Improvement by cutting: The removal of certain trees in a grove is often necessary to improve the quality of the better trees, increase their growth, make the place accessible, and enhance its beauty. Cutting in a wooded area should be confined to suppressed trees, dead and dying trees and trees badly infested with insects and disease. In case of farm woodlands, mature trees of market value may be cut, but in parks and on private estates these have a greater value when left standing. The cutting should leave a clean stand of well-selected specimens which will thrive under the favorable influence of more light and growing space. Considerable care is required to prevent injury to the young trees when the older specimens are cut and hauled out of the woods. The marking of the trees to be removed can best be done in summer when the dead and live trees can be distinguished with ease and when the requisite growing space for each tree can be judged better from the density of the crowns. The cutting, however, can be done most advantageously in winter.

Immediately after cutting all diseased and infested wood should be destroyed. The sound wood may be utilized for various purposes. The bigger logs may be sold to the local lumber dealers and the smaller material may be used for firewood. The remaining brush should be withdrawn from the woodlot to prevent fire during the dry summer months.

In marking trees for removal, a number of considerations are to be borne in mind besides the elimination of dead, diseased and suppressed trees. When the marker is working among crowding trees of equal height, he should save those that are most likely to grow into fine specimen trees and cut out all those that interfere with them. The selection must also favor trees which are best adapted to the local soil and climatic conditions and those which will add to the beauty of the place. In this respect the method of marking will be different from that used in commercial forestry, where the aim is to net the greatest profit from the timber. In pure forestry practice, one sees no value in such species as dogwood, ironwood, juneberry, sumac and sassafras, and will therefore never allow those to grow up in abundance and crowd out other trees of a higher market value. But on private estates and in park woodlands where beauty is an important consideration, such species add wonderful color and attractiveness to the forest scene, especially along the roads and paths, and should be favored as much as the other hardier trees. One must not mark too severely in one spot or the soil will be dried out from exposure to sun and wind. When the gaps between the trees are too large, the trees will grow more slowly and the trunks will become covered with numerous shoots or suckers which deprive the crowns of their necessary food and cause them to "die back." Where the trees are tall and slim or on short and steep hillsides, it is also important to be conservative in marking in order that the stand may not be exposed to the dangers of windfall. No hard-and-fast rule can be laid down as to what would constitute a conservative percentage of trees to cut down. This depends entirely on the local conditions and on the exposure of the woodlot. But in general it is not well to remove more than twenty per cent of the stand nor to repeat the cutting on the same spot oftener than once in five or six years. The first cutting will, of course, be the heaviest and all subsequent cuttings will become lighter and lighter until the woodlot is put in good growing condition. On private estates and parks, where beauty is the chief aim, the woodland should be kept as natural, informal and as thick as possible. Where the woodland is cut up by many paths and drives, density of vegetation will add to the impression of depth and distance.

Protection: This subject has already been discussed considerably in the previous study on Forestry, and here it becomes necessary merely to add a few suggestions with special reference to private and park woodlands.

Guarding woodlands from fire is the most important form of protection. Surface fires are very common on small woodland holdings and the damage done to the standing vegetation is generally underestimated. An ordinary ground or surface fire on a woodland area will burn up the leaf-litter and vegetable mold, upon which the trees depend so much for food and moisture, and will destroy the young seedlings on the ground. Where the fire is a little more severe, the older trees are badly wounded and weakened and the younger trees are frequently killed outright. Insects and disease find these trees an easy prey, and all related forest conditions commence to deteriorate.

Constant watchfulness and readiness to meet any emergency are the keynote of effective fire protection. Notices similar to the one shown in Fig. 143 often help to prevent fires. It is also helpful to institute strict rules against dropping lighted matches or tobacco, or burning brush when the ground is very dry, or leaving smouldering wood without waiting to see that the fire is completely out. There should be many roads and foot-paths winding through the woodland in order that they may serve as checks or "fire lanes" in time of fire. These roads and paths should be kept free from brush and leaves and should be frequently patrolled. When made not too wide, unpretentious and in conformity with the natural surroundings, such drives and paths can become a very interesting feature of the place, winding through the woodland, exposing its charms and affording opportunity for pleasant driving and walking. The borders of the paths can be given special attention by placing the more beautiful native shrubs in prominent positions where they can lend increased attractiveness.

In case of fire, it should be possible to call for aid by telephone directly from the woodland and to find within easy reach the tools necessary to combat fire. It is also important to obtain the co-operation of one's neighbors in protecting the adjoining woodlands, because the dangers from insects, disease and fire threatening one bit of woodland area are more or less dependent upon the conditions in the adjoining woodland.



As to other forms of protection, passing mention may be made of the importance of keeping out cattle, sheep and hogs from the woods, of eliminating all insects and disease, of keeping the ground free from brush and other inflammable material, of retaining on the ground all fallen leaves and keeping the forest well stocked with little trees and shrubs.

Forest lands may be exempted from taxation: In New York and other States there exists a State law providing for exemption or reduction in taxes upon lands which are planted with forest trees or maintained as wooded areas. The object of the law is to encourage home forestry and to establish fairness in the agricultural land-tax law by placing forest lands in the same category with other crop-producing lands. For detailed information and a copy of the law, one should address the local State Forestry Commission.



CHAPTER VIII

OUR COMMON WOODS: THEIR IDENTIFICATION, PROPERTIES AND USES

Woods have different values for various practical purposes because of their peculiarities in structure. A knowledge of the structural parts of wood is therefore necessary as a means of recognizing the wood and of determining why one piece is stronger, heavier, tougher, or better adapted for a given service than another.

Structure of wood: If one examines a cross-section of the bole of a tree, he will note that it is composed of several distinct parts, as shown in Fig. 145. At the very center is a small core of soft tissue known as the pith. It is of much the same structure as the pith of cornstalk or elder, with which all are familiar. At the outside is the bark, which forms a protective covering over the entire woody system. In any but the younger stems, the bark is composed of an inner, live layer, and an outer or dead portion.

Between the pith at the center and the bark at the outside is the wood. It will be noted that the portion next to the bark is white or yellowish in color. This is the sapwood. It is principally through the sapwood that the water taken in by the roots is carried up to the leaves. In some cases the sapwood is very thin and in others it is very thick, depending partly on the kind of tree, and partly on its age and vigor. The more leaves on a tree the more sapwood it must have to supply them with moisture.



Very young trees are all sapwood, but, as they get older, part of the wood is no longer needed to carry sap and it becomes heartwood. Heartwood is darker than the sapwood, sometimes only slightly, but in other instances it may vary from a light-brown color to jet black. It tends to fill with gums, resins, pigments and other substances, but otherwise its structure is the same as that of the sapwood.



The wood of all our common trees is produced by a thin layer of cells just beneath the bark, the cambium. The cambium adds new wood on the outside of that previously formed and new bark on the inside of the old bark. A tree grows most rapidly in the spring, and the wood formed at that time is much lighter, softer and more porous than that formed later in the season, which is usually quite hard and dense. These two portions, known as early wood or spring wood, and late wood or summer wood, together make up one year's growth and are for that reason called annual rings. Trees such as palms and yucca do not grow in this way, but their wood is not important enough in this country to warrant a description.



If the end of a piece of oak wood is examined, a number of lines will be seen radiating out toward the bark like the spokes in a wheel. These are the medullary rays. They are present in all woods, but only in a few species are they very prominent to the unaided eye. These rays produce the "flakes" or "mirrors" that make quartersawed (radially cut) wood so beautiful. They are thin plates or sheets of cells lying in between the other wood cells. They extend out into the inner bark.

While much may be seen with the unaided eye, better results can be secured by the use of a good magnifying glass. The end of the wood should be smoothed off with a very sharp knife; a dull one will tear and break the cells so that the structure becomes obscured. With any good hand lens a great many details will then appear which before were not visible. In the case of some woods like oak, ash, and chestnut, it will be found that the early wood contains many comparatively large openings, called pores, as shown in Figs. 146 and 147. Pores are cross-sections of vessels which are little tube-like elements running throughout the tree. The vessels are water carriers. A wood with its large pores collected into one row or in a single band is said to be ring-porous. Fig. 146 shows such an arrangement. A wood with its pores scattered throughout the year's growth instead of collected in a ring is diffuse-porous. Maple, as shown in Fig. 152, is of this character.



All of our broadleaf woods are either ring-porous or diffuse-porous, though some of them, like the walnut, are nearly half way between the two groups.

If the wood of hickory, for example, be examined with the magnifying lens, it will be seen that there are numerous small pores in the late wood, while running parallel with the annual rings are little white lines such as are shown in Fig. 149. These are lines of wood parenchyma. Wood parenchyma is found in all woods, arranged sometimes in tangential lines, sometimes surrounding the pores and sometimes distributed over the cross-section. The dark, horn-like portions of hickory and oak are the woodfibers. They give the strength to wood.

In many of the diffuse-porous woods, the pores are too small to be seen with the unaided eye, and in some cases they are not very distinct even when viewed with a magnifier. It is necessary to study such examples closely in order not to confuse them with the woods of conifers.

The woods of conifers are quite different in structure from broadleaf woods, though the difference may not always stand out prominently. Coniferous woods have no pores, their rays are always narrow and inconspicuous, and wood parenchyma is never prominent. The woods of the pines, spruces, larches, and Douglas fir differ from those of the other conifers in having resin ducts, Fig. 144. In pines these are readily visible to the naked eye, appearing as resinous dots on cross-sections and as pin scratches or dark lines on longitudinal surfaces. The presence or absence of resin ducts is a very important feature in identifying woods, hence it is very important to make a careful search for them when they are not readily visible.

How to identify a specimen of wood: The first thing to do in identifying a piece of wood is to cut a smooth section at the end and note (without the magnifier) the color, the prominence of the rays and pores, and any other striking features. If the pores are readily visible, the wood is from a broadleaf tree; if the large pores are collected in a ring it belongs to the ring-porous division of the broadleaf woods. If the rays are quite conspicuous and the wood is hard and heavy, it is oak, as the key given later will show. Close attention to the details of the key will enable one to decide to what group of oaks it belongs.

In most cases the structure will not stand out so prominently as in oak, so that it is necessary to make a careful study with the hand lens. If pores appear, their arrangement, both in the early wood and in the late wood, should be carefully noted; also whether the pores are open or filled with a froth-like substance known as tyloses. Wood parenchyma lines should be looked for, and if present, the arrangement of the lines should be noted.



If no pores appear under the magnifying lens, look closely for resin ducts. If these are found, note whether they are large or small, numerous or scattered, open or closed, lighter or darker than the wood. Note also whether the late wood is very heavy and hard, showing a decided contrast to the early wood, or fairly soft and grading into the early wood without abrupt change. Weigh the piece in your hand, smell a fresh-cut surface to detect the odor, if any, and taste a chip to see if anything characteristic is discoverable. Then turn to the following key:



KEY



I. WOODS WITHOUT PORES—CONIFERS OR SO-CALLED "SOFTWOODS"

A. Woods with resin ducts.

1. Pines. Fig. 144. Resin ducts numerous, prominent, fairly evenly distributed. Wood often pitchy. Resinous odor distinct. Clear demarcation between heart and sapwood. There are two groups of pines—soft and hard.

(a) Soft Pines. Wood light, soft, not strong, even-textured, very easy to work. Change from early wood to late wood is gradual and the difference in density is not great.

(b) Hard Pines. Wood variable but typically rather heavy, hard and strong, uneven textured, fairly easy to work. Change from early wood to late wood is abrupt and the difference in density and color is very marked, consequently alternate layers of light and dark wood show. The wood of nearly all pines is very extensively employed in construction work and in general carpentry.

2. Douglas fir. Resin ducts less numerous and conspicuous than in the pines, irregularly distributed, often in small groups. Odorless or nearly so. Heartwood and sapwood distinct. The wood is of two kinds. In one the growth rings are narrow and the wood is rather light and soft, easy to work, reddish yellow in color; in the other the growth rings are wide, the wood is rather hard to work, as there is great contrast between the weak early wood and the very dense late wood of the annual rings.

Douglas fir is a tree of great economic importance on the Pacific Coast. The wood is much like hard pine both in its appearance and its uses.

3. Spruces. Resin ducts few, small, unevenly distributed; appearing mostly as white dots. Wood not resinous; odorless. The wood is white or very light colored with a silky luster and with little contrast between heart and sapwood. It is a great deal like soft pine, though lighter in color and with much fewer and smaller resin ducts. The wood is used for construction, carpentry, oars, sounding boards for musical instruments, and paper pulp.

4. Tamarack. Resin ducts the same as in the spruces. The color of the heartwood is yellowish or russet brown; that of the distinct sapwood much lighter. The wood is considerably like hard pine, but lacks the resinous odor and the resin ducts are much fewer and smaller.

The wood is used largely for cross-ties, fence posts, telegraph and telephone poles, and to a limited extent for lumber in general construction.

B. Woods without resin ducts.

1. Hemlock. The wood has a disagreeable, rancid odor, is splintery, not resinous, with decided contrast between early and late wood. Color light brown with a slight tinge of red, the heart little if any darker than the sapwood. Hemlock makes a rather poor lumber which is used for general construction, also for cross-ties, and pulp.

2. Balsam fir. Usually odorless, not splintery, not resinous, with little contrast between early and late wood. Color white or very light brown with a pinkish hue to the late wood. Heartwood little if any darker than the sapwood. Closely resembles spruce, from which it can be distinguished by its absence of resin ducts.

The wood is used for paper pulp in mixture with spruce. Also for general construction to some extent.

3. Cypress. Odorless except in dark-colored specimens which are somewhat rancid. Smooth surface of sound wood looks and feels greasy or waxy. Moderate contrast between early and late wood. Color varies from straw color to dark brown, often with reddish and greenish tinge. Heartwood more deeply colored than the sapwood but without distinct boundary line.

Wood used in general construction, especially in places where durability is required; also for shingles, cooperage, posts, and poles.

4. Red Cedar. Has a distinct aromatic odor. Wood uniform-textured; late wood usually very thin, inconspicuous. Color deep reddish brown or purple, becoming dull upon exposure; numerous minute red dots often visible under lens. Sapwood white. Red cedar can be distinguished from all the other conifers mentioned by the deep color of the wood and the very distinct aromatic odor.

Wood largely used for pencils; also for chests and cabinets, posts, and poles. It is very durable in contact with the ground.

Western red cedar is lighter, softer, less deeply colored and less fragrant than the common Eastern cedar. It grows along the Pacific Coast and is extensively used for shingles throughout the country.

5. Redwood. Wood odorless and tasteless, uniform-textured, light and weak, rather coarse and harsh. Color light cherry. Close inspection under lens of a small split surface will reveal many little resin masses that appear as rows of black or amber beads which are characteristic of this wood.

Redwood is confined to portions of the Pacific Coast. It is used for house construction, interior finish, tanks and flumes, shingles, posts, and boxes. It is very durable.



II. WOODS WITH PORES—BROADLEAF, OR SO-CALLED "HARDWOODS"

A. Ring-porous.

1. Woods with a portion of the rays very large and conspicuous.

Oak. The wood of all of the oaks is heavy, hard, and strong. They may be separated into two groups. The white oaks and the red or black oaks.

(a) White oaks. Pores in early wood plugged with tyloses, collected in a few rows. Fig. 146. The transition from the large pores to the small ones in the late wood is abrupt. The latter are very small, numerous, and appear as irregular grayish bands widening toward the outer edge of the annual ring. Impossible usually to see into the small pores with magnifier.

(b) Red or black oaks. Pores are usually open though tyloses may occur, Fig. 147; the early wood pores are in several rows and the transition to the small ones in late wood is gradual. The latter are fewer, larger and more distinct than in white oak and it is possible to see into them with a hand lens.

The wood of the oaks is used for all kinds of furniture, interior finish, cooperage, vehicles, cross-ties, posts, fuel, and construction timber.

2. Woods with none of the rays large and conspicuous.

(a) Pores in late wood small and in radial lines, wood parenchyma in inconspicuous tangential lines.

Chestnut. Pores in early wood in a broad band, oval in shape, mostly free from tyloses. Pores in late wood in flame-like radial white patches that are plainly visible without lens. Color medium brown. Nearly odorless and tasteless. Chestnut is readily separated from oak by its weight and absence of large rays; from black ash by the arrangement of the pores in the late wood; from sassafras by the arrangement of the pores in the late wood, the less conspicuous rays, and the lack of distinct color.

The wood is used for cross-ties, telegraph and telephone poles, posts, furniture, cooperage, and tannin extract. Durable in contact with the ground.

(b) Pores in late wood small, not radially arranged, being distributed singly or in groups. Wood parenchyma around pores or extending wing-like from pores in late wood, often forming irregular tangential lines.

1. Ash. Pores in early wood in a rather broad band (occasionally narrow), oval in shape, see Fig. 148, tyloses present. Color brown to white, sometimes with reddish tinge to late wood. Odorless and tasteless. There are several species of ash that are classed as white ash and one that is called black or brown ash.

(a) White ash. Wood heavy, hard, strong, mostly light colored except in old heartwood, which is reddish. Pores in late wood, especially in the outer part of the annual ring, are joined by lines of wood parenchyma.

(b) Black ash. Wood more porous, lighter, softer, weaker, and darker colored than white ash. Pores in late wood fewer and larger and rarely joined by tangential lines of wood parenchyma.

The wood of the ashes is used for wagon and carriage stock, agricultural implements, oars, furniture, interior finish, and cooperage. It is the best wood for bent work.



2. Locust. Pores in early wood in a rather narrow band, round, variable in size, densely filled with tyloses. Color varying from golden yellow to brown, often with greenish hue. Very thin sapwood, white. Odorless and almost tasteless. Wood extremely heavy and hard, cutting like horn. Locust bears little resemblance to ash, being harder, heavier, of a different color, with more distinct rays, and with the pores in late wood in larger groups.

The wood is used for posts, cross-ties, wagon hubs, and insulator pins. It is very durable in contact with the ground.

(c) Pores in late wood comparatively large, not in groups or lines. Wood parenchyma in numerous fine but distinct tangential lines.



Hickory, Fig. 149. Pores in early wood moderately large, not abundant, nearly round, filled with tyloses. Color brown to reddish brown; thick sapwood, white. Odorless and tasteless. Wood very heavy, hard, and strong. Hickory is readily separated from ash by the fine tangential lines of wood parenchyma and from oak by the absence of large rays.

The wood is largely used for vehicles, tool handles, agricultural implements, athletic goods, and fuel.

(d) Pores in late wood small and in conspicuous wavy tangential bands. Wood parenchyma not in tangential lines.

Elm. Pores in early wood not large and mostly in a single row, Fig. 150 (several rows in slippery elm), round, tyloses present. Color brown, often with reddish tinge. Odorless and tasteless. Wood rather heavy and hard, tough, often difficult to split. The peculiar arrangement of the pores in the late wood readily distinguishes elm from all other woods except hackberry, from which it may be told by the fact that in elm the medullary rays are indistinct, while they are quite distinct in hackberry; moreover, the color of hackberry is yellow or grayish yellow instead of brown or reddish brown as in elm.

The wood is used principally for slack cooperage; also for hubs, baskets, agricultural implements, and fuel.



B. Diffuse-porous.

1. Pores varying in size from rather large to minute, the largest being in the early wood. Intermediate between ring-porous and diffuse-porous.

Black Walnut. Color rich dark or chocolate brown. Odor mild but characteristic. Tasteless or nearly so. Wood parenchyma in numerous, fine tangential lines. Wood heavy and hard, moderately stiff and strong. The wood is used principally for furniture, cabinets, interior finish, moulding, and gun stocks.

2. Pores all minute or indistinct, evenly distributed throughout annual ring.

(a) With conspicuously broad rays.

1. Sycamore. Fig. 151. Rays practically all broad. Color light brown, often with dark stripes or "feather grain." Wood of medium weight and strength, usually cross-grained, difficult to split.

The wood is used for general construction, woodenware, novelties, interior finish, and boxes.

2. Beech. With only a part of the rays broad, the others very fine, Fig. 151. Color pale reddish brown to white; uniform. Wood heavy, hard, strong, usually straight-grained.

The wood is used for cheap furniture, turnery, cooperage, woodenware, novelties, cross-ties, and fuel. Much of it is distilled.

(b) Without conspicuously broad rays.

1. Cherry. Rays rather fine but very distinct. Color of wood reddish brown. Wood rather heavy, hard, and strong.

The wood is used for furniture, cabinet work, moulding, interior finish, and miscellaneous articles.

2. Maple, Fig. 152. With part of the rays rather broad and conspicuous, the others very fine. Color light brown tinged with red. The wood of the hard maple is very heavy, hard and strong; that of the soft maples is rather light, fairly strong. Maple most closely resembles birch, but can be distinguished from it through the fact that in maple the rays are considerably more conspicuous than in birch.

The wood is used for slack cooperage, flooring, interior finish, furniture, musical instruments, handles, and destructive distillation.

3. Tulip-tree, yellow poplar or whitewood. Rays all fine but distinct. Color yellow or brownish yellow; sapwood white. Wood light and soft, straight-grained, easy to work.

The wood is used for boxes, woodenware, tops and bodies of vehicles, interior finish, furniture, and pulp.

4. Red or sweet gum. Rays all fine but somewhat less distinct than in tulip tree. Color reddish brown, often with irregular dark streaks producing a "watered" effect on smooth boards; thick sapwood, grayish white. Wood rather heavy, moderately hard, cross-grained, difficult to work.

The best grades of figured red gum resemble Circassian walnut, but the latter has much larger pores unevenly distributed and is less cross-grained than red gum.

The wood is used for finishing, flooring, furniture, veneers, slack cooperage, boxes, and gun stocks.



5. Black or sweet birch, Fig. 151. Rays variable in size but all rather indistinct. Color brown, tinged with red, often deep and handsome. Wood heavy, hard, and strong, straight-grained, readily worked. Is darker in color and has less prominent rays than maple.

The wood is used for furniture, cabinet work, finishing, and distillation.

6. Cottonwood. Rays extremely fine and scarcely visible even under lens. Color pale dull brown or grayish brown. Wood light, soft, not strong, straight-grained, fairly easy to work. Cottonwood can be separated from other light and soft woods by the fineness of its rays, which is equaled only by willow, which it rather closely resembles. The wood is largely used for boxes, general construction, lumber, and pulp.



How to judge the quality of wood: To know the name of a piece of wood means, in a general way, to know certain qualities that are common to all other pieces of wood of that species, but it does not explain the special peculiarities of the piece in question or why that particular piece is more suitable or unsuitable for a particular purpose than another piece of the same species. The mere identification of the wood does not explain why a particular piece is tougher, stronger or of darker color than another piece of the same species or even of the same tree. The reason for these special differences lies in the fact that wood is not a homogeneous material like metal. Within the same tree different parts vary in quality. The heartwood is generally heavier and of deeper color than the sapwood. The butt is superior to the top wood, and the manner in which the wood was sawed and dried will affect its quality. Knots, splits, checks, and discoloration due to incipient decay are defects worth considering. Wood that looks lusterless is usually defective, because the lack of luster is generally due to disease. Woods that are hard wear best. Hardness can be determined readily by striking the wood with a hammer and noting the sound produced. A clear, ringing sound is a sign of hardness. The strength of a piece of wood can be judged by its weight after it is well dried. Heavy woods are usually strong. A large amount of late wood is an indication of strength and the production of a clear sound when struck with a hammer is also an evidence of strength.



CHAPTER IX

AN OUTDOOR LESSON ON TREES

The importance of nature study in the training of the child is now well recognized. The influences of such study from the hygienic, moral and aesthetic point of view are far reaching and cannot be expressed in dollars and cents. In his association with nature, the child is led to observe more closely and to know and to be fond of what is truly beautiful in life—beautiful surroundings, beautiful thoughts and beautiful deeds. He is inspired with reverence for law, order and truth because he sees it constantly reflected in all works of nature. The social instinct is highly developed and even the parents are often bettered through the agency of their children.

The only way, however, to study nature—especially plants—is to study it out of doors. Our present tendency to gather in cities demands the upbuilding influences of trips into the open in order to equip the child mentally and physically to face the world and its work with the strength and tenacity characteristic of the country-bred. Moreover, the study of objects rather than books is an axiom in modern education and here, too, we can readily see that the best way to study trees is to take the pupil to the trees. Such studies are more lasting than book study because they emphasize the spirit and the goal rather than the petty facts.

Educators and parents are now recognizing the value of outdoor trips for their children and are beginning to indulge in them quite frequently. In many instances teachers about to take out their children for a day have inquired of the writer how to go about giving a general field lesson when they reached the park or woodland. The purpose of this chapter is to answer such a question and yet it is evident that it cannot be answered completely. What to observe out doors and how to present one's impressions is a broad question and varies with the knowledge and ability of the teacher as well as with the age and experience of the children. The how and the what in nature study is of greater import than the hard, dry facts and that must be left entirely to the teacher. A few suggestions, however, may not be amiss:

1. General observations with a view to character building: First of all it is important to remember that the great value of all tree and nature study is the inculcation in the minds of the children of an appreciation and love for the beautiful. Inspiring them to love trees generally means more than teaching them to know trees. Mere facts about trees taught in an academic way are often no more lasting than the formulae in trigonometry which most of us have long ago forgotten. The important thing is that permanent results be left and nothing else will produce such lasting impressions as the study of trees out of doors.



General observations about trees can be made by pointing out the beauty and character of the individual forms and branching, their harmony in their relations to each other as factors of a beautiful composition and the wealth of shades and colors in their leaves, bark and flowers. Compare, for instance, the intricate ramification of an American elm with the simple branching of a sugar maple, the sturdiness of a white oak with the tenderness of a soft maple, the wide spread of a beech with the slender form of a Lombardy poplar, the upward pointing branches of a gingko with the drooping form of a weeping willow. At close range, each of these trees reveals itself as an individual with a character quite its own. At little distance you may see them grouped together, subordinating their individuality and helping to blend into a beautiful composition with a character all its own. There is nothing more inspiring than the variety of greens in the spring foliage, the diversity of color in the spring blossoms and the wonderful display of autumnal tints offered by the sweet gum, sassafras, dogwood, black gum, red maple, sugar maple, scarlet oak, blue beech, sorrel tree, ash and gingko. The white bark of the gray birch, the dark bark of the black oak, the gray of the beech, the golden yellow of the mulberry and the mottled bark of the sycamore are interesting comparisons. The smooth bark of the mockernut hickory contrasts greatly with the shaggy bark of the shagbark hickory—members of the same family and yet how different. A wonderful opportunity is thus offered for a comparative study of human nature—individuality and community life, all reflected in trees.

With this preliminary study and with the addition of some remarks on the value of trees as health givers and moral uplifters, the child is interested and attracted. The lesson so far has attained its aim.

2. Specific observations with a view to training the observative powers: The child's training in closeness of observation and scientific precision may be the next consideration. His enthusiasm will now prompt him to lend his interest for greater detail. We can teach him to recognize a few of the common trees by their general characters—an American elm by its fan-shaped form, a gray birch by its white bark, a white pine by the five needles to each cluster, a horsechestnut by its opposite branching and big sticky bud and a willow by its drooping habit. After that we may introduce, if the age of the pupils justifies, more details extending to greater differences which distinguish one species from another.

The lesson might continue by pointing out the requirements of trees for water and light. Find a tree on some slope where the roots are exposed and another which is being encroached upon by its neighbor, and show how in one case the roots travel in search of water and food and in the other the branches bend toward the light, growing more vigorously on that side. Compare the trees on the open lawn with those in the grove and show how those in the open have grown with branches near the ground while those in the woodland are slender, tall and free from branches to some distance above the ground. Point out the lenticels on the bark of birch and sweet cherry trees and explain how trees breathe. Compare this process with that of the human body. You may now come across an old stump and here you can point out the structure of the wood—the sapwood, cambium and bark. You can illustrate the annual rings and count the age of the tree. At another point you may find a tree with a wound or bruised bark and here you can readily make a closer study of the cambium layer and its manner of growth.

The adaptation of plants to the seasonal changes opens another interesting field of study for beginners. If the season is the fall or winter, note how the trees have prepared themselves for the winter's cold by terminating the flow of sap, by dropping their leaves too tender to resist the winter's cold, and by covering their buds with scales lined with down on the inside. Observe how the insects have spun for themselves silken nests or remain preserved in the egg state over the winter. If the season is spring or summer the opposite may be noted. See how everything turns to life; how the buds are opening, the leaves emerging, the sap running, seeds germinating and flowers blooming.

The soil conditions on the lawn and in the grove furnish another interesting feature of comparison and study. In the grove, you can demonstrate the decomposition of the fallen leaves, the formation of humus and its value to the tree. The importance of the forest soil as a conservator of water and its relation to stream flow and soil erosion can be brought out at this juncture. An eroded bank and a slope covered with trees and shrubs would provide excellent models for this study. A consideration of the economic value of the trees would also be in place.

3. Civic lessons reflected in trees: The community life of trees in the grove, their growth, struggles for light and food and their mutual aid can be brought out and compared with the community life among people. The trees may here be seen struggling with each other for light and food, forcing each other's growth upward, some winning out and developing into stalwart and thrifty specimens and others becoming suppressed or entirely killed. On the other hand they may be seen helping each other in their community growth by protecting each other from windfall and by contributing to the fertility of the forest soil in dropping their leaves and shading the ground so that these fallen leaves may decompose readily.



4. Enemies of trees: An old stump or tree may be seen crumbling away under the influence of fungi and here the children may be shown the effects of tree diseases both as destroyers of life and as up-builders, because fungi turn to dust the living trees and build up others by furnishing them with the decomposed wood matter.

Insects too, may be invading the old dead tree, and something of their nature, habits and influences may be gone into. They may be shown as wood borers, leaf eaters, or sap suckers, all injurious to the tree. On the other hand they may be shown as seed disseminators and as parasites on other injurious insects; all benefactors.

Forest fires as an enemy of trees might be touched upon by noting how easily the leaves may be ignited and a surface fire started when the season is dry. Top and ground fires emanating from surface fires can then be readily explained.



5. Expression: The pupils have by this time been taught to feel the beautiful, to observe carefully and to reason intelligently and they may now be trained to express themselves properly. This may be accomplished by asking them to remember their observations and to write about them in the classroom. The lesson may be supplemented with effective reading about trees and forests. Interesting reading matter of this sort can be found in abundance in children's readers, in special books on the subject and in Arbor Day Manuals published by the various State Education Departments.

6. Preparation: In order to save time looking for objects of interest and for the purpose of correlating the various observations so that all will follow in orderly sequence, it is well for the teacher or leader to go over the ground beforehand and note the special features of interest. The various topics can then be given some thought and a brief synopsis can be drawn up to serve as a memorandum and guide on the trip.

It is also well to be provided with a hatchet to cut into some decayed stump, a trowel to dig up the forest soil, a knife for cutting off twigs and a hand reading glass for examining the structural parts of the various objects under observation. A camera is always a valuable asset because the photographs hung in the classroom become records of great interest to all participants.

7. Suggestions for forming tree clubs: A good way to interest children in trees and nature study is to form, among them, a Tree Club. The idea has been fully developed in Brooklyn, N.Y., Newark, N.J., and other cities and consists of forming clubs of children in the public schools and private institutions for the purpose of interesting them in the trees around their school and their homes. The members of these clubs are each given the tree warden's badge of authority and assigned to some special duty in the preservation of the local trees. A plan of study and of outdoor trips is laid out for them by their director and at stated periods they are given illustrated lectures on trees and taken to the neighboring parks or woodlands.



INDEX

Acer negundo, — platanoides, — polymorphum, — pseudoplatanus, — rubrum, — saccharinum, — saccharum, Aesculus hippocastanum, — rubicunda, Ailing tree, how to tell an, Air, influence of, Alternate branched trees, American beech, — elm, — larch, — linden, Annual rings, Aphides or plant lice, Apple rust, Arbor-vita and red cedar, description of, — (northern white cedar), Arsenate of lead, Ash, wood, — black, — white, Ash-leaf maple, Aspen, large-toothed, —, quaking, Austrian pine,

Bald cypress, Balm of Gilead, Balsam, fir, —, poplar, Bark, Bark, how to prevent splitting when removing branches, — or trunk, trees told by their, Bass-wood, Bean, Indian, Beech, American, —, blue, or hornbeam, —, copper, —, European, — tree, Beetle, elm leaf, Betula alba, — lutea, — lenta, — papyrifera, — populifolia, Bhotan pine, Bigbud hickory, Birch, black, —, European white, — fungus rot, —, gray, —, paper, —, sweet, — tree, —, white, —, yellow, Bitternut hickory, Black ash, — birch, — locust, — oak, — or sweet birch, — spruce, — walnut, Blotches, leaf, Blue beech, or hornbeam, — spruce, Bolting limbs, Bordeaux mixture, Borer, bronze-birch, —, hickory bark, —, linden, —, locust, —, sugar maple, Boring insects, Box-elder, Bracing limbs, various methods of, Bracket fungus, Branches, dead and broken, removal of, —, how to prevent bark splitting when removing, Broadleaf or "hardwoods," Bronze-birch borer, Brooklyn, N.Y., Broom hickory, Brown hickory, Brown-tail moth, Buckeye, Butternut, Buttonball, Buttonwood, By-products of forests, utilization of,

Cambium layer, Camperdown elm, Care in selecting trees suitable for the soil, Carolina poplar, Carpinus caroliniana, Castanea dentata, Catalpa speciosa, Caterpillars, Caterpillars, leaf-eating, —, spraying for, Catkin, Cattle grazing in forests a source of injury, Cavities, fungous diseases attacking, — how caused, —, manner of filling, Cedar apple, —, white, Celtis occidentalis, Chamaecyparis thyoides, Character building and trees, Chestnut, — and oaks, — disease, Chewing insects, Cherry, Child training in observation and precision, Chlorophyll, Civic lessons reflected in trees, Climbing trees, precautions, Clubs, tree, Coffee tree, Colorado blue spruce, Color of leaves, Common catalpa, — locust, Community life of trees, Conifers or "softwoods," Coniferous trees, Copper beech, Cork elm, Cornus florida, Corrosive sublimate, Cottonwood, Cottony-maple scale, Crataegus oxyacantha, Crown, Cucumber tree, Cypress, — and larch, description of, —, bald, — knees, — obtuse leaf, Japanese,

Dead and broken branches, removal of, Deciduous trees, Destroying injurious insects, methods of, — pupae, Developing disease, moisture a factor in, Diaporthe parasitica, Diffuse-porous woods, Disease, fungi as factors of, — moisture a factor in developing, Dogwood, flowering, Douglas fir,

Effect of heat on trees, Elkwood, Elm, —, American, —, Camperdown, —, cork, —, English, — leaf beetle, —, poplar, gingko and willow trees, told by their form, —, white, Enemies of trees, Enemy of trees, forest fires as an English elm, — hawthorn, — yew, European beech, — larch, — linden, — weeping birch, — white birch,

Fall webworm, Fagus, — americana, — sylvatica, Fern, maidenhair, Fighting forest fires, various ways of, Filling cavities, manner of, Fire, guarding woodlands from, Flowering dogwood, Foliage, spraying, Forest fires as an enemy of trees, — —, various ways of fighting, — lands, exemption from taxation, —, life and nature of, — trees, pruning, Forestry in various countries, —, what it is and what it does, Forests, grazing cattle in, a source of injury, Forest Service, U.S., —, harvesting, —, harvesting of, to increase production, —, how established, —, how harvested, —, how protected, —, how they help to regulate streams and prevent floods, —, method of establishing, —, planting, with seedling trees, — prevent soil erosion, —, protecting from destructive agencies, —, safeguarding, —, utilization of by-products, Fraxinus americana, — nigra, Frost, effect of, on trees, Fungi and insects, protection against, — as factors of disease, Fungous diseases attacking cavities, — diseases, spraying for, Fungus, fruiting body of,

Gingko biloba, — or maidenhair tree, Gipsy moth, Gleditsia triacanthos, Gloeosporium nervisequum, Gray or white birch, Grazing effect on forests, Grove and lawn, study of soil conditions on, Gum, red or sweet, Gymnocladus dioicus,

Hackberry tree, Hackmatack, Hard maple, — pines, "Hardwoods," or broadleaf trees, Hardy catalpa, Harvesting forests, Harvesting of forests to increase production, Hawthorn, English, Healthy tree, conditions which indicate, Heartwood, Heat, effect of, on trees, Hemlock, — and spruce, description of, Hickory, — bark borer, —, bigbud, —, bitternut, —, broom, —, brown, —, mockernut, —, pignut, —, shagbark, —, shellbark, —, whiteheart, Hicoria alba, — glabra, — minima, — ovata, Honey locust, Hop hornbeam, Hornbeam, (blue beech), Horsechestnut, —, red, Humus, Hydrophytes,

Important insects, Improperly pruned trees, Indian bean, Individuality of trees, Insects and fungi, protection against, —, boring, —, chewing, — galls, —, important kinds of, — injurious to trees, —, leaf-eating, —, methods of destroying injurious, —, nature, habits and influences of, —, sucking, —, the four stages, or life history of, Ironwood tree, Italian or Lombardy poplar,

Japanese maple, — umbrella pine, Juglans cinerea, — nigra, Juniper, Juniperus communis, Juniperus virginiana,

Kerosene emulsion, Knees, cypress,

Larch, American, — and cypress, description of, — European, Large-toothed aspen, Larix europaea, Lawn and grove, study of soil conditions on, Lawn trees, — —, pruning, Leaf blotches, Leaf-eating caterpillars, ——, insect, Leaves, —, needle-shaped, —, scale-like, —, star-shaped, Lenticels, Leopard moth, Lesson on trees, outdoor, Light, influence of, on trees, Limbs, various methods of bracing, Lime-sulphur wash, Lime-tree, Linden, American, — borer, —, European, Liquidambar styraciflua, Liriodendron, tulipifers, Location of trees, care to be exercised in, Locust, —, black, — borer, —, common, —, honey, — miner, —, yellow, Lombardy or Italian poplar, Low juniper,

Magnolia acuminata, —, mountain, — soulangeana, —, Soulange's, — tripetala, Magnolias, the, Maiden-hair fern, — or gingko tree, Maple wood, —, ash-leaf, —, hard, —, Japanese, —, Norway, — phenacoccus, —, red, —, rock, —, silver, —, soft, — sugar, — swamp, —, sycamore, —, white, Mesophytes, Method of covering wounds, Methods of destroying injurious insects, Mockernut hickory, Moisture a factor in developing disease, —, influence of, on trees, Moral influence of trees, Morus alba, — rubra, Moth, gipsy, —, leopard, Mountain magnolia, Mugho pine, Mulberry, red, —, white,

National forests, Needle-shaped leaves, Nettle tree, Newark, N.J., Northern white cedar (arbor-vitae), Norway maple, — spruce, Nursery, tree,

Oak, —, black, —, pin, —, red, —, scarlet, —, swamp white, —, white, —, yellow, Oaks and chestnut, Observations about trees, general, — and precision, child training in, Obtuse Japanese cypress, Opposite branched trees, Orange, Osage, Oriental spruce, — sycamore, Osage orange, Ostrya virginiana, Outdoor lesson on trees, Oyster-shell scale,

Paper birch, Picea canadensis, — excelsa, — mariana, — orientalis, — parryana, — pungens, Pignut hickory, Pin oak, Pine, Austrian, —, Bhotan, —, Mugho, —, red, —, Scotch, — trees, — weevil, white, —, white, Pines, Pinus Austriaca, — excelsa, — mughus, — resinosa, — rigida, — strobus, — sylvestris, Pitch pine, Pith, Plane or sycamore tree, Plant lice, or aphides, — study, value of, for children, — trees, how to, Planting forests, — forests with seedling trees, — little trees, methods of, —, improving woodland by, — new trees, — trees, — — most economical method, — — on land unsuitable for crops, Plants, adaptation of, to seasonal changes, Platanus occidentalis, — orientalis, Polyporus betulinus, Poplar, balsam, —, Carolina, —, Lombardy or Italian, —, silver, —, tulip, —, white, —, yellow, Populus alba, — balsamifera, — deltoides, — grandidentata, — nigra, — tremuloides, Pores in wood, — small or indistinct, — varying in size, Poster for private woodlands, Precautions against fire, Protection against fungi and insects, Pruning forest trees, — lawn trees, — shade trees, —, tools used in, —, too severe, — trees, fundamental principles, — —, time for, Pussy willow,

Quaking aspen, Quality of trees, how to judge, Quality of wood, how to judge, Quercus alba, — palustris, — platanoides, — rubra, — velutina,

Red cedar, — — and arbor-vitae, description of, — gum, — horsechestnut, — juniper, — maple, — mulberry, — oak, — pine, — or black oaks, — or sweet gum, Red spider, Redwood, Removal of dead and broken branches, — of trees, how to mark, Requirements of trees, Retinospora obtusa, Rhytisma acerinum, Ring-porous woods, Robinia pseudacacia, Rock maple, Roots, —, development of, —, protection of, from drying, Rust, apple,

Safeguarding forests, Salix babylonica, Salix discolor, Saperda vestita, Sapwood, Sawfly, Scale, cottony-maple, —, oyster-shell, Scale-like leaves, Scarlet oak, Sciadopitys verticillata, Scolytus quadrispinosus, Scotch pine, Screening trees, Season, influence of, Seasons for spraying trees, Seedling trees, planting forests with, Shade trees, pruning, Shagbark hickory, Shellbark hickory, Silver maple, — poplar, Soft maple, — pines, "Softwoods" or conifers, Soil erosion, forests prevent, —, influence of, on trees, — of wooded areas, preserving, —, physical character of, important for production of trees, Soulange's magnolia, Specifications for street tree, Specimens of wood, how to identify, Split trees, Spray trees, how to, Spraying apparatus, — foliage, — for caterpillars, — for fungous diseases, — material, arsenate of lead, kerosene emulsion, lime-sulfur wash, tobacco water, whale-oil soap, — trees, seasons for, — trees, thoroughness essential, Spruce and hemlock, description of, —, black, —, blue, —, Oriental, —, Norway, —, white, Spruces, Star-shaped leaves, Stem, Stomata, Streets, trees for, Structure of trees, — of woods, Sucking insects, Sugarberry, Sugar maple, — maple borer, Suggestions for forming tree clubs, — for outdoor study of trees, — for planting little trees, — for safety of tree climbers, — for tree nursery, Surface wounds, Swamp maple, — white oak, Sweet birch, — gum, Sycamore, — maple, — tree,

Tamarack, Taxation, forest lands exempt from, Taxodium distichum, Taxus baccata, Thuja occidentalis, Tilia americana, — microphylla, Tobacco water, Tools used in pruning, Toxylon pomiferum, Training a child to recognize trees, — children in observation and precision, Trametes pini, Treating surface wounds, Tree, ailing, how to tell an, — and nature study, value of, —, beech, —, birch, —, blue beech, — climbers, suggestions for safety of, — clubs, suggestions for forming, —, coffee, — diseases, — diseases, effects of, as destroyers and up-builders, — growth, conditions for, in different localities, —, hackberry, —, iron wood, —, nettle, — nursery, suggestions for, —, plane, — repair, —, sycamore, —, tulip, —, weeping willow, Trees and character building, —, care of, —, care to be exercised in location of, —, civic lessons reflected in, —, community life of, —, coniferous, —, crowding, —, deciduous, —, effect of frost on, —, effect of heat on, —, enemies of, — for lawns, — for screening, — for streets, — for woodland, —, general observations about, —, hickories, walnut, and butternut, —, how to identify, —, how to mark for removal, —, how to plant, —, how to spray, —, improperly pruned, —, individuality of —, influence of light on, —, influence of moisture on, —, influence of soil on, —, insects injurious to, —, measuring diameter of, —, methods of planting little, —, methods of removing, —, nature and habits of individual, —, needs that nature or man must supply, —, outdoor lesson on, —, physical character of soil important for production of, —, planting, on land unsuitable for crops, —, pruning, fundamental principles, —, —, how to cut properly, —, quality, —, rapidity of growth of different species, —, requirements of, —, seasons for spraying, —, setting, —, structure of, —, study of rings of various species, —, suggestions for outdoor study of, —, suggestions, for planting little, — suitable for the soil, care in selecting, —, tendency to split, —, thoroughness essential in spraying, —, time for pruning, — told by their bark or trunk, —, training a child to recognize, —, value of, as health givers and moral uplifters, —, what to plant and how, —, when and how to procure, —, when to plant, —, when to spray, —, wooded areas improved by planting new, —, yew, Tsuga canadensis, Tulip poplar, — tree, Tussock moth,

Ulmus americana, — campestris, Umbrella pine, Japanese, — tree,

Value of plant study for children, — of tree and nature study, — of trees as health givers and moral uplifters,

Walnut, —, black, Wasteful lumbering, Weeping willow tree, Western catalpa, Whale-oil soap, White ash, — birch, European, — cedar, — elm, — flowering dogwood, Whiteheart hickory, White maple, — mulberry, — oak, — oak, swamp, — or gray birch, — pine, — pine weevil, — poplar, — spruce, Whitewood, Willow, weeping, —, pussy, Wood, diffuse-porous, —, diseased, disposal of, —, early, — fibers, —, how to identify specimens, —, how to judge quality of, —, late, — medullary rays, — parenchyma, — resin ducts, —, ring-porous, — spring, —, structure, of, — summer, Woodland, care of the, — how to improve by removing trees, — how to judge, unfavorable conditions, — trees, Woodlands, other means of protecting, Woodlot, small cost of well-selected young trees for the, Wood, structure of, Wooded areas improved by planting new trees, — areas, preserving soil of, Woods, identification, properties and uses of common, —, ring-porous, — with large and conspicuous rays, — with pores, — with resin ducts, — with small and inconspicuous rays, — without pores, — without resin ducts, Wounds, importance of covering, —, methods of covering, —, treating surface,

Xerophytes,

Yellow birch, — locust, — oak, — poplar, Yew, English, Yew trees, Young trees for the woodlot, small cost of well-selected,

THE END