The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-10-15
A TALK ABOUT TREES.

vegetation, and adds new glory to the forest trees.
 Having given the subject of forest trees careful study, we find it one of absorbing interest, especially the forest trees of our own country and the fruit trees are equally as nteres ting. They will form another chapter.
 Natural history demands the serious attention of all intelligent people, and the investigation of the diversified phe- nomena which the forests present and the dwellers in those forests are equal ly interesting Some of the forests of the old world present many strange specimens of the most interesting na- ture. The vegetable kingdom has more wonderful productions than can be found in all other kingdoms. Natural philosophy chemistry and mathemati- cal sciences present many interesting subjects But the vegetable world can do better than either of the others for the variety is greater and their growth more really wonderful as the produc- tionS of nature display a remarkable artistic power which even the old mas ters failed to successfully initiate. All their genius and blending of colors never yet succeeded in producing the grandeur and beauty of the forests in autumnal seasons. The forest trees of America are the finest in the world and few of our best writers on agricultural productions have done justice to our oldest forest trees. Like the ancient artists, they fail in catching the de- sired inspiration to picture their sub- lime beauty and their still more won- derful utility.
 One of the most wonderful trees In the vegetable world is the banian tree a native of India, It is known as the Indian fig tree. Nature may well claim this production of her vegetable king
 dom as her masterpiece. Its curious
 and beautiful nature Is not known be- yond the genial climate of that coun-
 try. Each tree in itself is like a forest
 on liberal scale It does not seem to come under the law of decay, and every branch from the main trunk throws out
 roots of its own. At first a small Dl etlISIl oilOotS Oul IlS leuutl llUItS StN- eral paces, or yards, from the earth and continues to develop in growth till they become large and heavy enough to de- ! scend to the ground, planting their
 roots firmly in the soil, and increase till they send out other shoots and branch
 es like the first parent tree, always stretching their branches downward
 from the top. These in time reach the | ground and become parent trees re- ceiying nourishment from the soil, and | continue in a state of progression as | long as the earth round the first trunk | parent of all the others can give suste- | nance.
 | A banian tree In full growth forms a
 beautiful grove, beneath whose cool shade men and animals may find shell | ter from the burning rays of the sun, which is intensely hot In India. The leaves of this tree are beautiful, soft
 and of a rich green about six or seven | inches in length. The flowers are love- ly and the fruit resembles the fig. 1 When ripe they are of a most brilliant scarlet color, and afford nutritious food | for all classes of animals, such as mon keys and squirrels. The tree Is also @ | home for the parrot and peacock, and other birds of brilliant plumage who dwell amid its branches, nesting among l it's quivering leaves.
 | The Hindoos look upon this tree as
 being the dwelling place of their Deity,
 and some of them pay homage to it as
 a God. The Brahmins find a fame, or l altar of worship in those sacred groves, | for one banian tree forms a beautiful
 grove in itself. The most devout men
 among the native priests spend many
 hours and sometimes days at time in
 religious solitude communing with the
 Deity hidden among the shades of their
 sacred treees. They plant those trees
 near their beautiful temples, and other
 altars sacred to their gods, and o:ten- l times in their humble villages where | they are too poor for temples and pago- | das, they place images of the Deity be- heath the Banian trees, and lay their
 sacrifcial offerings upon altars built
 for the purpose, and there morning and
 evening pay homage to their highest
 idol of the Almighty.
 The leaves of this tree are a safe pro- l tection from the tropical sun, with | their cool recesses and long and beau | tiful walks. One of these trees is suffi-
 ciently large to shade whole town
 and two of the largest forts are be-
 heath those trees. St. David, one of the l forts, was described by an English off, cer as being "a cathedral in itself, where peace instead of war ought to reign"
 | Going back to the Arian priesthood. the historians of Ancient of Days de-
 scribe this tree as being the most won- derful production of nature, as one 1 supposed to be the celebrated tree de-
 scribed by Nearchus, who commanded respect for truthfulness, as covering | five acres, and extended its branches so | far that ten thousand men were shel-
 tered beneath them. Nearchus com
 manded the fleet of Alexander the
 Great and he described this tree grow l ing on the banks of the river Narbud- | da where the Alexandrian army was | once encamped. Forbes, the historian, 1 in his Oriental Memoirs speaks of the 1 age of the Banian and says he smoked his "Hookah" under the mighty tree
 which had once sheltered Alexander
 and part of his grand army. High | floods have. during the flight of ages, i washed away certain portions of this | tree, but over two thousand feet in cir | conference of it still remains, and the l branches since that time when Forb ss | described it, have struck downward till
 it covers many acres, or did, in the