ABOUT TREES.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 59, 9 March 1878, Page 7

ABOUT TREES.

A cypress tree in Oaxaca, Mexico, which three years ago measured 120 feet in height, 111 feet 10 inches in circumference, and which sheltered Hernan Cortez and his followers under its wide-spreading boughs about the year 1 520, is supposed to be now 5000 years old. A type of antiquity iv the vegetable kingdom is that of a fig tree in Ceylon, planted, according to documentary find traditional evidence, 286 8.C., making it 21 65 years old. The oldest oak in England is in Herefordshire, situated in Hatfield Park. It is over a thousand years old. Beneath its branches Princess Elizabeth, while a prisoner at Hatfield, during her daily rambles in the park often sat in meditation and solitude, and here she was sitting when tidings readied her of Queen Mary's death and her owu elevation to the throne. Another old oak is the "Parliament Oak," from the tradition of Edward I. holding a Parliament under its branches on one of the estates of the Duke of Portland. It is considered to be 1300 years old. The tallest oak in England was the property of the same gentleman, aud was called the "Duke's Walking-stick." It was higher than Westminster Abbey. The largest oak is known as " Calthorp Oak," at Worksop, aud is so called from its shade covering part of the counties of York, Nottingham, and Derby. In London the now almost lifeless trunk of a venerable sycamore tree is fostered with great care, marking the spot by the old Thames wall where was once the margin of the river, and where Oliver Goldsmith, Dr. Johnson, and their companions sat for hours in the summer season. At Fortworth, in Gloucestershire, is

a large chestnut tree. Its circumference, five feet from the ground, -is over fifty feet. As it was mentioned as a boundary mark of the manor in the reign of Stephen, was famous in King John's time for its magnitude, and was in existence in the time of Egbert, it may be older than one thousand years. The palm trees of Greece are of immense magnitude. One of the species is on the European side of the Bosphorus, and is conjectured by M. de Candolle to be more thau 2000 years old. When measured in 1831 it was found to be 140 feet in. circumference at the base and 100 feet high. Its branches are said to be more like a forest than a single tree. Its sides are cavernous, and shelter the herdsmen, who make fires in these hollows. There are wonderful trees in California, some of which run up from. 300 jto 400 feet. The stump of one tree measured on its surface a space of 600 square feet. One called the "Fallen Monarch," which bas for years lain pi'ostx'ate, is nineteen feet in diameter at its base, and six feet at at a distance of 200 feet from the butt; but the greatest wonder is the " Grizzly Giant," which ninety feet from the ground has a limb six feet and six inches in diameter. The trunk is twenty feet in diameter eleven feet above the ground. There are giant trees in Western Australia. One near Warren River recently discovered was found to bo 200 feet high, and large enough to permit three riders and an additional packhorse to enter its hollow trunk and turn in it without dismounting. There is a willow in Pemiscot County, Mo., that measures 24 feet in circumference at the base, and is 100 feet in height. There is a willow in Trenton, N.J., whose history is remarkable. It was formed by the importation of a, branch from the original willow that shaded the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte at St. Helena. There are many noted and noble elm trees in the United States. The historic elm on Boston Common, which I was blown down during a gale of wind, J February 15, 1876, was known as the

" Big Tree " and " Liberty Tree." In \ 1835 the tree was accurately measured by the City, Surveyor, who recorded . the following dimensions — Height, 74ft 6in ; average diameter of greatest extent of branches, 101 ft. Itwashandsome in form, large in size, and venerable in age. This tree was known as the "Liberty Tree" in 1784. Albany recently had a famous elm at the corner of State and North-Pearl streets. Under ils branches, it is said, many Indian and Dutch councils in early days were held. The elms of New Haven, Conn., are world- wide in reputation. An elm at Granb)', Massachusetts, is 105 years old. Upon the side of this tree, twelve feet from the ground, is a currant bush

rooted in the bark, which has thrived and produced its annual crop of fruit for many years.