Arbor Day Leaves | Page 7

on the rooted faith and oaken will, As quickly the
pretender's cheat they feel, And turn mad Pucks to flout and mock him
still.
Lord! all Thy works are lessons,--each contains Some emblem of man's
all-containing soul; Shall he make fruitless all Thy glorious pains,
Delving within Thy grace an eyeless mole? Make me the least of Thy
Dodona-grove, Cause me some message of Thy truth to bring, Speak
but a word through me, nor let Thy love Among my boughs disdain to
perch and sing.
--JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL.
WHAT ONE TREE IS WORTH.
It will help us, perhaps, to appreciate properly, the value and manifold
uses of trees if we consider the uses to which a single one of the many
species is put. A Chinese gives us the following account of the
Bamboo.
"The bamboo plant is cultivated almost everywhere; it is remarkable for
its shade and beauty. There are about sixty varieties, different in size
according to its genus; ranging from that of a switch to a big pole

measuring from four to five inches in diameter. It is reared from shoots
and suckers, and, after the root once clings to the ground, it thrives and
spreads without further care or labor. Of these sixty varieties, each
thrives best in a certain locality, and throughout the whole empire of
China the bamboo groves not only embellish the gardens of the poor,
but the vast parks of the princes and wealthy. The use to which this
stately grass is put is truly wonderful. The tender shoots are cultivated
for food like the asparagus; the roots are carved into fantastic images of
men, birds, and monkeys. The tapering culms are used for all purposes
that poles can be applied to, in carrying, supporting, propelling, and
measuring; by the porter, the carpenter, and the boatman; for the joists
of houses and the ribs of sails; the shafts of spears and the wattles of
hurdles, the tubes of aqueducts and the handles and ribs of umbrellas
and fans. The leaves are sewed upon cords to make rain-cloaks for
farmers and boatmen, for sails to boats as well as junks, swept into
heaps to form manure, and matted into thatches to cover houses. The
bamboo wood is cut into splints and slivers of various sizes to make
into baskets and trays of every form and fancy, twisted into cables,
plaited into awnings, and woven into mats for the bed and floor, for the
sceneries of the theatre, for the roofs of boats, and the casing of goods.
The shavings are picked into oakum to be stuffed into mattresses. The
bamboo furnishes the bed for sleeping and the couch for reclining, the
chair for sitting, the chop-sticks for eating, the pipe for smoking, the
flute for entertaining; a curtain to hang before the door, and a broom to
sweep around it. The ferrule to govern the scholar, the book he studies
and the paper he writes upon, all originated from this wonderful grass.
The tapering barrels of the organ and the dreadful instrument of the
lictor--one to strike harmony, and the other to strike dread; the rule to
measure lengths, the cup to gauge quantities, and the bucket to draw
water; the bellows to blow the fire and the box to retain the match; the
bird-cage and crab-net, the fish-pole, and the water-wheel and eaveduct,
wheelbarrow, and hand-cart, and a host of other things, are the utilities
to which this magnificent grass is converted."
ENDURING CHARACTER OF THE FORESTS.
Of all the works of the creation which know the changes of life and

death, the trees of the forest have the longest existence. Of all the
objects which crown the gray earth, the woods preserved unchanged,
throughout the greatest reach of time, their native character. The works
of man are ever varying their aspect; his towns and his fields alike
reflect the unstable opinions, the fickle wills and fancies of each
passing generation; but the forests on his borders remain to-day the
same as they were ages of years since. Old as the everlasting hills,
during thousands of seasons they have put forth and laid down their
verdure in calm obedience to the decree which first bade them cover
the ruins of the Deluge.
SUSAN FENIMORE COOPER.
THE POPULAR POPLAR TREE.
When the great wind sets things whirling And rattles the window panes,
And blows the dust in giants And dragons tossing their manes; When
the willows have waves like water, And children are shouting with glee;
When the pines are alive and the larches,-- Then hurrah for you and me,
In the tip o' the top o' the top o' the tip of the popular poplar tree!
Don't talk about Jack and the Beanstalk-- He did not climb half so high!
And Alice in