The Farmington times and herald. (Farmington, St. Francois Co., Mo.) 1902-1905, 1905-08-25
WONDERFUL TREES.

II is difficult TO imaginr the
great length of time covered by SIN
thousand years, and conceive of
some object bearing that age!
Think OF standing under u tree
known to he that old In Chcpul-
tepec, in Mexico, there is one over
six thousand years old. II is an
enormous cypress tree, fully prov.
en- to be the oldest tree IN the
world Before it was discovered
the baohab trees of Contra Airicn
were thought the oldest in exist
cncc.
Some yew trees are among the
patrinrchs of the tree fnmiIv.
There is one a church yard in
Prrthshlrc, Scotland, that is over
twenty-five hundred years old.
Another at llrdsor, in Buclas,
numbers thirty two hundred aud
forty years, The trunk of this
tree is twcnty-srvru feet in diane
ter. The lrw was considered an
emblem of mourning from the
time of the ancient Egyptians to
that of the English many years
ago when it was the custom for
monrnrrs 10 carry in their hands
branches of yrw. which were
thrown into the graves before the
coffin was lowered. Milk, water,
butter, tnllow and soap are some
products Of some wonderful trees
The cow tree, which furnishes
milk, grows in Venezuela. The
milk is gray white IN color, and as
it hardens into gum when heat
ed, the natives gather around the
trees at sunrise, to gather large
bowlfuls before il is warmed hy
the sun.
The travellers tree" grows in
Madagascar. When its trunk is
pierced, ont flows stream of
pure cool water The natives use
It's bark and leaves in many ways.
The butter Itrcc" is aproduct OF
Central Africa. The butter is
made from n nut which grows on
il. The "tallow tree hears n
fruit whose seeds, when boiled,
Weld tallow.
The soap tIcc' is common to
Japan and also n growth to Flori-
la. 1t is called the soap tree
because an excellent soap is OBJ
tanned if its yellow berries are
boiled.
On the island of Goa, near, Bonn.
bay, is a tree called the sOrrowful
tree. " All day itsIleayes droop sor-
rowfully bnt when evening comes
they treshen and unfurl, and sweet
rolOred blossoms appear among
them, An angry tree" grows in
Northwestern Idaho. 1t goes tC
sleep at night by curling lis leave,
and twigs into a tight coils. II
disturbed ii hutter violently, and
rmits Il horrible Odor.
The oak tree is king among trees
md has received the homage due
its state for thousands of years
The oak grove at Dodna, in Greece,
vas n worshiping place for sixteen
hundred years. Here the priests
read the oracles of the gods in the
rustic of its leaves and the tlutter'
ng of the wings of the sacred pig
IONS that dweIt in the green Gov
rrts of the grover
The ancient Drnjds held the oak
in generation, and considered its
destruction crime. They as
cribcd healing virtues to the oak
and to the mistlcto which grows
on it. The oak typitied God, and
the mistleto mans dependence NJ.
on him for all his blessings.
An old superstition among farm
ers is that if the oak puts out its
leaves before the ash u productive
summer will ensue, bnt if the ash
leaves first, baron summer may
be taken for granted.
"'When the oak comes before the ash,
You II have a summer Of wet ana splash,
when the ash comes out before the OAK,
You'll have n summer oi dust ana smoke.
An old rhyme reads:
"HpNnrp of the oak II draws the stroke: