberries and Huckleberries 170 Willow 21 Willow, Swamp _Salix eriocephala_ 22 Willow, Yellow _Salix vitellina_ 24 Winter Wood-scenery 271 Witch-Hazel 266 Woody Nightshade _Solanum dulcamara_ 150

Y. Yellow Birch _Betula excelsa_ 238 Yew _Taxus Canadensis_ 300

PREFACE.

The matter contained in this volume is taken wholly from “The Woods and By-Ways of New England,” omitting all that is published in Volume I., and which has no special reference to trees. This volume, beside the particular description of species, treats of the value and beauty of trees and forests, of their climatic influence as purifiers of the atmosphere, of their relations to water, to electricity, to temperature, to the soil, to shade and salubrity, to birds and insects, to ornament, and to poetry and fable.

A YEAR AMONG THE TREES;

OR,

THE WOODS AND BY-WAYS OF NEW ENGLAND.

THE PRIMITIVE FOREST.

When the Pilgrim first landed on the coast of America, the most remarkable feature of its scenery that drew his attention, next to the absence of towns and villages, was an almost universal forest. A few openings were to be seen near the rivers,—immense peat-meadows covered with wild bushes and gramineous plants, interspersed with little wooded islets, and bordered on all sides by a rugged, silent, and dreary desert of woods. Partial clearings had likewise been made by the Indians for their rude hamlets, and some spaces had been opened by fire. But the greater part of the country was darkened by an umbrageous mass of trees and shrubbery, in whose gloomy shades were ever present dangers and bewilderment for the traveller. In these solitudes the axe of the woodman had never been heard, and the forest for thousands of years had been subject only to the spontaneous action of natural causes. To men who had been accustomed to the open and cultivated plains of Europe, this waste of woods, those hills without prospect, that pathless wilderness, and its inhabitants as savage as the aspect of the country, must have seemed equally sublime and terrible.

But when the colonists had cut roads through this desert, planted landmarks over the country, built houses upon its clearings, opened the hill-tops to a view of the surrounding prospect, and cheered the solitude by some gleams of civilization, then came the naturalist and the man of science to survey the aspect and productions of this new world. And when they made their first excursions over its rugged hills and through its wooded vales, we can easily imagine their transports at the sight of its peculiar scenery. How must the early botanist have exulted over this grand assemblage of plants, that bore resemblance to those of Europe only as the wild Indian resembles the fair-haired Saxon! Everywhere some rare herb put forth flowers at his feet, and trees of magnificent height and slender proportions intercepted his progress by their crowded numbers. The wood was so generally uninterrupted, that it was difficult to find a summit from which he could obtain a lookout of any considerable extent; but occasional natural openings exposed floral scenes that must have seemed like the work of enchantment. In the wet meadows were deep beds of moss of the finest verdure, which had seldom been disturbed by man or brute. On the uplands were vast fields of the checkerberry plant, social, like the European heath, and loaded half the year with its spicy scarlet fruit. Every valley presented some unknown vegetation to his sight, and every tangled path led him into a new scene of beauties and wonders. It must have seemed to him, when traversing this strange wilderness, that he had entered upon a new earth, in which nature had imitated, without repeating, the productions of his native East.

Along the level parts of New England and the adjacent country, wherever the rivers were languid in their course, and partially inundated their banks in the spring, were frequent natural meadows, not covered by trees,—the homes of the robin and the bobolink before the white man had opened to them new fields for their subsistence. In the borders of these openings, the woods in early summer were filled with a sweet and novel minstrelsy, contrasting delightfully with the silence of the deeper forest. The notes of the birds were wild variations of those which were familiar to the Pilgrim in his native land, and inspired him with delight amidst the all-prevailing sadness of woods that presented on the one hand scenes both grand and beautiful, and teemed on the other with horrors which only the pioneer of the desert could describe.

The whole continent, at the time of its discovery, from the coast to the Great American Desert, was one vast hunting-ground, where the nomadic inhabitants obtained their subsistence from the chase of countless herds of deer and buffalo. At this period the climate had not been modified by the operations of man upon the forest. It was less variable than now, and the temperature corresponded more definitely with the degrees of latitude. The winter was a season of more invariable cold, less interrupted by thaws. In New England and the other Northern States, snow fell in the early part of December, and lay on the ground until April, when the spring opened suddenly, and was not followed by those vicissitudes that mark the season at the present era. Such was the true forest climate. May-day came garlanded with flowers, lighted with sunshine, and breathing the odors of a true spring. It was then easy to foretell what the next season would be from its character the preceding years. Autumn was not then, as we have often seen it, extended into winter. The limits of each season were more precisely defined. The continent was annually visited by the Indian summer, that came, without fail, immediately after the fall of the leaf and the first hard frosts of November. This short season of mild and serene weather, the halcyon period of autumn, has disappeared with the primitive forest.

The original circumstances of the country have been entirely revolutionized. The American climate is now in that transition state which has been caused by opening the space to the winds from all quarters by operations which have not yet been carried to their extreme limit. These changes of the surface have probably increased the mean annual temperature of the whole country by permitting the direct rays of the sun to act upon a wider area, while they have multiplied those eccentricities of climate that balk our weather calculations at all seasons. There are still in many parts of the country large tracts of wood which have not been greatly disturbed. From the observation of these, and from descriptions by different writers of the last century, we may form a pretty fair estimate of the character and aspect of the forest before it was invaded by civilized man.