Freak trees of the State of New York

The New York State College of Forestry Syracuse University
FRANKLIN MOON Dean
1926
Issued by the EXTENSION DEPARTMENT New York State College of Forestry Syracuse, New York
Material Prepared by Prof. GURTH WHIPPLE
“There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,” in fact, everywhere in the woods, whether pathed or pathless, is the dwelling of pleasure. In the woods abides romance, mystery, music, laughter, beauty, inspiration, awe, rapture. None can escape the broadening vision, the excitement of the imagination, the poetic inspiration imparted by contact with the teeming harmony of woods life. Even the occasional discords are only minor notes that become part of one universal rythm.
Added to their pleasure-giving there are their health administrations. None, who go into the woods, fail to feel the forest-refreshment to body and mind. Trees have many values and many attractions. They present such a wide diversity that they may be said to surpass in interest all other products of the soil. Their traditions, their ancient lineage, their physical properties are thought-absorbing; their beneficence and human-like habits touch a responsive chord in man. Much about them is as deep a mystery as the farthermost star.
Tree shapes are generally beautiful even in distortion. Freak trees attract the attention of all travellers. Probably they cause more comment and speculation than almost any other phase of the forest. They excite wonder; they challenge our power of scrutiny and observation; they cause the beholder to stop, to examine and to ponder. They are sometimes inexplicable. They defy natural laws, as we know them, that govern tree life, in a way that baffles our understanding.
Freak trees often save the camper, the hunter and the explorer from disaster. Trees that do not look like the vast majority of their fellows compel attention and impress the memory, identifying locations, streams and trails, and thus often lead the lost like a guiding hand safely from the wilderness. The true woodsman consciously and unconsciously is ever looking for freak trees when he is traveling in a new country. Freak trees are landmarks, good guides, good friends.