The Savannah morning news., 1901-03-25
GROVE OF FREAK TREES.
JERSEY GRowTHs HAVE ASSUMED
EXTRAORDINARY FORMS.


/ There Is n Pine Tree which Is Twist
ed Into the Likeness of Huge
serpent-A Fir Takes the Form OF
the Letter W." and a Combination
of Two GrOwths Forms a Perfect
"N"-Huse snaky Vines That Climb
the Treasures of Different sorts
That Grow Into One Another-SOme
Curious Cut Designs.
New York. March PIN Japan large
/ salaries are paid to skilled gardeners who
| can twist and torture trees from their
normal forms Of growth into the likeness
l of animals boats. houses and other de-
/ signs. OF late years the custom has been
/ imported TO this country, and with it the
Oriental tree twisters. Not the most skill
| full Of them. however, can beat natures
disorders Of vegetation, the persistent
winds. and the japanese. experts could
Learn lessons in the surprising and fantas-
/ tic. from a grove Of trees on the Jersey
coast.
The place is aptly called wildwood. 1t
| forms part of an island cut off from the
ocean. For centuries the gales have
wrought their fierce will upon the vege-
tation. Although the soil seems to be
largely composed of white sand il is fer
tile, otherwise these would not be on the
island, in the face Of the almost constant
winds. the luxuriant growth. both OF trees
and lower forms of vegetable de, with
which it is covered.
wild grapes are abundant and vines are
seen which are fully eight to twelve
inches thick and have In some cases so
! - 100 r. ,r-.r
real foliage can scarcely be seen. Ex-
tending along the ground and up the
trunks into the branches. some Of the
vines look like huge snakes, and many an
uususpecting visitor has had a shock by
coming into contact with their swaying
sinuosities in the shady hooks of the
place.
The trees themselves have assumed some
very odd forms. For instance, there are
two which are very similar to the letter
w" and have been called wv" trees by
the natives. One is a cherry tree which
has taken a fancy to grow in this way
while the other is a fir, which first split
away at the base, then described a curve
took hold of the gound and grew up again,
forming a perfect II rather widespread
w" The IN" tree is a curious COM
bination located a few hundred feet from
the W. trees. 1t is a composed of two
split off from the main bole. was probably
blown against the trunk of the other tree
and has actually grown in this form, al
though the end of the trunk branches OF
to one side The bent part which forms
the middle of the IN has grown into the
other tree distance of about four inches
Another curious form of growth is
shown In holly. from the roots OF the
main trunk a smaller one has started
/ &c. fcFn fO 70 at n m
than five different places from the top
branch to the ground. Some of the con-
neetions are but an inch or so in length,
while the others are four or five inches.
In the middle Of this curious grove Is a
lagoon, or pond, on the banks of which Is
| one of the oldest formations of the grove.
| This is a pine tree, which is still growing,
| in spite of disadvantages. The trunk has
| been twisted around so as to form the
| figure eight from one point of view and
the letter 20" looking at it from another
/ point while one of the branches or arms
| at the left forms head of snake,
| Including the curve in the neck
The front view OF the snake is start
fngly realistic, the head being OF the
true fiat-topped venomous type, and the
posture Enthusiastically viperine. The
tree is evidently very old, as indicated by
the trunk, and will probably be dead in
1 few years, as its foliage is scant and con-
fined to a few small. irregular boughs.
The mystery is why it did not die before,
| distorted as 1t is.
| In the center of Wildwood is a pavilion
where refreshments are served to visitors.
The principal support of this pavilion Is
formed by a tree, which passes through
| the center and out of the roof. It's
branches form an excellent protection
from the sun in summer, while the roof
| Orders are fastened into Ii in place OF the
| usual posts.
All these freak trees are located about
a mile from the highway on the banks
of what is known as Grassy Sound. They
| form a grove about mile long and hair
a mile in width In the entire lot scarce
| lv one can be found which grows like an
ordinary tree. The various species in
clude holly, birch, pine, cherry, ash and
| cedar Some of the eedars still giving
out leaves have not a particle OF bark
| upon their trunks from the ground to
the first branches. The winter gales nave
| stripped the covering. Experts who have
examined them say that many of the trees
| are undoubtedly several centuries old.
| TIL action of the wind upon the branches
had twisted them into every conceivable
| fashion so that IL is hard to tell where
| one branch begins and another ends. In
| several parts of the grove dtffirent kinds
| OF trees have grown together, such as fir
| and holly and cherry and ASH. The growth
is generally formed by a limb from one
being bent against the other, as shown in
the vase of the M tree remaining in
that place while 1t gradually made a cleft
for Itself 1t is quite common for two
trees of the same variety to grow to-
gether, but the joining of the different
varieties as shown here, is a problem
which the experts have not yet been able
to solve, especially where some of the
limbs grow from one tree directly into the
trunk of another and have not been forced
against the outside. A number of exam
} pies of this form Of growth are also to
be seen.
The owner of the grove has cut oui
some of the most striking distortions OF
the trees which have died One repre-
scnts a harp without strings, while an
other is in the form of a triangle. and
another seems to be modelled from a water
pitcher. ID. A. Wiley.
THE GAME or THREE BITS.