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Handbook of Statistical Analysis
and Data Mining Applications

SECOND EDITION

Robert Nisbet, Ph.D.

University of California, Predictive Analytics Certificate Program, Santa
Barbara, Goleta, California, USA

Gary Miner, Ph.D.

University of California, Predictive Analytics Certificate Program, Tulsa,
Oklahoma and Rome, Georgia, USA

Ken Yale, D.D.S., J.D.

University of California, Predictive Analytics Certificate Program; and
Chief Clinical Officer, Delta Dental Insurance, San Francisco, California,
USA

Guest Authors of selected Chapters

John Elder IV, Ph.D.

Chairman of the Board, Elder Research, Inc., Charlottesville, Virginia, USA

Andy Peterson, Ph.D.

VP for Educational Innovation and Global Outreach, Western Seminary,
Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
Table of Contents

Cover image

Title page

Copyright

List of Tutorials on the Elsevier Companion Web Page

Foreword 1 for 1st Edition

Foreword 2 for 1st Edition

Preface
Overall Organization of This Book

Introduction
Patterns of Action

Human Intuition

Putting It All Together

Frontispiece
Praise for the 1st Edition of This Book

Advance Praise for the 2nd Edition of This Book

Biographies of the Primary Authors of This Book

Part I: History of Phases of Data Analysis, Basic
Theory, and the Data Mining Process

Chapter 1: The Background for Data Mining Practice

Abstract

Preamble

Data Mining or Predictive Analytics?

A Short History of Statistics and Predictive Analytics

Modern Statistics: A Duality?

Two Views of Reality

The Rise of Modern Statistical Analysis: The Second Generation

Machine Learning Methods: The Third Generation

Statistical Learning Theory: The Fourth Generation

Reinforced and Deep Learning

Current Trends of Development in Predictive Analytics

Postscript

Chapter 2: Theoretical Considerations for Data Mining

Abstract
 Preamble

The Scientific Method

What Is Data Mining?

A Theoretical Framework for the Data Mining Process

Strengths of the Data Mining Process

Customer-Centric Versus Account-Centric: A New Way to Look at Your Data

The Data Paradigm Shift

Creation of the Car

Major Activities of Data Mining

Major Challenges of Data Mining

General Examples of Data Mining Applications

Major Issues in Data Mining

General Requirements for Success in a Data Mining Project

Example of a Data Mining Project: Classify a Bat's Species by Its Sound

The Importance of Domain Knowledge

Postscript

Chapter 3: The Data Mining and Predictive Analytic Process

Abstract

Preamble

The Science of Data Mining/Predictive Analytics

The Approach to Understanding and Problem Solving

CRISP-DM

Business Understanding (Mostly Art)

 Data Understanding (Mostly Science)

Data Preparation (A Mixture of Art and Science)

Modeling (A Mixture of Art and Science)

Deployment (Mostly Art)

Closing the Information Loop* (Art)

The Art of Data Mining

Postscript

Chapter 4: Data Understanding and Preparation

Abstract

Preamble

Activities of Data Understanding and Preparation

Issues That Should Be Resolved

Basic Issues That Must Be Resolved in Data Understanding (See Fig. 3.1 in
Chapter 3)

Basic Issues That Must Be Resolved in Data Preparation

Data Understanding

Postscript

Chapter 5: Feature Selection

Abstract

Preamble

Variables as Features

Types of Feature Selection

 Feature Ranking Methods

Subset Selection Methods

Postscript

Chapter 6: Accessory Tools for Doing Data Mining

Abstract

Preamble

Data Access Tools

Data Exploration Tools

Modeling Management Tools

Modeling Analysis Tools

In-place Data Processing (IDP)

Rapid Deployment of Predictive Models

Model Monitors

Postscript

Part II: The Algorithms and Methods in Data

Mining and Predictive Analytics and Some Domain
Areas

Introduction

Chapter 7: Basic Algorithms for Data Mining: A Brief Overview

Abstract

Preamble
 Introduction

Generalized Additive Models (GAM)

Classification and Regression Trees (CART)

Generalized EM and k-Means Cluster Analysis—An Overview

Postscript

Chapter 8: Advanced Algorithms for Data Mining

Abstract

Preamble

Introduction

Advanced Data Mining Algorithms

Quality Control Data Mining and Root Cause Analysis

Postscript

Chapter 9: Classification
Abstract

Preamble

What Is Classification?

Initial Operations in Classification

Major Issues With Classification

Assumptions of Classification Procedures

Analyzing Imbalanced Data Sets With Machine Learning Programs

Phases in the Operation of Classification Algorithms

Advantages and Disadvantages of Common Classification Algorithms

 CHAID

Which Algorithm Is Best for Classification?

Postscript

Chapter 10: Numerical Prediction

Abstract

Preamble

Linear Response Analysis and the Assumptions of the Parametric Model

Parametric Statistical Analysis

Assumptions of the Parametric Model

Linear Regression

Generalized Linear Model (GLM)

Methods for Analyzing Nonlinear Relationships

Nonlinear Regression and Estimation

Data Mining and Machine Learning Algorithms Used in Numerical Prediction

Advantages of Classification and Regression Trees (CART) Methods

Application to Mixed Models

Neural Nets for Prediction

Support Vector Machines (SVMS) and Other Kernel Learning Algorithms

Postscript

Chapter 11: Model Evaluation and Enhancement

Abstract

Preamble
 Evaluation and Enhancement: Part of the Modeling Process

Types of Errors in Analytical Models

Model Enhancement Techniques

Model Enhancement Checklist

Postscript

Chapter 12: Predictive Analytics for Population Health and Care

Abstract

Preamble

The Future of Healthcare, and How Predictive Analytics Fits

Predictive Analytics and Population Health

Predictive Analytics and Precision Medicine

Postscript

Chapter 13: Big Data in Education: New Efficiencies for Recruitment,

Learning, and Retention of Students and Donors
Abstract

Preamble

Introduction

Industrial Integration of Educational Psychology and Big Data Analytics

Postscript

Chapter 14: Customer Response Modeling

Abstract

Preamble
 Early CRM Issues in Business

Knowing How Customers Behaved Before They Acted

CRM in Business Ecosystems

Conclusions

Postscript

Chapter 15: Fraud Detection

Abstract

Preamble

Issues With Fraud Detection

How Do You Detect Fraud?

Supervised Classification of Fraud

How Do You Model Fraud?

How Are Fraud Detection Systems Built?

Intrusion Detection Modeling

Comparison of Models With and Without Time-Based Features

Building Profiles

Deployment of Fraud Profiles

Postscript

Part III: Tutorials and Case Studies

Introduction
Tutorial A: Example of Data Mining Recipes Using Windows 10 and
Statistica 13
Abstract

Tutorial B: Using the Statistica Data Mining Workspace Method for

Analysis of Hurricane Data (Hurrdata.sta)
Abstract

Tutorial C: Case Study—Using SPSS Modeler and STATISTICA to

Predict Student Success at High-Stakes Nursing Examinations
(NCLEX)
Abstract

Introduction

Decision Management in Nursing Education

Case Study

Research Question

Literature Review

Dataset and Expected Strength of Predictors

Data Mining With SPSS Modeler

Data Mining With STATISTICA

Conclusion

Tutorial D: Constructing a Histogram in KNIME Using MidWest

Company Personality Data
Abstract
Tutorial E: Feature Selection in KNIME
Abstract

Why Select Features?

Occam's Razor—Simple, But Not Simplistic

Local Minimum Error

Moving Out of the Local Minimum

Strategies for Reduction of Dimensionality in Predictive Analytics Available in

KNIME

Tutorial F: Medical/Business Tutorial

Abstract

Tutorial G: A KNIME Exercise, Using Alzheimer's Training Data of

Tutorial F
Abstract

Introduction

KNIME Project

Getting the Program to Open Microsoft Excel CSV File: Alzheimer Training
Data

Decision Trees Node

Linear Correlation Node

Conditional Box Plot Node

Decision Trees Again

End Note
Tutorial H: Data Prep 1-1: Merging Data Sources
Abstract

Tutorial I: Data Prep 1–2: Data Description

Abstract

Tutorial J: Data Prep 2-1: Data Cleaning and Recoding

Abstract

Tutorial K: Data Prep 2-2: Dummy Coding Category Variables

Abstract

Tutorial L: Data Prep 2-3: Outlier Handling

Abstract

Tutorial M: Data Prep 3-1: Filling Missing Values With Constants

Abstract

Tutorial N: Data Prep 3-2: Filling Missing Values With Formulas

Abstract

Tutorial O: Data Prep 3-3: Filling Missing Values With a Model

Abstract

Tutorial P: City of Chicago Crime Map: A Case Study Predicting

Certain Kinds of Crime Using Statistica Data Miner and Text Miner
 Abstract

Data Analysis

Text Mining

Boosted Trees

Tutorial Q: Using Customer Churn Data to Develop and Select a Best

Predictive Model for Client Defection Using STATISTICA Data
Miner 13 64-bit for Windows 10
Abstract

About This Tutorial

Business Objectives

Data Preparation

Feature Selection

Building a Predictive Model With STATISTICA Data Miner DMRecipes

Model Evaluation

Tutorial R: Example With C&RT to Predict and Display Possible

Structural Relationships,
Abstract

Tutorial S: Clinical Psychology: Making Decisions About Best

Therapy for a Client
Abstract

Part IV: Model Ensembles, Model Complexity;

Using the Right Model for the Right Use,
Significance, Ethics, and The Future, and Advanced
Processes

Introduction

Chapter 16: The Apparent Paradox of Complexity in Ensemble

Modeling
Abstract

Acknowledgment

Preamble

Introduction

Model Ensembles

How Measure Model Complexity?

Generalized Degrees of Freedom

Examples: Decision Tree Surface With Noise

Summary and Discussion

Postscript

Chapter 17: The “Right Model” for the “Right Purpose”: When Less
Is Good Enough
Abstract

Preamble

More Is Not Necessarily Better: Lessons From Nature and Engineering

Postscript
Chapter 18: A Data Preparation Cookbook
Abstract

Preamble

Introduction

CRISP-DM—Business Understanding Phase

CRISP-DM—Data Understanding Phase

CRISP-DM—Data Preparation Phase

CRISP-DM—Modeling Phase

18 Common Mistakes in Data Preparation in Predictive Analytics Projects

Postscript

Chapter 19: Deep Learning

Abstract

Preamble

The Guiding Concept of DL Technology—Human Cognition

Early Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs)

How ANNs Work

More Elaborate Architectures—DL Neural Networks

Postscript

Chapter 20: Significance versus Luck in the Age of Mining: The

Issues of P-Value “Significance” and “Ways to Test Significance of
Our Predictive Analytic Models”
Abstract

Preamble
 Introduction

The Problem of Significance in Traditional P-Value Statistical Analysis

Usual Data Mining/Predictive Analytic Performance Measures—Terminology

Unique Ways to Test Accuracy (“Significance”) of Machine Learning Predictive

Models

Compare Predictive Model Performance Against Random Results With Lift

Charts and Decile Tables

Evaluate the Validity of Your Discovery With Target Shuffling

Test Predictive Model Consistency With Bootstrap Sampling

Postscript

Chapter 21: Ethics and Data Analytics

Abstract

Preamble

The Birthday Party—A Practical Example for Ethical Action

Academic Secular Ethics

Ethics and Data Science for the Norms of Government (Deontological-

Normative)

Ethics and Data Science for the Goals in Business (Situational-Teleological)

Ethics and Data Science for the Virtues of Personal Life (Existential-
Motivational)

Combination: Right Standards, Right Goals, and Personal Virtue (Normative,

Situational, Existential)

Michael Sandel on “Doing The Right Thing” With Data Analytics

Discovering Data Ethics in an “Alignment Methodology”

Chapter 22: IBM Watson
Abstract

Preamble

Introduction

What Exactly Is Watson?

Jeopardy!

Internal Features of Watson

Application Programming Interfaces (APIs)

Software Development Kits (SDKs)

Some Existing Applications of Watson Techology

Ushering in the Cognitive Era

Postscript

Index
Copyright
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No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any

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Agency, can be found at our website:
www.elsevier.com/permissions.

This book and the individual contributions contained in it are

protected under copyright by the Publisher (other than as may be
noted herein).

Notices
Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing.
As new research and experience broaden our understanding,
changes in research methods, professional practices, or medical
treatment may become necessary.
Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own
experience and knowledge in evaluating and using any
information, methods, compounds, or experiments described
herein. In using such information or methods they should be
mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including
parties for whom they have a professional responsibility.

To the fullest extent of the law, neither the Publisher nor the
authors, contributors, or editors, assume any liability for any injury
and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products
liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of
any methods, products, instructions, or ideas contained in the
material herein.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of
Congress

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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-0-12-416632-5

For information on all Academic Press publications visit our website

at https://www.elsevier.com/books-and-journals

Publisher: Candice Janco

Acquisition Editor: Graham Nisbet
Editorial Project Manager: Susan Ikeda
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Typeset by SPi Global, India

List of Tutorials on the Elsevier
Companion Web Page
Note: This list includes all the extra tutorials published with the 1st
edition of this handbook (2009). These can be considered
“enrichment” tutorials for readers of this 2nd edition. Since the 1st
edition of the handbook will not be available after the release of the
2nd edition, these extra tutorials are carried over in their original
format/versions of software, as they are still very useful in learning
and understanding data mining and predictive analytics, and many
readers will want to take advantage of them.
List of Extra Enrichment Tutorials that are only on the
ELSEVIER COMPANION web page, with data sets as appropriate,
for downloading and use by readers of this 2nd edition of
handbook:
1. TUTORIAL “O”—Boston Housing Using Regression Trees
[Field: Demographics]
2. TUTORIAL “P”—Cancer Gene [Field: Medical Informatics &
Bioinformatics]
3. TUTORIAL “Q”—Clustering of Shoppers [Field: CRM—
Clustering Techniques]
4. TUTORIAL “R”—Credit Risk using Discriminant Analysis
[Field: Financial—Banking]
5. TUTORIAL “S”—Data Preparation and Transformation [Field:
Data Analysis]
6. TUTORIAL “T”—Model Deployment on New Data [Field:
Deployment of Predictive Models]
7. TUTORIAL “V”—Heart Disease Visual Data Mining Methods
[Field: Medical Informatics]
 8. TUTORIAL “W”—Diabetes Control in Patients [Field: Medical
Informatics]
9. TUTORIAL “X”—Independent Component Analysis [Field:
Separating Competing Signals]
10. TUTORIAL “Y”—NTSB Aircraft Accidents Reports [Field:
Engineering—Air Travel—Text Mining]
11. TUTORIAL “Z”—Obesity Control in Children [Field:
Preventive Health Care]
12. TUTORIAL “AA”—Random Forests Example [Field: Statistics
—Data Mining]
13. TUTORIAL “BB”—Response Optimization [Field: Data Mining
—Response Optimization]
14. TUTORIAL “CC”—Diagnostic Tooling and Data Mining:
Semiconductor Industry [Field: Industry—Quality Control]
15. TUTORIAL “DD”—Titanic—Survivors of Ship Sinking [Field:
Sociology]
16. TUTORIAL “EE”—Census Data Analysis [Field: Demography
—Census]
17. TUTORIAL “FF”—Linear & Logistic Regression—Ozone Data
[Field: Environment]
18. TUTORIAL “GG”—R-Language Integration—DISEASE
SURVIVAL ANALYSIS Case Study [Field: Survival Analysis—
Medical Informatics]
19. TUTORIAL “HH”—Social Networks Among Community
Organizations [Field: Social Networks—Sociology & Medical
Informatics]
20. TUTORIAL “II”—Nairobi, Kenya Baboon Project: Social
Networking Among Baboon Populations in Kenya on the
Laikipia Plateau [Field: Social Networks]
21. TUTORIAL “JJ”—Jackknife and Bootstrap Data Miner
Workspace and MACRO [Field: Statistics Resampling
Methods]
22. TUTORIAL “KK”—Dahlia Mosaic Virus: A DNA Microarray
Analysis of 10 Cultivars from a Single Source: Dahlia Garden in
Prague, Czech Republic [Field: Bioinformatics]
 The final companion site URL will be
https://www.elsevier.com/books-and-journals/book-
companion/9780124166325.
Foreword 1 for 1st Edition
This book will help the novice user become familiar with data
mining. Basically, data mining is doing data analysis (or statistics) on
data sets (often large) that have been obtained from potentially many
sources. As such, the miner may not have control of the input data,
but must rely on sources that have gathered the data. As such, there
are problems that every data miner must be aware of as he or she
begins (or completes) a mining operation. I strongly resonated to the
material on “The Top 10 Data Mining Mistakes,” which give a
worthwhile checklist:
• Ensure you have a response variable and predictor variables—
and that they are correctly measured.
• Beware of overfitting. With scads of variables, it is easy with most
statistical programs to fit incredibly complex models, but they
cannot be reproduced. It is good to save part of the sample to use
to test the model. Various methods are offered in this book.
• Don't use only one method. Using only linear regression can be a
problem. Try dichotomizing the response or categorizing it to
remove nonlinearities in the response variable. Often, there are
clusters of values at zero, which messes up any normality
assumption. This, of course, loses information, so you may want
to categorize a continuous response variable and use an
alternative to regression. Similarly, predictor variables may need
to be treated as factors rather than linear predictors. A classic
example is using marital status or race as a linear predictor when
there is no order.
• Asking the wrong question—when looking for a rare
phenomenon, it may be helpful to identify the most common
pattern. These may lead to complex analyses, as in item 3, but
 they may also be conceptually simple. Again, you may need to
take care that you don't overfit the data.
• Don't become enamored with the data. There may be a
substantial history from earlier data or from domain experts that
can help with the modeling.
• Be wary of using an outcome variable (or one highly correlated
with the outcome variable) and becoming excited about the
result. The predictors should be “proper” predictors in the sense
that they (a) are measured prior to the outcome and (b) are not a
function of the outcome.
• Do not discard outliers without solid justification. Just because an
observation is out of line with others is insufficient reason to
ignore it. You must check the circumstances that led to the value.
In any event, it is useful to conduct the analysis with the
observation(s) included and excluded to determine the sensitivity
of the results to the outlier.
• Extrapolating is a fine way to go broke; the best example is the
stock market. Stick within your data, and if you must go outside,
put plenty of caveats. Better still, restrain the impulse to
extrapolate. Beware that pictures are often far too simple and we
can be misled. Political campaigns oversimplify complex
problems (“my opponent wants to raise taxes”; “my opponent
will take us to war”) when the realities may imply we have some
infrastructure needs that can be handled only with new funding
or we have been attacked by some bad guys.
Be wary of your data sources. If you are combining several sets of
data, they need to meet a few standards:
• The definitions of variables that are being merged should be
identical. Often, they are close but not exact (especially in
metaanalysis where clinical studies may have somewhat different
definitions due to different medical institutions or laboratories).
• Be careful about missing values. Often, when multiple data sets
are merged, missing values can be induced: one variable isn't
present in another data set; what you thought was a unique
variable name was slightly different in the two sets, so you end
up with two variables that both have a lot of missing values.
 p g
• How you handle missing values can be crucial. In one example, I
used complete cases and lost half of my sample; all variables had
at least 85% completeness, but when put together, the sample lost
half of the data. The residual sum of squares from a stepwise
regression was about 8. When I included more variables using
mean replacement, almost the same set of predictor variables
surfaced, but the residual sum of squares was 20. I then used
multiple imputation and found approximately the same set of
predictors but had a residual sum of squares (median of 20
imputations) of 25. I find that mean replacement is rather
optimistic but surely better than relying on only complete cases.
Using stepwise regression, I find it useful to replicate it with a
bootstrap or with multiple imputations. However, with large
data sets, this approach may be expensive computationally.
To conclude, there is a wealth of material in this handbook that
will repay study.
Peter A. Lachenbruch, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, United States,
American Statistical Association, Alexandria, VA, United States, Johns Hopkins
University, Baltimore, MD, United States, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, United States,
University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, United States, University of North Carolina, Chapel
Hill, NC, United States
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
 THE LILAC.

The Lilac, though not one of our native trees, has become so
generally naturalized in our fields and gardens as hardly to be
distinguished from them except by its absence from the forest. It is
common in all waste lands that were formerly the sites of ancient
dwelling-houses, marking the spot where the garden was situated by
its irregular clumps; for when neglected it does not assume the shape
of a tree, but forms an assemblage of long stems from one spreading
root, like the barberry and the sumach. Under favorable conditions it
is a very handsome tree, seldom rising above twelve or fifteen feet,
but displaying a round head, and covered in its season with a
profusion of flowers, unfolding their beautiful pyramidal clusters
regularly on the last week in May. The color of these flowers is
perfectly unique, having given the name by which painters
distinguish one of their most important tints. The foliage of this tree
is not remarkable, except for the regular heart shape of the leaves. It
displays no tints in the autumn, but falls from the tree while its
verdure remains untarnished.
The Lilac is still cultivated and prized in all our country villages.
But its praise is seldom spoken in these days, for Fashion, who
refuses to acknowledge any beauty in what is common, discarded
this tree as soon as it became domesticated in humble cottage
gardens. Even the rose would long ago have been degraded from its
ancient honors by this vulgar arbiter of taste, if it had not been
multiplied into hundreds of varieties, permitting one after another to
take its turn in monopolizing to itself those praises which are due to
the primitive rose.
 THE BARBERRY.

All the inhabitants of New England are familiar with the common
Barberry, one of those humble objects of the landscape that possess
great merit with little celebrity. It is allied in picturesque scenery
with the whortleberry and the bramble. We see it in hilly pastures,
upon soils less primitive than those occupied by the vaccinium,
though it is not uncommon as an under-shrub in many of our half-
wooded lands. I have not yet been able to obtain a definite idea of the
nature of those qualities that entitle a plant to the praises of florists
and landscape gardeners, since we find them admiring the ugly
mahonia more than the common Barberry, and the glutinous and
awkward rose-acacia more than the common locust. The praises of
the Barberry have not been spoken; but if our landscape were
deprived of this shrub, half the beauty of our scenery would be
wanting in many places. Its flowers hanging from every spray in
golden racemes, arranged all along in the axils of the leaves from the
junction of the small branches to their extremities, always attract
attention. But though elegant and graceful, they are not so
conspicuous as the scarlet fruit in autumn. There is not in our fields a
more beautiful shrub in October, when our rude New England hills
gleam with frequent clumps of them, following the courses of the
loose stone walls and the borders of rustic lanes. Even after it is
stripped of its fruit, the pale red tints of its foliage render it still an
attractive object in the landscape.
 THE MISSOURI CURRANT.

Among the flowering shrubs which are universally admired for the
fragrance and beauty of their early blossoms, the Missouri Currant
deserves more than a passing mention. Though introduced into New
England since the beginning of the present century, it has become a
universal favorite in our gardens, where it is cultivated chiefly for the
agreeable odor of its flowers, resembling that of cloves, and
penetrating the air on all still days in May. This shrub has a small
leaf with irregular pointed lobes, turning to a pale crimson in
autumn. The flowers are in small racemes like those of the common
garden currant, but brighter in their hues, which are of a golden
yellow, and producing only a few large berries of a pure shining
black. This species is chiefly prized for its flowers, and is not
cultivated for its fruit.
 THE CEANOTHUS, OR JERSEY TEA.

The Ceanothus was formerly well known to the people of the

United States under the name of Jersey Tea. Its leaves were
extensively used as an imitation tea during the Revolution. They
seem to possess no decided medicinal qualities, being somewhat
astringent, slightly bitter, but not aromatic. It has been learned from
experience that the aromatic plants, by constant use as teas, will pall
upon the appetite, and injuriously affect digestion; while those which
are slightly bitter, but wanting in aroma, like the China tea plant,
may be used without seriously affecting the health for an indefinite
space of time. I believe it may also be stated as a maxim, that those
plants whose properties are sufficiently active to be used as
medicines have never been long employed by any people as
substitutes for tea.
The flowers of the Ceanothus are white, in full and elegant
clusters, without any formality of shape, having a downy appearance,
always attracting attention, not so much by their beauty as by their
delicacy and their profusion. This plant is abundant in New England,
flowering in June on the borders of dry woods.
 FOLIAGE.

Foliage is the most conspicuous of the minute productions of

nature. To the leaves of trees we look, not only for the gratification of
our sense of beauty, but as the chief source of grateful shade and of
the general charms of summer. They are the pride of trees no less
than their flowers, and the cause of healthful freshness in the
atmosphere. They afford concealment to small birds and
quadrupeds, they give color to the woods, and yield constant
pleasure to the sight without any weariness. It is remarkable that we
always trace with delight the forms of leaves in other objects of
nature,—in the frostwork on our windows, in the lichens that cover
the rocks in the forest, in the figures on a butterfly’s wing. Especially
in art do we admire the imitation of foliage. It is, indeed, the source
of half the beauty of this earth; for it constitutes the verdure of field
and lawn, as well as of woods. Flowers are partial in their
distribution, but foliage is universal, and is the material with which
nature displays countless forms of beauty, from the small acicular
leaves of the delicate heath plant, to the broad pennons of the
banana, that float like banners over the hut of the negro.
With the putting forth of leaves we associate the most cheerful and
delightful of seasons. In their plaited and half-unfolded condition
and in their lighter hues we behold the revival of spring, and in their
full development and perfected verdure the wealth, the ripeness, and
the joyful fruition of summer. The different colors they assume are
indeed the true dials of the year; pale shades of all denote its vernal
opening; dark and uniform shades of green mark the summer; and
those of gold, crimson and russet the autumn; so that by the leaves
alone we might determine the month of the year. They form a
delightful groundwork both for fruit and for flowers, harmonizing
with each and making no discord with any hues of vegetation. If we
consider leaves only as individual objects, they will not compare with
flowers either in beauty of form or color. A single leaf seldom attracts
a great deal of attention; but leaves in the aggregate are so important
a part of the beauty of Nature, that she would not possess any great
attraction for the sight without them. A cactus, though admired as a
curiosity, and as the parent of magnificent flowers, is on account of
its leafless habit but a miserable object; and we can imagine how
forlorn must be the scenery of those Peruvian regions where the
different species of cactus are the principal forms of vegetation.
It is very general to admire foliage in proportion as it is dense and
capable of affording an impenetrable shade; but however desirable
this may be to yield us a pleasant retreat on a summer noon, the
beauty of a tree is not much improved by this quality. At a distance it
presents a lumpish and uniform mass, with but little character; while
a tree with moderately thin foliage, so thin as to be penetrated by the
flickering sunshine, often discovers a great deal of character, by
permitting the forms of the branches to be traced through its
shadows. When I sit under a tree, I want to see the blue sky faintly
glimmering through the leaves, and to view their forms on its clear
surface when I look upwards. I would dispense with a profusion of
shade, if it could be obtained only by shutting these things out from
observation. Hence I always feel a sensation of gladness when
rambling in a birchen grove, in which the small thin foliage and airy
spray of the trees permit the sun and shade to meet and mingle
playfully around my path.
The lumpish character of the foliage of large-leaved trees, like the
tulip and magnolia, is perceptible at almost any distance, causing
them to appear like green blots upon the landscape. The small-leaved
trees, on the contrary, exhibit a certain neatness of spray, which
immediately affects the eye with a sensation of beauty. This
appearance is beautifully exemplified in the beech. Some of the
large-leaved trees, however, possess a kind of formality that renders
them very attractive. Such is the horse-chestnut, that spreads out its
broad palmate leaves with their tips slightly drooping, like so many
parasols held one above another. People have learned to admire large
and broad foliage from descriptions of the immense size of tropical
leaves, and by associating them with the romance of a voluptuous
climate. The long pennon-like leaves of the banana and the wide
fronds of the fan palm naturally excite the imagination of the
inhabitant of the North.
The form of leaves, no less than their size, has a great share in
their general effects, even when viewed from a distant point, where
their outlines cannot be discriminated. If they are deeply cleft, like
those of the river maple and the scarlet oak, or finely pinnate, like
those of the locust and the mountain ash, we perceive a light,
feathery appearance in the whole mass, before we are near enough to
distinguish the form of individual leaves. This quality is apparent in
the honey locust as far off as the tree can be identified. Hence the
forms of leaves do not produce all their effect upon a near view; but
in ornamental designs in the fine arts the delineations of foliage
alone are considered. In the tracery of fenestral architecture, leaves
are a very general and favorite ornament; and in photographic
pictures of single leaves, the beauty of their outlines becomes more
evident than in nature.
The most remarkable quality of foliage is color; and all will admit
that green is the only color that would not produce weariness and
final disgust. Omitting what may be said of autumn tints, the
different shades of green in the forest, both while the foliage is
ripening and after its maturity, constitute a very important
distinction of individuals and species. Pure green is rarely found in
any kind, except in its early stage of ripeness. The foliage of trees,
when fully matured, is slightly tinged with brown or russet, and on
the under side with white or blue. Painters, therefore, seldom use
unalloyed green in their foliage; for even if they would represent its
appearance in early summer, when its verdure is nearly pure, the
effects of sunshine and shade upon the green forest can be produced
only by a liberal mixture of the warm tints of orange and yellow when
the sunshine falls upon it, and of purple and violet when it is in
shadow.
If I were to select an example of what seems to me the purest green
of vegetation, I should point to grass when smoothly shorn, as in a
well-dressed lawn, so that the leaf only remains. By comparing the
verdure of different trees with this example, we shall find it generally
of a darker shade and inferior purity. The only trees of our soil that
seem to me lighter, when in leaf, than grass, are the plane and the
catalpa. We must observe trees on a cloudy day to distinguish the
different shades of their foliage with precision. In such a state of the
atmosphere they are all equally favored by the light; while, if the sun
shines upon them, their verdure is modified according to the
direction in which it is viewed.
That kind of foliage to which the epithet “silver” is usually applied
is a very general favorite; but it is admired only because it is rare. I
cannot believe, if the two kinds were equally common, that the silver
leaf would be preferred to the green; for this is the color that affords
the most enduring satisfaction. The white poplar is the most
remarkable example of silver foliage. The river maple has less of this
quality, though it seems to be one of the points for which it is
admired. Nature displays but very little variegated foliage among her
wild productions, except in the spring and autumn. It is evidently an
abnormal habit; hence we find this variegation chiefly in those plants
which have been modified by the cultivator’s art, and it seldom
constitutes a specific mark of distinction.
In our studies of foliage we must not overlook the grasses, which
are composed almost entirely of leaves. They contribute as much to
the beauty of landscape as the verdure of trees, and collectively more
than flowers. We need only a passing thought to convince us how
tame and lifeless the landscape would be, though every hill were
crowned with flowers, and every tree blossomed with gay colors, if
there were no grasses or some kind of herbage to take their place.
Hence the superior beauty of Northern landscape compared with the
general scenery of tropical regions. There are more individual objects
in a Southern land which are curious and beautiful, but its want of
green fields soon renders its scenery wearisome.
There is also an interest attached to hills and meadows covered
with green herbage, and pastured by flocks and herds, that comes
from our sympathies and imagination, and causes the verdure of
grass, when outspread upon their surface, to possess a moral or
relative beauty displayed by few other natural objects. There is
nothing else in landscape to be compared with it, and nearly all
outdoor scenes would be cold and insipid without it. It expresses the
fertility of the soil; it tells of gentle showers that have not been
wanting; and it becomes thereby the symbol of providential care, the
sign of pastoral abundance and rural prosperity. We find the grasses
only where nature has made the greatest provision for the comfort
and happiness of man and animals. All the beauties and bounties of
springtime and harvest gather round them; the dews of morning
glisten upon them like stars in the heavens; the flowers are sprinkled
upon them like gems in beautiful tapestry; the little brooks ripple
through them with sounds that are always cheerful, and flash in the
sunlight as they leap over their bending blades. The merry
multitudes of the insect race gain from them shelter and subsistence,
and send up an unceasing chorus of merry voices from their verdure,
which is a beautiful counterpart of the blue of heaven.
It may be truly said that no splendor of flowers or of the foliage of
trees would make amends for the absence of grass. Distant hills and
plains may be made beautiful by trees alone; but all near grounds
require this velvety covering to render them grateful to the sight or
interesting to the mind. This is the picturesque view of the subject;
but in the eyes of a botanist grass is almost infinite in its attractions.
In every field or pasture that offers its tender blades to the grazing
herds, there are multitudes of species, beside the thousands of herbs
and flowers and ferns and mosses which are always blended with
them, and assist in composing their verdure. What seems to the eyes
of a child a mere uniform mass of green is an assemblage of different
species that would afford study for a lifetime. Grasses, though
minute objects, are vast in their assemblages; but if we reflect on the
phenomena of nature, we shall not consider the least thing any less
admirable than the greatest. The same amount of wonderful
mechanism is indicated in a spear of herdsgrass as in the bamboo
that exceeds in height the trees of our forest; and the little cascade
that falls over the pebbles in our footpath is as admirable to one who
regards it as evincing the power of nature, as the Falls of Niagara.
 THE TUPELO.

The old town of Beverly, which was a part of Salem during the era
of witchcraft, abounds, like other townships on the northern coast of
Massachusetts Bay, in rugged and romantic scenery. On one of the
bald hills of this town, a pond fed by a spring near the top of the hill
served as a watering-place for the flocks that were pastured there.
The only tree on this elevation of bare granite, interspersed with little
meadows of thin soil, covered with sweet-fern and whortleberry-
bushes, stood on the brink of this pond. It was an ancient Tupelo,
and attracted the attention of every visitor by the singular manner in
which it spread its long branches in a crooked and horizontal
direction over this emerald pool. It became the wonder of all that the
tree should adopt such an eccentricity of habit, hardly showing a
single branch on the land side, and bending over the water like an
angler sitting at his task. It was evident that it had never been
trimmed into this shape by artificial means. Many people, therefore,
believed that its grotesque appearance had some connection with
witchcraft, and that the witches who were hanged upon it had caused
all the branches to wither and fall on the side that held the victims.
This tree has, I believe, no representative on the old continent; and
though there are several species in the United States, only one is
found in New England. Here it is one of the most remarkable trees as
a picturesque object in landscape. Indeed, there is no other tree, not
excepting the oak, that will compare with it in certain eccentricities
of habit. It has received a variety of names in different parts of the
country, being called “Swamp Hornbeam,” from the toughness of its
wood; “Umbrella Tree,” from a peculiar habit of some individuals to
become flattened and slightly convex at the top. Among our country
people it is known as the “Wild Pear,” from a fancied resemblance
between its foliage and that of the common pear-tree. The
resemblance seems to consist only in the size and gloss of its leaves.
In the Middle and Southern States it is called the “Sour Gum,” to
distinguish it from the “Sweet Gum,” or Liquidambar. The name of
Tupelo was given it by the aboriginal inhabitants.
The shapes assumed by the Tupelo are exceedingly grotesque,
though it is frequently as regular in its growth as our most
symmetrical trees. It is sometimes quite erect, extending its branches
horizontally and pretty equally on all sides, but generally forming a
more or less flattened top. More frequently the Tupelo displays no
symmetry of any kind, extending its branches mostly on one side,
and often putting forth two or three branches greatly beyond all the
others. Many of these are considerably twisted, inclining downward
from a horizontal position, not with a curve like those of the elm, but
straight, like those of the spruce, though without any of its formality.
The spray is very different from that of other trees. Every important
branch is covered all round, at top, bottom, and sides, with short
twigs, at right angles with the branch. Some of the swamp oaks
resemble the Tupelo in fantastic shape, but they never have a
flattened top.
The Tupelo is the very opposite of the ash in its general characters;
the one is precisely regular in its habits, the other eccentric and
grotesque. The leaves and small branches of the ash are opposite,
those of the Tupelo alternate; the one has a coarse, the other a finely
divided spray: so that there are no two trees of the forest so entirely
unlike. It is remarkable that an isolated situation, which is favorable
to symmetry and good proportions in other trees, increases the
specific peculiarities of the Tupelo. If it has stood alone and sent
forth its branches without restraint, it then displays the most
grotesque irregularity, showing that its normal habit of growth is
eccentric.
The foliage of the Tupelo is remarkable for its fine glossy verdure.
The leaves are oval, narrowing toward the stem and rounded at the
extremity. The flowers are greenish and inconspicuous, borne in
minute umbels on the end of a long peduncle. They produce small
berries of a deep blue color, containing a hard stone. This tree is one
of the brightest ornaments of our forest in autumn; the fine green
color of its foliage attracts our attention in summer, and in winter its
grotesque forms, rising out of the shallow meres, yield a romantic
interest to these solitary places. It is not well adapted to dressed
grounds, but harmonizes only with rude, desolate, and wild scenery.
 THE HORNBEAM.

The Hornbeams, of which in New England there are two species

belonging to a different genus, are small trees, rather elegant in their
shape, and remarkable for the toughness and hardness of their wood.
The American Hornbeam, or Blue Beech, is distinguished by its
fluted trunk, which, as Emerson describes it, “is a short irregular
pillar, not unlike the massive reeded columns of Egyptian
architecture, with projecting ridges, which run down from each side
of the lower branches. The branches are irregular, waving or
crooked, going out at various but large angles, and usually from a low
point on its trunk.” Old Gerard remarks concerning the English
Hornbeam: “The wood or timber is better for arrows and shafts,
pulleys for mills, and such like devices, than elm or witch-hazel; for
in time it waxeth so hard that the toughness and hardness of it may
rather be compared to horn than to wood; and therefore it was called
Hornbeam.”
The foliage of the American Hornbeam resembles that of black
birch, neatly corrugated, of a delicate verdure in summer, and
assuming a fine tint of varying crimson and scarlet in the autumn.
The name of Blue Beech was applied to it from the similarity of its
branches to the common beech-tree, while their surface is bluish
instead of an ashen color. Though existing in every part of the
country, it is not abundant anywhere, and is not in any tract of
woodland the principal timber. It is most conspicuous on the borders
of woods, by the sides of roads lately constructed. The scarcity of
trees of this species near old roadsides has been caused by the value
of their timber, which is cut for mechanical purposes wherever it
may be found. The wood of this tree is used for levers, for the spokes
of wheels, and for nearly all other purposes which require extreme
hardness of the material used.
 THE HOP HORNBEAM.

The Hop Hornbeam is a very different tree from the one just
described, resembling it only in the toughness of its wood, whence
the name of Lever-Wood has been very generally applied to it. This
tree is rarely seen by the wayside. Those only know it whose
occupation has led them to seek it for its service in the arts, or those
who have examined it in their botanical rambles. It is a small tree,
that affects the habit of the elm in its general appearance, of the
birch in its inflorescence, and of the beech in the upward tendency of
its small branches. It is so much like the elm in the style of its foliage,
in the fine division and length of its slender spray, and in the color
and appearance of its bark, that it might easily be mistaken for a
small elm, without any of its drooping habit. It does not, like the elm,
however, break into any eccentric modes of growth. A striking
peculiarity of this tree is the multitude of hop-like capsular heads
that contain the seeds.
 INSECURITY OF OUR FORESTS.

The American continent is so vast, and so large a part of it is still

covered with wood, that men are not ready to believe there is any
danger of exterminating its forests. Supposing them to be
inexhaustible, they are entirely indiscriminate in their method of
clearing them, and treat them as if they were of no importance
further than they subserve the present wants of the community. They
are either reckless or ignorant of their indispensable uses in the
economy of nature, and seem purposely to shut their eyes to facts
and principles in relation to them which are well known to men of
science. Our people look upon the forests as valuable only so far as
they supply material for the arts and for fuel, for the construction of
houses, ships, and public works; and as there is not much danger of
immediately exhausting the supplies for these purposes, the public
mind remains quiet, while certain operations are going forward
which, if not soon checked by some very powerful restraint, will,
before the lapse of another century, reduce half this wide continent
to a desert. The science of vegetable meteorology deserves more
consideration than it has yet received from our professors of
learning. This, if fully explained, would teach men some of the fearful
consequences that would ensue if a country were entirely disrobed of
its forests, and their relations to birds, insects, and quadrupeds
would explain the impossibility of ever restoring them. Man has the
power, which, if exercised without regard to the laws of nature, may,
at no very distant period, render this earth uninhabitable by man. In
his eagerness to improve his present condition, and his senseless
grasp for immediate advantages, he may disqualify the earth for a
human abode.
This matter has been strangely overlooked by legislators in the
several States, though frequently discussed by naturalists and
philosophical writers. In spite of the warnings the people have
received from learned men, very little thought has been given to the
subject. How few persons suspect that in less than a century the
greatest affliction this country is doomed to suffer may be caused by
the destruction of its forests! Springs once full all the year will be dry
every summer and autumn; small rivers will desert their channels;
once profitable mill-privileges will cease to be of any value; every
shower will produce inundations; every summer will be subject to
pernicious droughts. The preservation of the forests in a certain ratio
over our whole territory ought to be the subject of immediate
legislation in all the States. It is not a part of the plan of this work,
however, to treat of woods as a subject of political economy, but
rather to prompt our wise men to protect them by statute, by
showing our dependence on them for our existence.
It has been said that the intelligence of an educated and civilized
community like our own ought to save the country from this evil. But
it is our civilization that has created the very danger that threatens
us. A country, while it remains in the possession of barbarians, is
never disforested. It is a false assurance that the general intelligence
of the community will secure them from this danger, unless they
have studied the causes of it. A literary and even a scientific
education, as popularly conducted, does not imply any great amount
of this kind of knowledge. The intelligence of our people would
undoubtedly prepare them to understand the subject when explained
to them by some one who has made it his special study; but reading
does not acquaint a person with facts contained only in books which
he never reads, though his habit of reading only for amusement may
keep him ignorant of many things which he would otherwise learn
from observation. The subject of this essay is not sufficiently exciting
to obtain a hearing from the public in a lecture-room. Every avenue
of popular information is so greatly obstructed by objects designed
only to afford amusement, that science and philosophy, save those
branches which some eloquent work has rendered fashionable, have
but very little chance to be heard. Even among our literary classes, if
you speak of trees and woods, there is only an occasional individual
of eccentric habits who seems capable of taking any other than an
æsthetic view of their relations to human wants.
 But it will be said, if a liberal education does not supply men with
the right kind of knowledge on this point, certainly our practical
men will understand it. They, I admit, would see at once how much
money could be made by cutting down all the trees in any given tract
of forest; but they are not the men to be consulted respecting the
advantage of any scheme that does not promise to be a profitable
investment of capital. Our practical men are the very individuals
from whose venal hands it is necessary to protect our forests by
legislation. In France, where great evils have followed the destruction
of woods, laws have been enacted for restoring and preserving them
in certain situations. These laws, however, originated, not with
practical men, but with Napoleon III., who obtained his views from
men of science. Our people have less knowledge of this subject than
the Europeans, who have been compelled to study it by the presence
of evils which the Americans are just beginning to experience.
The sentiment of the American public seems to have been excited
in favor of trees individually considered, rather than forests. People
look upon trees as their friends; and more indignation is generally
caused by the felling of a single large tree standing in an open field or
by the roadside, than by the destruction of whole acres of woods. Our
love of trees is a sort of passion; but we need yet to learn that a wood
on a steep hillside is of more importance than as many standards as
there are trees in the same wood, scattered upon a plain. This
æsthetic sentiment seems to be the only conservative principle that
has yet produced any considerable effect in preserving trees and
groves. It often extends to groups of trees, and sometimes to large
assemblages, especially on estates which have remained through
several generations in the possession of one family. But generally the
avarice or the necessity of our farmers has been more powerful to
devastate, than the taste and sentiment of others to preserve our
woods.
I have long been persuaded that, unless the governments of the
several States should make this a subject of special legislation, the
security of our forests must depend on men of large property in land.
Men of wealth, if not learned, are generally in communication with
men of learning, from whom they may obtain a knowledge of
vegetable meteorology, and not being obliged, by pecuniary
necessity, to cut down their woods, will, from a sense of their
importance in the economy of nature, become their preservers. The
wealth and taste of certain families in every town and village will
save a great many trees, groves, and fragments of forest. But if our
law-makers neglect to legislate for this end, we must look to the
possessors of immense estates, the lords of whole townships, for the
preservation of any large tracts of forest.
 ORCHARD TREES.

The orchard trees, though but few of them are indigenous,

constitute one of the most important groups, considered as objects of
beauty, to say nothing of their utility. The most of this class of trees
belong to the natural order of rosaceous plants, among which are
some of the fairest ornaments of Northern climes. Such are the
cherry, the peach, the apple, the pear, also the mountain ash and its
allied species down to the mespilus and hawthorn. These trees are
suggestive of the farm and its pleasant appurtenances, rather than of
rude nature; but so closely allied is Nature to the farm, when under
the care of a simple tiller of the soil, and unbedizened by taste, that
its accompaniments seem a rightful part of her domain. The
simplicity of the rustic farm is in consonance with the fresh, glowing
charms of Nature herself. A row of apple-trees overshadowing the
wayside forms an arbor in which the rural deities might revel as in
their own sylvan retreats; and Nature wears a more charming
appearance, when to her own rude costume she adds a wreath
twined by the rosy fingers of Pomona.
 THE APPLE.

The flowers of the orchard trees are invariably white or crimson, or

different shades of these two colors combined. Those of the cherry-
tree and the plum-tree are constantly white; those of the pear-tree
are also white, with brown or purple anthers; those of the peach and
apricot are crimson; those of the apple-tree and quince-tree, when
half expanded, are crimson, changing to white or blush-color as they
expand. The colors of the hawthorn vary, according to their species,
which are numerous, from white to pure crimson. Only a few of the
orchard trees have been cultivated for their flowers alone; among
these we find a species of cherry with double flowers, and a double-
flowering almond, which are common in flower-beds. The Virginia
crab-apple is also planted for the fragrance and beauty of its flowers;
and if the Siberian species had no material value, it would be
cultivated for the beauty of its fruit.
As I have frequently remarked, Nature is not lavish of those forms
and hues that constitute pure organic beauty. She displays them very
sparingly under ordinary circumstances, that we may not be wearied
by their stimulus, and thereby lose our susceptibility to agreeable
impressions from homely objects. But at certain times and during
very short periods she seems to exert all her powers to fascinate the
senses. It is when in these moods that she wreathes the trees with
flowers for a short time in the spring, and just before the coming of
winter illumines the forest with colors as beautiful as they are
evanescent.

The Apple-Tree was one of the first trees planted by the original
settlers of New England, who could not in the wilderness raise those
fruits that require the skill of the gardener. This tree is indigenous in
all parts of Europe, Northern Asia, and North America. On this
continent are found two native species, of which the Virginia Crab is
the only important one. This tree bears a small green fruit, agreeable,
odoriferous, and intensely acid; but our attention is chiefly attracted
by its rose-colored flowers, that perfume the whole atmosphere with
a sweetness not surpassed by that of the rose. Nothing in the world
can exceed the purity of this fragrance, which, in connection with its
beautiful flowers, borne in large clusters, render it the admiration of
all. The lover of nature is delighted to find this species in a perfectly
unsophisticated state, and unimproved by culture, which always
tends to insipidity. The Druids paid great reverence to the apple-tree,
because the mistletoe grew upon it. In our own fields it is free from
this parasite, which is not found on the western continent above the
latitude of Virginia.
 THE PEAR.

The apple-tree bears some resemblance to the oak in its general

outlines, displaying, though inferior in size, more sturdiness than
grace. A standard apple-tree commonly resembles a hemisphere,
often in diameter exceeding its own height. This shape might be
caused by training; but the gardener, by cutting off certain branches,
does not change the tendency of the tree to assume its normal shape.
The foliage of the apple-tree is rather coarse, stiff, and inelegant, and
deficient in purity of verdure, being after it is fully developed of a
dusky green, and without tints when ripened, save what may be
termed accidental. There is, nevertheless, a certain kind of beauty in
an old apple-tree which is seen in no other of the orchard trees,
rendering it a very picturesque object in rustic scenery.
 The Pear-Tree is taller than the apple-tree, assuming an
imperfectly pyramidal shape. Its branches have not the horizontal
tendency of the latter; but when growing singly as a standard it
greatly surpasses it in dimensions, and many individuals of a former
age, that have escaped the axe of horticultural improvement, are
noble standards, and of no inferior merit as shade-trees. The foliage
of the pear-tree displays some of the tremulous habit of the aspen,
owing to the length and slenderness of its leaf-stems. It has,
moreover, a gloss that distinguishes it from that of the apple-tree; it
is also less stubborn in retaining its verdure, and partially tinted in
autumn. The pear-trees which have been raised within the last thirty
years are mostly dwarfed, and seldom display their normal shape.
They are small, with straggling branches, and unworthy of
consideration in a treatise of this kind. The old standards, still,
occasionally seen in pastures and fallow lands, are the only ones that
affect the beauty of landscape. I have mentioned several points in
which the pear-tree surpasses the apple-tree as a beautiful and
stately object; but its fruit will bear no comparison in beauty with
that of the apple-tree, which produces a greater variety of beautiful
fruit than any other tree that is known.

The Quince-Tree, though inferior in size, and not prospering very

well on the soil of New England, which is rather too cold for it,
deserves a passing remark. In botanical characters it bears more
resemblance to the pear than to the apple. The fruit has the same
tender and mucilaginous core; the seeds are not enclosed in a dry
hull, like those of the apple; and the pulp of the quince, like that of
the pear, is granulated, while that of the apple displays in its texture
a finer and firmer organization. I may add the well-known fact that
the pear may be grafted upon a quince stock, while no such union
can be effected between the apple and the quince, or the apple and
the pear. The quince-tree makes a very elegant appearance, both
when covered with its large white and crimson-stained flowers, and
when laden with its golden Hesperian fruit.

The Plum-Tree, in connection with the orchard, hardly deserves

mention; but there are two indigenous species which in some places
are conspicuous objects in our fields. The beach-plum requires no
description. It is a low shrub, very common on many parts of the
New England coast and on the islands around it. There is nothing
remarkable in its appearance or in the beauty of its fruit, which is of
a dark-blue color and about the size of damsons. The other species is
a tree of considerable size, which is very beautiful when covered with
its ripe scarlet berries. In the State of Maine they are called
“plumgranates,” and are very generally used for culinary purposes.

The Peach-Tree, of all the tenants of the garden and orchard, is

the most beautiful when in flower, varying in the color of its bloom
from a delicate blush to a light crimson. As it puts forth its flowers
before the leaves, the tree presents to view the likeness of a
magnificent bouquet. When covering many acres of ground, nothing
in nature can surpass it in splendor, flowering, as it does, sooner
than almost any other tree. Even in New England, where these trees
are now seen only in occasional groups, they constitute an important
object in the landscape, when in flower. Few persons are aware how
much interest the peach-tree adds to the landscape in early spring,
by its suggestions as well as its beauty. Since the changeableness of
our winter and the harshness of our spring weather have been
aggravated by the destruction of our Northern forests, the peach-tree
is so liable to perish that its cultivation has been neglected, and trees
of this species are now very scarce in New England, except in the
gardens of wealthy men. We no longer meet them as formerly in our
journeyings through rustic farms, when they were interspersed
among apple-trees, adorning every byway in the country.
 THE AMERICAN ELM.

I will confess that I join in the admiration so generally bestowed

upon the American Elm. To me no other tree seems so beautiful or so
majestic. It does not exhibit the sturdy ruggedness of the oak; it is
not so evidently defiant of wind and tempest. It seems, indeed, to
make no outward pretensions of strength. It bends to the breeze
which the oak defies, and is more seldom, therefore, broken by the
wind. The Elm is especially the wayside tree of New England, and it
forms the most remarkable feature of our domestic landscape. If
there be in any other section of our land as many, they are
individuals mingled with the forest, and are not so frequent by the
roadsides. In this part of the country the Elm has been planted and
cherished from the earliest period of our history, and the inhabitants
have always looked upon it with admiration, and valued it as a
landscape ornament above every other species. It is the most
drooping of the drooping trees, except the willow, which it surpasses
in grandeur and in the variety of its forms.
Though the Elm has never been consecrated by the muse of classic
song, or dignified by making a figure in the paintings of the old
masters, the native inhabitant of New England associates the varied
forms of this tree with all that is delightful in the scenery or
memorable in the history of our land. All spacious avenues are
bordered with elms, and their magnificent rows are everywhere
familiar to his sight. He has seen them extending their broad and
benevolent arms over many a hospitable mansion and many a
humble cottage, and equally harmonizing with all. They meet his
sight in the public grounds of the city with their ample shade and
flowing spray; and he beholds them in the clearing, where they were
left by the woodman to stand as solitary landmarks of the devastated
space. Every year of his life he has seen the beautiful hangbird weave
his pensile nest upon the long and flexible branches, secure from the
reach of every foe. From its vast dome of branches and foliage he has
listened to the songs of the late and early birds, and under its canopy
he has witnessed many a scene of rustic amusement.
To a native of New England, therefore, the Elm has a character
more nearly approaching that of sacredness than any other tree.
Setting aside the pleasure derived from it as an object of material
beauty, it reminds him of the familiar scenes of home and the events
of his early life. How many a happy assemblage of children and
young persons has been gathered under its shade in the sultry noons
of summer! How many a young May queen has been crowned under
its tasselled roof, when the greensward was just daisied with the
early flowers of spring! And how often has the weary traveller rested
from his journey under its wide-spreading boughs, and from a state
of weariness and vexation, when o’erspent by heat and length of way,
subsided into quiet thankfulness and content!
In my own mind the Elm is intimately allied with those old
dwelling-houses which were built in the early part of the last century,
and form one of the principal remaining features of New England
home architecture during that period. They are known by their broad
and ample but low-studded rooms, their two stories in front, their
numerous windows with small panes, their single chimney in the
centre of the roof, that sloped down to one story in the rear, and their
general homely appearance, reminding us of the simplicity of life
that characterized our people before the Revolution. Their very
homeliness is attractive, by leaving the imagination free to dwell
upon their interesting suggestions. Not many of these venerable
houses are now extant; but whenever we see one, it is almost
invariably accompanied by its Elm, standing upon the green open
space that slopes down from it in front, waving its long branches in
melancholy grandeur above the old homestead, and drooping, as
with sorrow, over the infirmities of its old companion of a century.
Early in April the Elm puts forth its flowers, of a dark maroon
color, in numerous clusters, fringing the long terminal spray, and
filling up the whole space so effectually that the branches can hardly
be seen; they appear at the same time with the crimson flowers of the
red maple, and give the tree a very sombre appearance. The seeds
ripen early, and being small and chaffy are wafted in all directions
and carried to great distances by the wind. In the early part of June,
soon after the leaves are expanded, the Elm displays the most beauty.
At this time only can its verdure be considered brilliant: for the leaf
soon fades to a dull green, and displays no tints, except that of a
rusty yellow in the autumn. In perfectly healthy elms, standing on a
deep soil, the brightness of the foliage is retained to a later period;
but the trees near Boston have suffered so much from the ravages of
the cankerworm that their health is injured, and their want of vitality
is shown by the premature fading and dropping of their foliage.
Nothing can exceed the American Elm in a certain harmonious
combination of sturdiness and grace,—two qualities which are
seldom united. Along with its superior magnitude, we observe a great
length and slenderness of its branches, without anything in the
combination that indicates weakness. It is very agreeable to witness
the union, under any circumstances, of two interesting or admirable
traits of character which are supposed to be incompatible. Hence the
complacency we feel when we meet a brave man who is amiable and
polite, or a learned man who is neither reserved nor pedantic. A
slender vine, supported by a sturdy tree, forms a very agreeable
image; not less delightful is that consonance we perceive in a
majestic Elm, formed by the union of grandeur with the gracefulness
of its own flowing drapery.
The Elm is generally subdivided into several equal branches,
diverging from a common centre at a small distance above the
ground. The height of this divergence depends on the condition of
the tree when it was a seedling, whether it grew in a forest or in an
open field; and the angle made by these branches is much wider
when it obtained its growth in an isolated situation. The shape of
different elms varies more than that of any other known species. It is
indeed almost the only tree which may be said to exhibit more than
one normal figure, setting aside those variations of form which are
the natural effects of youth and age. The American Elm never
displays one central shaft to which the branches are subordinate, like
the English Elm; or rather, I should say, that when it has only a
single shaft it is without any limbs, and is surrounded only with short
and slender twigs. This leads me to speak of its normal diversities of
shape, which were originally described by Mr. Emerson under
several types.
 THE DOME.
This is the form which the Elm seems most prone to assume when
it stands from the time it was a seedling until it attains its full stature
in an open space. It then shows a broad hemispherical head, formed
by branches of nearly equal size, issuing chiefly from a common
centre, diverging first at a small angle, and gradually spreading
outward with a curve that may be traced throughout their length. A
considerable number of our roadside elms are specimens more or
less imperfect of this normal type.
 THE VASE FORM.
One of the most admirable of these different forms is that of the
vase. The base is represented by the roots of the tree as they project
above the ground, making a sort of pedestal for the trunk. The neck
of the vase is the trunk before it is subdivided. The middle of the vase
consists of the lower part of the branches as they swell outwards with
a graceful curve, then gradually diverge, until they bend over at their
extremities and form the lip of the vase by a circle of terminal spray.
Perfect specimens of this beautiful form are rare, but in a row or a
grove of elms there are always a few individuals that approximate to
this type.
 THE PARASOL.
The neatest and most beautiful of these forms is the parasol. This
variety is seen in those elms which have grown to their full height in
the forest, and were left by the woodman in the clearing; for such is
the general admiration of this tree, that great numbers of them are
left in clearings in all parts of the country. The State of Maine
abounds in trees of this form, sending forth almost perpendicularly a
number of branches, that spread out rather suddenly at a
considerable height, in the shape of an umbrella. Trees of this type
have much of that grandeur which is caused by great height and
small dimensions, as observed in a palm-tree. A remarkable trait in
the character of the Elm is, that, unlike other trees, it seldom loses its
beauty, and is often improved in shape, by growing while young in a
dense assemblage. It is simply modified into a more slender shape,
usually subdivided very near the ground into several branches that
diverge but little until they reach the summit of the wood. Other
trees, when they have grown in a dense wood, form but a single shaft,
without lateral branches.
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