e druidical-oaks of England.
The smooth, elastic bamboo, which by its size and strength becomes so
useful in house-building, in both China and Japan. The towering spruces
and sugar pines of our Pacific Coast. The great elms of New England. The
justly famous, white pines of Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The
wonderful spice-woods of Java and Ceylon. The curious soap and rubber
trees of Brazil. The tall sugar maples and smooth, symmetrical beeches
of New York. The great hemlocks of Pennsylvania. The stately cypress,
the royal tulip tree, and the beautiful evergreen white holly, of our
southern forests. The highly prized black-walnut of Tennessee and North
Carolina. The fruitful, free-growing chestnut, so common all over the
United States. Finally, that towering king of all trees, the matchless
mammoth redwood of California.

"These redwoods are such veritable giants in size, that the half disc
displayed in the California Section, with its thick ring of bark on the
rounding side uppermost, stood sixteen feet high. From the huge trunk of
this tree came the accompanying plank of such extraordinary dimensions,
that a placard proclaimed it the largest plank the world ever saw. This
plank was five inches thick, twenty-five feet long and sixteen feet nine
inches wide; containing about two thousand feet of lumber, board
measure.

"In the Brazilian Section I found a large disc, accompanied by a
specimen branch, with the leaves, flowers and fruit of a most remarkable
tree. To this tree, the world owes a debt of gratitude for its generous
unfailing supply of a rich wholesome food. Almost every child through
the sense of sight, touch and taste, is familiar with that peculiar,
triangular-shaped, sharp-edged, black-coated nut of commerce, with such
a delicious kernel, known as the brazil nut. Very few however, know
anything of the tree which bears them, or how they are attached to the
branches from which they are suspended. As it is a matter of such
general interest to both old and young, I shall take the liberty of
devoting a few moments to a brief description of this gigantic tree,
which the botanist has named 'The Bertholletia Excelsa.'

"These wonderful trees grow most abundantly in the valleys of the
Amazons, and generally throughout tropical America. In size and beauty,
they rank as monarchs of their native forests. They attain an average
height of one hundred and thirty feet, having smooth cylindrical,
beautifully proport