The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-09-10
SOME INDIAN TREES.
Their Many Economic Uses and the Sacred Character of Some.

Vlseu by an 0lQ reSluoht to 5el up tAe trees" This advice did not apply, as the recipient of it at first not unnatur- ally supposed, to an innocent and inex- Ipensive form of athletic exercise, nor to the adoption of the habits of the savage tribes known as tree dwellers, but simply to the advisability of learn- ing the names of the common trees of the country and of acquiring the power of recognizeing them when seen. For one thing, it is by trees that travellers off the beaten track are expected to find their way An Indian villager be he ever so ignorant in other respects, is as familiar with the trees in his neighborhood as a London policeman is with the streets on his beat. Instead of being told to take ''three to the right and two to the left" you are di- reeted to make straight for a big bany- an whose crest is to be discerned on the horizon. Pass to the east of it and you will come to three palm trees; lkeep them on your right hand and Ipass between a tamarind and a mango, and you will hit upon a path that will take you straight to the village you are searching for. So familiar are the peo- pie with the trees that the writer has met a vlllager who, after he became blind, could identify any tree by finger ing its leaves.
 Then the economic importance of trees can only be realized by those who have lived among the villagers. The food supplies are not by any means limited to the fruits of commerce. and flowers, leaves, twigs and roots are largely used as well. The leaves of certain trees, pinned together by twigs, serve as plates, or are fashioned into drinking cups. A great many domestic remedies, for man and beast, are also derived from the forest and there is no doubt that some of them are efiicacious, It is not so very long since some of the hill and jungle tribes of India, like our first parents, clothed themselves with leaves, and 1t is said that 1t re- quired a military expedition to induce some of the women in Orissa to discard this primitive dress in favor of cotton saries. A man will often make his house entirely from trees, plastered with little mud, the roof being con- structed of Palmyra palm leaves or others of a large size and firm texture. Dyes, gum, ink, books, shoes, water proof capes, gum, sealing wax, rope these are but a very few of the mis- cellaneous articles that are got from trees, No wonder the planting of a grove of trees ranks with diging tank or sinking well as a work of religious merit. If we were to include the ban- boo and similar plants the list of map- ufactured articles would be endless; but the bamboo Is grass and not a I tree. Even to mention the common trees of India would be a lengthy task, so we confne ourselves to the most familiar, Nearly all that are about to be mentioned are found either within the writer's compound or in its imne- diate neighborhood
 First come the big tribe: the banyan and his brothers The banyan, the big brother of the family, Is our very own-- Ficus bengalensis. That true tree lover Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote that his tree wives were more numerous than Brigham Young's human ones. The ring with which he welded them was a thirty foot measuring tape; with which he encirced them at the height of five feet above the ground His first class trees were those whose branches at their widest circumstance were more than hundred feet. His favorites wer elms; and he made some remarks about cherishing the hope of still having pleasure at the elm, even when youth was no longer on the prov. If merit goes by bulk no doubt the banyan comes first, and aciroumference of twenty feet round the trunk could hardly be regarded as a mark of dis tinction In it. But 1t is often 8 para site, vampire, sucking the life blood of it's victim and crushing it to death It's fruit is eaten by the very poor, lee plants greatly relish its leaves and branches, but it's widespread, grateful I duet. A much more handsome tree, more independent and self-respecting is the pinal, the Ficus religiosa. It is the most sacred of the trees regarded with veneration by the Hindus, the other four being the gular, the bargad the pakar and the mango, Brahma Vlshnu and Siva are all supposed to in- habit it, and no one can tell how many spirits as we'll whose whisperings are supposed to be heard when the leaves suspended by their long, slender stalks futter in the slightest breath of wind If man takes a pinal leaf in his hand and crushing it expresses a wish that the gods may so crush him if he Is mol telling the truth the oath is regarded as of the utmost sanctity.
 A pious Hindu will often take off hi: shoes when he comes to a. pipal, and walk five times round 1t from left tc right, repeating as he does so verse which says: "The roots are Brahma the bark Vishu, the branches the Ma hadeo. In the bark lives the Ganges the leaves are the minor deities. Hall to thee, king of trees" The gulal (Ficus glomerata), the bargad, which is another name for the banyan, and the pakar (Ficus venosa, are all mem- bers of the fig tribe, the Levites of the forest The gular yields larger frui' than the banyan, and is good dea used as a food. In the extremely hoi l a fl1ne nf fI1ic tho Wrif6r fO1InC