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Advantage of Evergreen Trees—Swapping Hats—Billy Babcock, the Centenarian—His Habits and Dress—His Memory of Washington—His Pension—Droll effect of meeting on the Road a given-away Suit of Old Clothes, etc., etc.

7, 1855. to sit out of doors with a book! April is reconnoitering. And I never so much realized, as to-day (though I have recorded it before), the wisdom and luxury of a home buried in evergreen trees. Without the ice in the river, there would be no necessity of knowing that it is not summer. Every particle of snow gone from the fields and mountains, and a sun so warm, that to the children exercising out of doors, the full shade of our groves of hemlocks and cedars is welcome! The farmer, about here, is bothered with the luxuriant pertinacity of these evergreens. He thinks of them as Bombastes thought of Fuzbos:

"He conquered all but Fuzbos—Fuzbos him;" 13