distance in one harmonious view when however you approach them and walk round them you begin to wonder at their colossal size and seek a measuring rod these giants considerably at the base but not more than is required for beauty and safety and the only reason that this seems in some cases excessive is that only a comparatively small section of the shaft is seen at once in near views one that i measured in the king s forest was feet in at the ground and feet in feet above the ground showing that the of the trunk as a whole is fine and when you stand back far enough to see f the massive columns from the swelling to the lofty summit in a dome of you rejoice in the display of combined and beauty about a hundred feet or more of the trunk is usually but its massive simplicity is relieved by the bark which instead of making an irregular run parallel like the of an column and to some extent by of slender that wave lightly in the winds and cast the mountains of of shade seeming to have been pinned on here and there for the sake of beauty only the young trees have slender simple branches down to the ground put on with strict regularity sharply at the top about half way down and drooping in handsome curves at the base by the time the is five or six hundred years old this habit into the m rounded dome form of middle age which in turn takes on the eccentric of old age no other tree in the forest has foliage so or presents outlines so firmly di and so steadily subordinate to a special type a looking branch five to eight feet thick may be seen pushing out abruptly from the smooth trunk as if sm e to throw the regular curve into confusion but as soon as the general outline is reached it stops short and in spreading of law abiding just as if every tree were growing beneath some huge invisible bell glass against whose sides every branch was being pressed and yet somehow indulging in so many small from the regular form that there is still an appearance of freedom the foliage of the is dark green in color while the older trees to a warm yellow tint like the bark is rich brown in young trees and in shady portions of the old while the ground is covered with brown leaves and forming of extraordinary richness not to mention the flowers and that rejoice about them in their seasons walk the woods at any time the forests of year and you will say they are the most beautiful and majestic on earth beautiful and impressive meet you everywhere the colors of tree and flower rock and sky light and shade strength and ance and of bushes tree pillars about as rigid as granite roses and the smallest of their kind blooming around the feet of the giants and of the lowly where the fall then in winter the trees themselves break forth in bloom of small four sided crowd the ends of the slender the whole tree and when ripe the air and the ground with golden the fertile are bright grass green measuring about two inches in length by one and a half in thickness and are made up of about forty firm scales packed with from five to eight seeds at the base of each a single therefore contains from two to three hundred seeds which are about a fourth of an inch long by three wide including a thin flat margin that makes them go glancing and wavering in their fall like a boy s the f of may be illustrated by two specimen branches one and a half and two inches in on which i counted no other produces nearly so many seeds millions are by a single tree and in a fruitful year the product of one of the northern groves would be enough to plant all the mountain of the world nature takes care however that not one seed in a million shall at all and of those that do perhaps not one l the mountains of in ten thousand is to live through the many of storm fire and snow crushing that beset their youth the is the happy of most of the out of every hundred perhaps ninety fall to his share and unless cut off by his ivory they shake out their seeds and remain on the tree for many years watching the at their harvest work in the indian summer is one of the most delightful imaginable the woods are calm and the ripe colors are blazing in all their glory the laden trees stand motionless in the warm air and you may see the crimson the prince of some dead limb or fallen trunk with his bill and ever and anon filling the with his happy the humming bird too dwells in these noble woods and may be seen glancing among the flowers or resting on some here also are the familiar robin of the and the brown and bears so obviously fitted for these majestic and the making more vital stir than all the bears birds and humming wings together as soon as any accident happens to the crown of these such as being stricken off by lightning or broken by storms then the branches beneath the wound no matter how situated seem to be excited like a colony of bees that have lost their queen and become anxious to repair the damage limbs that have grown outward for centuries at right angles to the trunk begin to turn upward to the forests assist in making a new crown each speedily assuming the special form of true even in the case of mere burned half through some mere ornamental will try to go aloft and do its 