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diff --git a/old/66670-0.txt b/old/66670-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index c0622a6..0000000 --- a/old/66670-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,4436 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Trees, by Janet Harvey Kelman - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Trees - Shown to the Children - -Author: C. E. Smith - -Editor: Louey Chisholm - -Illustrator: Janet Harvey Kelman - -Release Date: November 4, 2021 [eBook #66670] - -Language: English - -Produced by: D A Alexander, David E. Brown, and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was - produced from images made available by the HathiTrust - Digital Library.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TREES *** - - - - - - THE “SHOWN TO THE CHILDREN” SERIES - - EDITED BY LOUEY CHISHOLM - - TREES - - - - -The “Shown to the Children” Series - - - 1. BEASTS - - With 48 Coloured Plates by PERCY J. BILLINGHURST. - Letterpress by LENA DALKEITH. - - 2. FLOWERS - - With 48 Coloured Plates showing 150 flowers, by - JANET HARVEY KELMAN. Letterpress by C. E. - SMITH. - - 3. BIRDS - - With 48 Coloured Plates by M. K. C. SCOTT. - Letterpress by J. A. HENDERSON. - - 4. THE SEA-SHORE - - With 48 Coloured Plates by JANET HARVEY - KELMAN. Letterpress by REV. THEODORE WOOD. - - 5. THE FARM - - With 48 Coloured Plates by F. M. B. and A. H. - BLAIKIE. Letterpress by FOSTER MEADOW. - - 6. TREES - - With 32 Coloured Plates by JANET HARVEY - KELMAN. Letterpress by C. E. SMITH. - - 7. NESTS AND EGGS - - With 48 Coloured Plates by A. H. BLAIKIE. - Letterpress by J. A. HENDERSON. - - 8. BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS - - With 48 Coloured Plates by JANET HARVEY - KELMAN. Letterpress by Rev. THEODORE WOOD. - - 9. STARS - - By ELLISON HAWKS. - - 10. GARDENS - - With 32 Coloured Plates by J. H. KELMAN. - Letterpress by J. A. HENDERSON. - - 11. BEES - - By ELLISON HAWKS. Illustrated in Colour and - Black and White. - - 12. ARCHITECTURE - - By GLADYS WYNNE. Profusely Illustrated. - - 13. THE EARTH - - By ELLISON HAWKS. Profusely Illustrated. - - 14. THE NAVY - - By PERCIVAL A. HISLAM. 48 Two-colour Plates. - - 15. THE ARMY - - By A. H. ATTERIDGE. 16 Colour and 32 Black Plates. - - -[Illustration: PLATE I - -THE OAK - - 1. Oak Tree - 2. Leaf Spray - 3. Spray with Flower Catkins - 4. Stamen Catkin - 5. Seed Catkin - 6. Fruit] - - - - - TREES - SHOWN TO THE CHILDREN - - BY - JANET HARVEY KELMAN - - DESCRIBED BY - C. E. SMITH - - [Illustration] - - THIRTY-TWO COLOURED PICTURES - - LONDON: T. C. & E. C. JACK, Ltd. - 35 PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C. - AND EDINBURGH - - - - - To - THOMAS FORBES SACKVILLE WILSON - - - - -Dear children,--In this little book I have written about some of the -trees which you are likely to find growing wild in this country, and -Miss Kelman has painted for you pictures of these trees, with drawings -of the leaves and flowers and fruit, so that it will be easy for you to -tell the name of each tree. But I think there is one question which you -are sure to ask after reading this small book, and that is, “How do the -trees grow?” - -The tree grows very much as we do, by taking food and by breathing. The -food of the tree is obtained from two sources: from the earth and from -the air. Deep down in the earth lie the tree roots, and these roots -suck up water from the soil in which they are embedded. This water, in -which there is much nourishment, rises through many tiny cells in the -woody stem till it reaches the leaf, twigs, and green leaves. As it -rises the growing cells keep what they need of the water. The rest is -given off as vapour by the leaves through many tiny pores, which you -will not be able to see without a microscope. - -While it is day the green leaves select from the air a gas called -carbonic acid gas. This they separate into two parts called oxygen -and carbon. The plant does not need the oxygen as food, so the leaves -return it to the air, but they keep the carbon. This carbon becomes -mixed in some strange way with the water food drawn from the soil by -the roots. Forming a liquid, it finds its way through many small cells -and channels to feed the growing leaves and twigs and branches. - -But, like ourselves, a tree if it is to live and thrive must breathe as -well as take food. By night as well as by day the tree requires air for -breathing. Scattered over the surface of the leaves, and indeed over -the skin of the tree, are many tiny mouths or openings called stomata. -It is by these that the tree breathes. It now takes from the air some -oxygen, which, you will remember, is the gas that the leaves do not -need in making their share of the tree food. Now you can see why it -is that a tree cannot thrive if it is planted in a dusty, sooty town. -The tiny mouths with which it breathes get filled up, and the tree -is half-choked for lack of air. Also the pores of the leaves become -clogged, so that the water which is not needed cannot easily escape -from them. A heavy shower of rain is a welcome friend to our dusty town -trees. - -As a rule tree flowers are not so noticeable as those which grow in -the woods and meadows. Often the ring of gaily-coloured petals which -form the corolla is awanting, so are the green or coloured sepals of -the calyx, and the flower may consist, as in the Ash tree, of a small -seed-vessel standing between two stamens, which have plenty of pollen -dust in their fat heads. - -It is very interesting to notice the various ways in which the tree -flowers grow. In some trees the stamens and seed-vessels will be found -close together, as in the Ash tree and Elm. Or they may grow on the -same branch of a tree; but all the stamens will be grouped together on -one stalk and all the seed-vessels close beside it on another stalk, -as in the Oak tree. Or the stamen flowers may all be found on one tree -without any seed flowers, and on another tree, sometimes a considerable -distance away, there will be found nothing but seed flowers. This -occurs in the White Poplar or Abele tree. - -You must never forget that both kinds of flowers are required if the -tree is to produce new seed, and many books have been written to point -out the wonderful ways in which the wind and the birds and the bees -carry the stamen dust to the seed-vessels, which are waiting to receive -it. - -Each summer the tree adds a layer of new wood in a circle round the -tree trunk; a broad circle when there has been sunshine and the tree -has thriven well, and a narrow circle when the season has been wet and -sunless. This new layer of wood is always found just under the bark or -coarse, outer skin of the tree. The bark protects the soft young wood, -and if it is eaten by cattle, or cut off by mischievous boys, then the -layer of young wood is exposed, and the tree will die. - -When winter approaches and the trees get ready for their long sleep, -the cells in this layer of new wood slowly dry, and it becomes a ring -of hard wood. If you look at a tree which has just been cut down, you -will be able to tell how many years old the tree is by counting the -circles of wood in the tree trunk. When a tree grows very slowly these -rings are close and firm, and the wood of the tree is hard and valuable. - -Many, many years ago, when a rich Scotch landlord lay dying, he said to -his only son, “Jock, when you have nothing else to do, be sticking in a -tree; it will aye be growing when you are sleeping.” He was a clever, -far-seeing old man, Jock’s father, for he knew that in course of time -trees grow to be worth money, and that to plant a tree was a sure and -easy way of adding a little more to the wealth he loved so dearly. - -But a tree has another and a greater value to us and to the world than -the price which a wood merchant will give for it as timber. Think -what a dear familiar friend the tree has been in the life of man! How -different many of our best-loved tales would be without the trees that -played so large a part in the lives of our favourite heroes. Where -could Robin Hood and his merry men have lived and hunted but under the -greenwood tree? Without the forest of Arden what refuge would have -sheltered the mischief-loving Rosalind and her banished father? How -often do we think of the stately Oak and Linden trees into which good -old Baucis and Philemon were changed by the kindly gods. - -And do you remember what secrets the trees told us as we lay under -their shady branches on the hot midsummer days, while the leaves danced -and flickered against the blue, blue sky? Can you tell what was the -charm that held us like a dream in the falling dusk as we watched their -heavy masses grow dark and gloomy against the silvery twilight sky? - -In a corner of a Cumberland farmyard there grew a noble tree whose -roots struck deep into the soil, and whose heavy branches shadowed -much of the ground. “Why do you not cut it down?” asked a stranger; -“it seems so much in the way.” “Cut it down!” the farmer answered -passionately. “I would sooner fall on my knees and worship it.” To him -the tree had spoken of a secret unguessed by Jock’s father and by many -other people who look at the trees with eyes that cannot see. He had -learned that the mystery of tree life is one with the mystery that -underlies our own; that we share this mystery with the sea, and the -sun, and the stars, and that by this mystery of life the whole world is -“bound with gold chains” of love “about the feet of God.” - - C. E. SMITH. - - - - -LIST OF PLATES - - - PLATE I - - The Oak - - - PLATE II - - The Beech - - - PLATE III - - The Birch - - - PLATE IV - - The Alder - - - PLATE V - - The Hornbeam - - - PLATE VI - - The Hazel - - - PLATE VII - - The Lime or Linden - - - PLATE VIII - - The Common Elm and Wych or Broad-Leaved Elm - - - PLATE IX - - The Ash - - - PLATE X - - The Field Maple - - - PLATE XI - - The Sycamore, or Great Maple, or Mock Plane - - - PLATE XII - - The Oriental Plane - - - PLATE XIII - - The White Poplar or Abele Tree - - - PLATE XIV - - The Aspen - - - PLATE XV - - The White Willow - - - PLATE XVI - - The Goat Willow or Sallow - - - PLATE XVII - - The Scotch Pine or Scotch Fir - - - PLATE XVIII - - The Yew - - - PLATE XIX - - The Juniper - - - PLATE XX - - The Larch - - - PLATE XXI - - The Spruce Fir - - - PLATE XXII - - The Silver Fir - - - PLATE XXIII - - The Holly - - - PLATE XXIV - - The Wild Cherry or Gean - - - PLATE XXV - - The Whitebeam - - - PLATE XXVI - - The Rowan or Mountain Ash - - - PLATE XXVII - - The Hawthorn - - - PLATE XXVIII - - The Box - - - PLATE XXIX - - The Walnut - - - PLATE XXX - - The Sweet Chestnut or Spanish Chestnut - - - PLATE XXXI - - The Horse Chestnut - - - PLATE XXXII - - The Cedar of Lebanon - - - - -TREES - - - - -PLATE I - -THE OAK - - -Of all our forest trees the Oak is undoubtedly the king. It is our -most important tree, the monarch of our woods, full of noble dignity -and grandeur in the summer sunshine, strong to endure the buffeting -of the wintry gales. It lives to the great age of seven hundred years -or more, and is a true father of the forest. We read of the Oak tree -in the story books of long ago. There are many Oak trees mentioned in -the Bible. In Greece the Oak was believed to be the first tree that -God created, and there grew a grove of sacred Oaks which were said to -utter prophecies. The wood used for the building of the good ship Argo -was cut from this grove, and in times of danger the planks of the ship -spoke in warning voices to the sailors. - -In Rome a crown of Oak leaves was given to him who should save the life -of a citizen, and in this country, in the days of the Druids, there -were many strange customs connected with the Oak and its beautiful -guest the mistletoe. The burning of the Yule log of Oak is an ancient -custom which we trace to Druid times. It was lit by the priests from -the sacred altar, then the fires in all the houses were put out, and -the people relit them with torches kindled at the sacred log. Even now -in remote parts of Yorkshire and Devonshire the Yule log is brought in -at Christmas-time and half burned, then it is taken off the fire and -carefully laid aside till the following year. - -We know that in Saxon times this country was covered with dense -forests, many of which were of Oak trees. Huge herds of swine fed on -the acorns which lay in abundance under the trees; and a man, when he -wished to sell his piece of forest, did not tell the buyer how much -money the wood in it was worth, but how many pigs it could fatten. In -times of famine the acorns used to be ground, and bread was made of the -meal. There have been many famous Oak trees in England: one of these we -have all heard of--the huge Oak at Boscobel in which King Charles II. -hid with a great many of his men after he was defeated at the battle of -Worcester. - -I think you will have no difficulty in recognising an Oak tree (1) at -any time of the year. Look at its trunk in winter: how dark and rough -it is; how wide and spreading at the bottom to give its many roots a -broad grip of the earth into which they pierce deeply. Then as the -stem rises it becomes narrower, as if the tree had a waist, for it -broadens again as it reaches a height where the branches divide from -the main trunk. And what huge branches these are--great rough, dark -arms with many crooked knots or elbows, which shipbuilders prize for -their trade. These Oak-tree arms are so large and heavy that the tree -would need to be well rooted in the ground to stand firm when the gale -is tossing its branches as if they were willow rods. - -The Oak tree does not grow to a great height. It is a broad, sturdy -tree, and it grows very slowly, so slowly that after it is grown up it -rarely increases more than an inch in a year, and sometimes not even -that. But just because the Oak tree lives so leisurely, it outlasts all -its companions in the forest except, perhaps, the yew tree, and its -beautiful hard, close-grained wood is the most prized of all our timber. - -In the end of April or early in May, the Oak leaves (2) appear; -very soft and tender they are too at first, and of a pale reddish -green colour. But soon they darken in the sunshine and become a -dark glossy green. Each leaf is feather-shaped and has a stalk. The -margin is deeply waved into blunt lobes or fingers, and there is a -strongly-marked vein up the centre of the leaf, with slender veins -running from it to the edge. - -In autumn these leaves change colour: they become a pale brown, and -will hang for weeks rustling in the branches till the young buds which -are to appear next year begin to form and so push the old leaves off. -If a shrivelling frost or a blighting insect destroys all the young Oak -leaves, as sometimes happens, then the sturdy tree will reclothe itself -in a new dress of leaves, which neither the Beech, nor the Chestnut, -nor the Maple, could do. It shows what a great deal of life there is in -the stout tree. - -The flowers of the Oak arrive about the same time as the leaves, and -they grow in catkins which are of two kinds. You will find a slender -hanging catkin (3) on which grow small bunches of yellow-headed stamens -(4). Among the stamens you can see six or eight narrow sepals, but -these stamens have no scales to protect them as the Hazel and Birch -catkins have. On the same branch grows a stouter, upright catkin, -and on it are one or maybe two or three tiny cups (5), made of soft -green leaves called bracts, and in the centre of this cup sits the -seed-vessel, crowned with three blunt points. As the summer advances -this seed-vessel grows larger and fatter and becomes a fruit (6) called -an acorn, which is a pale yellow colour at first, and later is a dark -olive brown. The soft leafy cup hardens till it is firm as wood, and in -it the acorn sits fast till it is ripe. It then falls from the cup and -is greedily eaten by the squirrels and dormice, as it was in the olden -times by the pigs. From those acorns that are left lying on the ground -all winter, under the withered leaves, will grow the tiny shoots of a -new tree when the spring sunshine comes again. - -The Oak tree is the most hospitable of trees: it is said that eleven -hundred insects make their home in its kindly shelter. There are five -kinds of houses, which are called galls, built by insects, and you -can easily recognise these, and must look for them on the Oak tree. -Sometimes on the hanging stamen catkins you will find little balls like -currants with the catkin stem running through the centre. These are the -homes of a tiny grub which is living inside the currant ball, and which -will eat its way out as soon as it is ready to unfold its wings and fly. - -Often at the end of an Oak twig you find a soft, spongy ball which is -called an Oak apple. It is pinkish brown on the outside and is not very -regular in shape. This ball is divided inside into several cells, and -in each cell there lives a grub which will also become a fly before -summer is over. - -Sometimes if you look at the back of an Oak leaf you will see it -covered with small red spangles which are fringed and hairy. These -spangles each contain a small insect, and they cling to their spangled -homes long after the leaves have fallen to the ground. - -Another insect home or gall grows in the leaves, and this one is much -larger, sometimes as big as a marble. It too is made by an insect which -is living inside, and this is called a leaf gall. - -There is still another insect which attacks the leaf buds and causes -them to grow in a curious way. Instead of opening as usual, the bud -proceeds to make layers of narrow-pointed green leaves which it lays -tightly one above the other, like the leaves of an artichoke or the -scales of a fir cone. If you cut one of these Oak cones in half you -will find many small insects inside, which have caused the bud to grow -in this strange way. - -And there is one other oak gall you must note. When the leaves have -all fallen and the twigs are brown and bare, you see clusters of hard -brown balls growing on some of them. They are smooth and glossy and -the colour of dried walnuts. These also have been made by an insect. -Sometimes you see the tiny hole in the ball by which the grub has bored -its way out. This kind of gall does great harm to the tree, as it uses -up the sap that should nourish the young twigs. - -The wood of the Oak is very valuable. Sometimes a fine old tree will -be sold for four hundred pounds, and every part of it can be used. The -bark is valuable because it contains large quantities of an acid which -is used in making ink; also in dyeing leather. Oak that has been lying -for years in a peat bog, where there is much iron in the water, is -perfectly black when dug out, black as ink, because the acid and the -iron together have made the inky colour. - -[Illustration: PLATE II - -THE BEECH - - 1. Beech Tree in Autumn - 2. Leaf Spray - 3. Bud - 4. Buds in Winter - 5. Seed Flower - 6. Stamen Flower - 7. Fruit - 8. Fruit when Ripe] - -The wood of an Oak tree lasts very long: there are Oak beams in -houses which are known to be seven hundred years old, and which are as -good as the day they were cut. For centuries our ships were built of -Oak, the wooden walls of old England, hearts of Oak, as they have often -been called, because Oak wood does not readily splinter when struck -by a cannon ball. And Oak wood will not quickly rot: we know of piles -which have been driven into river beds centuries ago and are still -sound and strong. In pulling down an old building lately in London, -which was built six hundred and fifty years ago, the workmen found many -oak piles in the foundations, and these were still quite sound. - - - - -PLATE II - -THE BEECH - - -In the south of England there lived a holy hermit named St. Leonard -whose hut was surrounded by a glade of noble Beech trees. The saint -loved the beautiful trees, but by day he could not sit under their -shady branches because of the vipers which swarmed about the roots, -and by night the songs of many nightingales disturbed his rest. So he -prayed that both the serpents and the birds might be taken away, and -from that day no viper has stung and no nightingale has warbled in -the Hampshire forests. So we read in the old story books. There are -many such legends connected with the Beech tree. It has grown in this -country as far back as we have any history, and it is often called the -mother of the forest, because its thickly covered branches give shelter -and protection to younger trees which are struggling to live. - -The Beech is a cousin of the Oak. It is a large, handsome tree, with -a noble trunk and widely spreading branches which sweep downward to -the ground, and in summer every branch and twig is densely covered -with leaves. No other tree gives such shade as the Beech, and in a hot -summer day how tempting it is to lie underneath the branches and watch -the squirrels glancing in and out among the rustling leaves and tearing -the young bark. - -In early spring you will recognise the Beech tree (1) by its smooth -olive-grey trunk. Only the Beech tree has such a smooth trunk when it -is fully grown, and in consequence, every boy with a new knife tries to -cut his name on its bark. In summer the young bud (3) of next year’s -leaf is formed where each leaf joins the stem. All winter time you can -see slender-pointed buds (4) growing at the end of every twig, and when -April comes each of these pointed buds has become a loose bunch of -silky brown scales. Inside these protecting scales is hidden the young -leaf bud, and soon the winter coverings unclose. For a short time they -hang like a fringe round the base of the leaf stalk, but they quickly -fall off and strew the ground beneath. The young leaves inside are -folded like a fan, and they have soft silky hairs along the edges. How -lovely they are when open! Each leaf (2) is oval, with a blunted point -at the end, and the edges are slightly waved. - -At first the leaf colour is a clear pale green, through which the light -seems to shine; and there is nothing more lovely than a Beech tree -wood in early May when the young leaves are glistening against the -clear blue sky. But as summer comes nearer the leaf colour darkens, and -by July it is a deep, glossy green. You can then see very distinctly -the veins which run from the centre to the edge of every leaf. These -leaves grow so thickly that no stems or branches can be seen when -the tree is in full foliage; and they are beautiful at all seasons. -When autumn comes, bringing cold winds and a touch of frost, then the -Beech tree leaves change colour: they seem to give us back again all -the sunshine they have been storing up during summer, for they blaze -like the sunset sky in myriad shades of gold, and red, and orange. In -windy open places, these beautiful leaves soon strew the ground with a -thick carpet that whirls and rustles in every breeze. But in sheltered -glades, and especially in hedges, the leaves will hang all winter till -they are pushed off by the new spring buds, and they glow russet red in -the December sunshine, like the breast of the robin that is singing on -the twig. - -At every stage the Beech tree is a thing of beauty, and it is one of -England’s most precious possessions. - -The young flowers appear about the same time as the leaves, and, like -many other trees, the Beech has two kinds of flowers. The stamen flower -(6) has a long, drooping stalk, from the end of which hangs a loose -covering of fine brown scales, with pointed ends. Beyond this scaly -covering hangs a tassel of purplish brown stamens, eight or twelve, or -more, each with a yellow head. - -On the same twig, not very far distant, you find the seed flower (5). -This grows upright on a short stout stalk which bears at the end a -bristly oval ball (7). At the top of this bristly ball you see six -slender threads waving in the air. These rise from two seeds which are -enclosed in the bristly covering. By and by the ball opens at the top -and forms a cup with four prickly brown sides, each lined with silky -green down. Inside the cup are two triangular green nuts which are the -fruit (8). These nuts become dark brown when they ripen, and on windy -days they are blown in thousands from their coverings and fall to the -ground, where they lie hidden among the rustling brown leaves. - -[Illustration: PLATE III - -THE BIRCH - - 1. Birch Tree in Autumn - 2. Leaf Spray - 3. Seed Catkin - 4. Stamen Catkin - 5. Winged Seed enlarged - 5A. Winged Seed natural size] - -In old times people called these Beech nuts Beech-mast or food, and -herds of pigs were taken to the Beech woods to feed on the nuts, which -are said to contain oil. But pigs prefer to eat acorns, and nowadays -the Beech nuts are left to fatten the squirrels and dormice, and the -thrushes and deer, except those which children gather to string into -necklaces. - -No grass or plant will grow below the Beech tree branches: the leaves -are too close together to let the sunshine reach the ground; also the -roots are greedy, and are said to use up all the nourishment. - -About a hundred years ago a Beech tree was found in Germany whose young -leaves were dark purple red, and never became green. Young plants from -this strange tree were much sought after, and now in many parts of the -country you see red or copper beeches, as we usually call them. - -Beech wood is used in various ways. In France the peasants make it into -shoes--wooden shoes called sabots, which keep out the damp better than -those made of any other wood. It is also used in ship-building and for -making cheap furniture; but Beech wood is not nearly so valuable as -that of the Oak, or Ash, or Elm. - - - - -PLATE III - -THE BIRCH - - “Sweet bird of the meadow, soft be thy nest, - Thy mother will wake thee at morn from thy rest: - She has made a soft nest, little redbreast, for thee, - Of the leaves of the birch, and the moss of the tree.” - - --Leyden. - - -The Birch tree is the daintiest and most fairy-like of all our forest -trees, and, strange to say, it is one of the hardiest. Who would -believe that the delicate tracery of purple twigs and branches, which -looks like fairy fretwork against the grey wintry sky, could thrive in -places where the sturdy Oak tree dies? - -In the far, far north, in Lapland, where the ground is snow-covered all -the year, the Birch tree flourishes, and many are the uses to which it -is put in that dreary land. - -Look at the Birch tree (1) early in the year before the sun has -awakened the trees, and flowers, and seeds from their long winter -sleep. It is easy to recognise, because no other tree has such delicate -twigs and branches, and the colour of the trunk is peculiarly its own. -Most tree trunks are grey, or grey-green, or brown, but the trunk of -the Birch is covered with a silvery white bark that glistens like -satin. In many places this bark is marked with dark bands which crack -across the tree trunk on the silvery surface. - -This silver bark is a wonderful thing. It peels off readily in large -flakes which resemble tissue paper, and which look very easy to -destroy, but are wonderfully tough and lasting. It burns readily, -but in almost no other way can it be destroyed. If a Birch tree is -blown down and left lying on the damp ground for many years, all the -wood inside the silvery bark will decay, but the outside of the trunk -remains unchanged. Stand on it, and you find that what you took to be -a solid tree is nothing but a hollow tube of bark. - -In North America the Indians cover their canoes with Birch bark, and -in some snow-covered countries the people use it for tiles with which -to roof their houses. Some time ago, when men were digging in the -peat-bogs of Lancashire, they found the remains of Birch trees which -must have been there for a thousand years. The wood had turned into -stone, but the bark was still the same as when it grew on the tree. - -In April the young leaves (2) cover the tree like a green mist. They -are very tiny, the smallest and most fairy-like of all our tree leaves. -Each leaf is oval in shape, with a glossy surface, and has a double -row of teeth, first a large tooth, then a smaller one, cut unequally -all round the edge. The leaf stalk is very slender and wiry, and the -twig to which it is attached is very little stouter, so that the leaves -dance and rustle in the slightest breath of wind. Sometimes the back of -a Birch leaf is covered with fine yellow powder. This powder is really -a tiny plant which has made its home on the Birch tree leaf and feeds -on it, just as the ivy and mistletoe do on larger trees. In autumn -these leaves turn pale yellow, and the moss and heather are strewn with -their flakes of gold. - -There is another stranger makes its home on some of the Birch trees. -In spring, before the leaves come, you may often notice curious bunches -of twigs that look like crows’ nests high up among the branches. These -are caused by a tiny insect which has come to stay on the Birch tree, -and, in some way which we do not understand, it makes all the twigs -crowd together in that curious manner. “Witches’ Knots” they are called -in Scotland. - -In May the Birch tree is in flower. You know that tree flowers are not -so easy to see as meadow flowers: they require to be sought for and -looked at carefully if you wish to know about them. The Birch tree has -two kinds of flowers, and both are needed if the seed from which new -trees may grow is to be made ready. It takes the tree a whole year to -prepare one kind of flower. During summer look at the foot of a leaf -stalk, where it joins the twig, and you will find two tiny green stamen -catkins (4) with all their soft scales tightly closed together. In -autumn these little catkins become dark purple, and they hang on the -tree all winter. Early in the following spring they change entirely. -The scales unclose and the catkins grow longer till they look like a -pair of caterpillars loosely shaking in the wind. Behind the scales in -these reddy-brown caterpillars you find a mass of flowers, each made up -of one tiny sepal, also two slender stamens with small yellow heads. - -Now look at the other kind of flower, the seed catkin (3). These also -are small and green, but they grow singly and are fatter and rounder -than the stamen catkins. Their scales never open very wide, but if you -look closely you will see behind each scale three little pear-shaped -seed-vessels with two slender horns standing up from the top of each. - -When the seeds in this catkin are ripe they resemble tiny nuts with -wings on each side (5): and on windy days you can see clouds of these -little winged seeds (5_a_) fluttering to the ground like small flies. -Birds are very fond of Birch tree seeds, and one kind of finch, the -siskin, is usually found hovering among the Birch trees. - -The Birch tree lives till it is about a hundred years old. It is not -grown up till it is twenty-five, so you will find no seeds on the young -birches. It is a tree with many useful qualities. The bark is sometimes -twisted into torches, as it contains a good deal of oil, and it is also -used in tanning leather. The delicious scent of Russian leather is due -to Birch bark oil. And there is sugar in the sap which may be made into -wine. Furniture is largely made from the prettily grained Birch wood. - - - - -PLATE IV - -THE ALDER - - -The Alder tree (1) is a cousin of the Birch and the Hazel, and like -them its flowers and seeds are borne in catkins. It is usually to be -found growing by the side of a slow-running stream, over which its -slender branches bend gracefully, while its spreading roots cling to -the boggy soil at the water’s edge. For the Alder does not thrive in -dry ground: it is a water-loving tree, and its many tiny roots attract -moisture, and suck it up greedily; so that the ground where the Alder -grows is often a marshy swamp. - -Sometimes you will find an Alder which has grown into a lofty tree with -a rough brown-black bark, and with many large branches; but it is much -more frequently found as a low-growing and rather gloomy bush, about -the same size as the Hazel. - -The wood of the Alder is much sought after for buildings which stand -in water. In Venice one of the most famous bridges, the Rialto, is -built on piles, or great posts of Alder driven deep into the bed of the -canal: and one reads in old history books that boats were first made of -the trunks of the Alder tree. But it is of no use for fences or gate -posts, as it decays quickly in dry soil. - -[Illustration: PLATE IV - -THE ALDER - - 1. Alder Tree - 2. Leaf Spray - 3. Stamen Catkins - 4. Seed Catkins - 5. Last Year’s Seed Catkins - 6. Next Year’s Seed Catkins] - -If you watch a woodman cutting down an Alder tree you will notice that -the chips which fall under his axe are very white; but soon they change -colour and become a reddish pink. The hard wood knots which are found -in the tree trunk are beautifully streaked and veined and are much -prized by furniture makers. - -In early spring you should walk to the banks of a stream and look for -an Alder tree. Like the Hazel, you will easily know it by its winter -catkins, though these are very different from Hazel catkins. Clinging -to the boughs you see groups of small brown oval cones, which are -quite hard and woody and which snap off easily. These woody cones are -the withered seed catkins (5) of last year. As well as these you find -bunches of long drooping caterpillars with tightly-shut purple-green -scales, which will not unclose till the spring days come. These are the -young stamen catkins, and they have taken six months to grow so far. By -these you will always know the Alder tree; and it is most interesting -to watch day by day how its catkins grow and change. - -In spring the tree produces many groups of tiny seed catkins (4), -which are hard and oval and covered with closely-shut green scales. As -the days get warmer these cones grow larger and larger, and one day -you will find the scales opening as a fir cone does when it is ripe. -Underneath each scale are hidden two seeds, and from the top of each -seed rise two slender horns. There are no wings to the seed, as in the -Birch tree. These seed cones grow fatter and larger all summer, and by -autumn their scales, instead of remaining green and soft, have become -a dark reddish brown colour and are hard and woody. In October or -November the seed is quite ripe, and is shaken on to the boggy ground -below. Then the empty seed catkins become dry and shrivelled, and they -remain in groups clinging to the twigs all winter. - -But the drooping caterpillars have been growing and changing too. Soon -after the seed catkins have unclosed their hard oval balls, so that the -sun and light may reach their tiny seeds, these drooping stamen catkins -(3) unclose, and their scales take on a deeper shade of reddish purple. -Each scale is edged with three points, and each point covers four tiny -stamens and four tiny petals. When the fine powder in the yellow stamen -heads is ripe, the wind blows it from the dangling tails on to the seed -cones which are waiting for it, as without the stamen powder the seeds -would never ripen: and soon after this happens the dangling tails fall -to the ground. - -[Illustration: PLATE V - -THE HORNBEAM - - 1. Hornbeam - 2. Leaf Spray - 3. Stamen Catkin - 4. Seed Catkin - 5. Fruit] - -If you look at an Alder tree in late autumn you will find three kinds -of catkins. First, the empty seed catkins with dry woody scales; -second, the dangling stamen catkins with the fine stamen dust all -blown away; and third, there are tiny little caterpillar catkins -with their scales still tightly closed together--these are next year’s -stamen catkins (6) just begun to form. - -The leaves (2) of the Alder are heavy and leathery. They are usually -rounded at the tips, but sometimes they are square, as if a piece had -been cut off. Each leaf is prettily toothed all round the edge, and -the veins, which run from the centre rib to the margin, are very much -raised. When the leaves are newly opened, the under-side is covered -with tufts of soft down, and they are slightly sticky. Sometimes they -are tinged with dull purple. These leaves are placed alternately on the -stem, and while still in bud each leaf is enclosed in a pair of oval -sheaths like small yellow ears. These ears do not fall off when the -leaf unfolds, as do the leaf coverings of the Birch and the Beech; you -will often find them at the bottom of the leaf stalk when the leaf is -fully grown. - - - - -PLATE V - -THE HORNBEAM - - -This is a tree that many people tell you they have never noticed; even -people who know the names of most of our forest trees look surprised if -you ask them which is the Hornbeam (1); they have never heard of it. -And yet it grows freely in England in the woods and hedgerows, and -like the Beech it is invaluable for sheltering with its close bushy -branches younger trees that are struggling to live. If left to grow in -good soil the Hornbeam will become a tall tree over seventy feet high, -but it is not usual to find such well-grown Hornbeams, because the tree -is generally planted to form hedges, and as these require thickness and -bushiness rather than height, the top of the tree is often cut off, so -that all its strength may go to producing side-branches. - -Last century it was the fashion to have curious puzzle-paths made in -gardens. You entered at a gap in a leafy hedge and walked on and on, -and in and out between growing hedges till you came to an open space in -the centre. Then the puzzle was to find your way out again, and this -was sometimes very difficult. This kind of puzzle-path was called a -maze, and the hedges of these mazes were frequently made of Hornbeam, -because this tree will allow itself to be clipped and cut into any -shape, and if its tall spreading branches are taken away, it at once -puts out many small side-shoots which form a thick hedge. - -The Hornbeam branches have a curious habit of growing together where -they cross each other. You may find two good-sized branches which are -separate on the lower part of the tree, but higher up they cross and -touch each other, and frequently they join together and become one -branch. - -In the town of Ghent in Belgium there is a winding walk arched with -Hornbeam: the trees have been planted so close that they meet overhead, -and they have then been clipped and cut till they form a green tunnel -under which you can walk for three hundred yards. - -The trunk of the Hornbeam is a dull grey colour, and it is marked with -white spots. It is not round, as are most tree trunks, but looks as if -it had been slightly flattened, and so made oval when it was young. The -leaves are not unlike those of the Elm and the young Beech, and when -the tree is young it is sometimes mistaken for one or other of these. -But you will notice some differences if you look carefully. - -The Hornbeam leaf (2) is oval and tapers to a sharp point. It has -strongly-marked veins running from the centre to the edge of the leaf, -and these veins stand up like cord on the under-side of the leaf. You -remember that the Beech leaf was smooth and glossy, and that the Elm -leaf was rough and hairy? The Hornbeam comes just between the two: it -is too rough to be a Beech leaf, and is also too pointed, and it is too -smooth to be an Elm leaf. Besides, the two sides of the Hornbeam leaf -meet exactly opposite each other on the leaf stalk, and in the Elm the -one side of the leaf very often joins the stalk farther down than the -other: the leaf is lopsided. - -The Hornbeam leaves have two rows of teeth round the edge, and in -autumn they turn yellow, and this yellow colour changes into red-brown -as the winter draws near. In sheltered places the leaves will hang on -the branches all winter, till in spring they are pushed off by the -young leaf buds. - -The Hornbeam has two kinds of flowers, which grow in catkins, and both -are found on the same tree. The stamen catkins (3) come with the young -leaves early in April, and they grow on those twigs which were produced -last year. It is not possible to mistake the Hornbeam for either the -Beech or the Elm if you see the flowers, for neither of these has -hanging catkins like the Hornbeam. Each catkin is made up of many green -scales covering the catkin loosely. These scales are broad and oval, -and they end in a sharp point. Hidden at the foot of each scale lies -a thick bunch of yellow-headed stamens with no petals and no sepals -around them. These yellow stamen heads end in tufts of fine hairs, and -they are filled with pollen dust. As soon as this dust is ripe the -yellow heads burst and scatter it over the seed flowers which have been -making ready to receive it. After this the stamen catkins shrivel, and -they soon fall from the tree. - -But there are other Hornbeam flowers, also growing in catkins (4) which -appear at the end of this year’s young twigs. Each catkin is covered -with soft, silky spear leaves, and behind every three of these narrow -leaves there nestles a tiny seed with two little horns standing up at -the top. These silky leaves soon fall off and are replaced by others -which are very different. These are called bracts, and they look like -a small hand with one long finger and two much shorter fingers. They -are covered with a network of fine veins, and inside the hand sits the -fruit (5), a small three-sided nut. When you see a bushy, drooping -cluster of these green leafy bracts, each with its nut at the foot, you -wonder how any one could mistake the Hornbeam for either the Beech or -the Elm. - -You will often see a dainty little bird called the hawfinch sitting on -the Hornbeam branches and eating the nuts. - -The wood of this tree is said to be very hard. Joiners do not care to -work on Hornbeam, as it quickly blunts their tools; and some people -tell you that the name is really Hard-beam, and that we have got into -a careless habit of calling the tree by a wrong name. But there is -another tale which may be the true one. Long ago, when ploughing was -done by bullocks in this country, as it is to-day in many lands, each -pair of bullocks was fastened together with a wooden collar called a -yoke. This yoke was made of Hornbeam because of its strength, and the -tree might get its name because from it was made the beam of wood that -goes over the horns. - -Nowadays the wood is little used except for making small things, such -as handles of knives, and spoons, and cog-wheels. - - - - -PLATE VI - -THE HAZEL - - -There are few of us who think of the Hazel as one of our forest trees. -We know it as a large, straggling bush, with a thicket of leaves and -branches, among which are hidden delicious nuts. But in some places -the Hazel has quite outgrown the bush stage: in Middlesex there is a -Hazel tree sixty feet high, with a straight thick trunk and many large -branches covered luxuriantly with leaves. - -The Hazel (1) has been known in history for many centuries. The Romans -wrote that its spreading roots did harm to the young vines, but they -found its supple twigs invaluable for tying up the straggling vine -shoots. - -Scotland is said to have been called Caledonia from Cal Dun, which -means the hill of Hazel. And in Surrey we have the name Haslemere, -which tells its own story. - -[Illustration: PLATE VI - -THE HAZEL - - 1. Hazel Bush - 2. Leaf Spray with Nuts - 3. Stamen Catkin - 4. Seed Catkins - 5. Hazel Nuts] - -In damp places beside streams, or on light soil close to quarries, or -among broken rocky ground, the Hazel thrives, and many are the happy -afternoons spent by children of all ages gathering nuts in the Hazel -coppice. This is the only tree we have which produces food good to eat -in its wild state. - -You will not find the Hazel difficult to recognise at any time of year. -Before the month of January is over you will notice a pair of long -brown caterpillars dangling in the wind from many of the Hazel twigs: -lamb’s tails, the country children call them, but their correct name is -Hazel catkins; and like those of the Birch tree, they have been hanging -on the tree all winter, but were so small that you did not notice them. - -In summer, if you look carefully, you find many tiny green stamen -catkins growing between the foot of the leaf stalk and the branch. -These green cones grow very, very slowly all autumn and winter, and -when January is nearly over they change into these dangling tails or -hanging catkins (3), and their tightly-folded scales begin to unclose. -Behind these scales lie eight stamens, each of which has a bright -yellow head. These yellow heads are filled with fine powder, and when -ripe they burst, and the fine powder is shaken out by the wind. Soon -after, the catkin turns brown and shrivelled, and before very long it -falls off; its work for the year is over. - -When the snowdrops bloom, in the end of January, the other Hazel -flowers or seed catkins are ready. They are not easily seen, so you -must look for them carefully. On each side of the stalk you will find -a small scale-covered bud (4), and at the tip of this bud rises a tuft -of crimson threads. Inside this scale-covered bud are the seeds, and -from the top of each seed rise two crimson threads. On windy days the -fine powder from the yellow stamen heads is shaken over these crimson -threads, which carry it to the young seeds hidden beneath the scaly -covering. As spring advances this crimson tuft disappears and the bud -busies itself making the seed, which must be ready by autumn. The -covering of the seed hardens like a nut: at first this nut is pale -green, but in winter it becomes a glossy russet brown. - -Inside this nut (5) lies the kernel of the seed, and it is this sweet -kernel which is the fruit we eat. Meantime the scaly leaves, which -formed the covering of the young bud, have grown much larger: they have -become tough and leathery, and their ends are deeply divided, as if -they were torn. In the Filbert Hazel, which is a cousin of the common -Hazel and very like it, these leathery coverings conceal the nut. But -in the common or Cobnut Hazel they form a cup in which the nut sits in -the same way as the acorn does in its cup. - -The leaves (2) of the Hazel appear in early spring. They are rounded -leaves, sometimes slightly heart-shaped, and they have two rows of -teeth cut round the edge. Each leaf is rough and hairy, and is covered -with a network of veins which seems to pucker the leaf. At first the -young leaf stalk and branches are covered with fine down, but this soon -wears off. Notice how many long, straight shoots rise from the ground -beside the Hazel roots. On these Hazel shoots the leaves are placed in -two rows on each side of the shoot, with the leaves not opposite each -other, but alternate. The shoots make good baskets, and hoops, and -hurdles, because they can be so easily bent into many shapes without -breaking. The branches of the Hazel bush have the same good qualities, -and they are valuable for fishing rods and walking-sticks, and such -purposes, where toughness and elasticity are needed. - -The Hazel leaves hang longer on the tree than most other leaves. The -frost changes their colour from a dull grey-green to a pale yellow, but -still they cling to their stalks till the winter wind strips them from -the branches. - -It is said that Hazel shoots or twigs have the power of showing where -water is concealed. In places where there are no lakes, or rivers, or -streams near at hand, water is got by digging wells deep down into the -ground, and so allowing the stores which are hidden there to rise to -the surface. But it is not everywhere that these hidden supplies will -be found, and as digging a well costs a great deal of money, people are -unwilling to begin the work unless they are likely to succeed. So they -send for a man who is called a diviner, because he divines or guesses -where water will be found. He walks across the fields carrying a Hazel -rod in his hand, and when he reaches a spot where water lies beneath, -the Hazel rod changes position in his hand and the well is sunk at the -spot which the diviner points out. So the story goes. - -For many generations it was a custom in this country to burn Hazel -nuts on the night of October 31, All-Hallow Eve. Friends would meet -together late in the evening, and each person would place two nuts as -near together as possible in a clear red fire. The nuts were supposed -to represent the two friends, and if they burned quietly and evenly, -then the future was sure to be happy; but if they flared angrily or -sputtered hissingly, especially if they burst with a loud report, then -misfortune was supposed to follow the friends. - -Hazel nuts are eagerly devoured by squirrels and dormice, and there is -one bird, the Nuthatch, that is very busy and grows sleek and fat when -the Hazel fruit is ripe. This bird breaks off a nut branch and flies -away with it to an old oak tree. There he strips off the covering of -leaves and cleverly places the bare nut in a crevice of the rough oak -trunk. Then with his strong bill he hammers at the shell till it breaks -and he can get at the nut inside. On still October days in the quiet -woods you will hear his bill tap-tapping from the trunk of the oak tree. - -[Illustration: PLATE VII - -THE LIME - - 1. Lime Tree - 2. Leaf Spray with Flowers - 3. Pink Buds - 4. Flower Cluster - 5. Fruit with Bract] - - - - -PLATE VII - -THE LIME OR LINDEN - - “The Lime, a summer home of murmurous wings.” - - --Tennyson. - - -The Lime or Linden (1) is one of the most familiar trees in our large -towns. It is very hardy, and you find it planted by the side of our -smoky streets, where it seems to thrive in spite of the clouds of sooty -dust that cover its delicate leaves. - -But if you wish to know what a Lime tree really looks like at its -best, then you must find one growing in some country park where there -is space, and fresh air, and plenty of sunshine; then you will see -how beautiful a tree it can be. The Lime is a tall, stately tree. It -has many slender branches closely covered with leaves, which have -each a long stalk. In old trees the branches often bend down close to -the ground, but the sunshine always succeeds in finding its way under -the Lime tree branches, and it flickers on the grass as it never does -beneath the Beech tree boughs. - -In winter the Lime tree is difficult to recognise, although there is -one feature you may notice: its bare stems and twigs are very black -against the sky, and many of the branches hang so awkwardly that they -look as if they were dead. But go to the park in spring, and at once -you will know which is the Lime tree. Every little twig is coloured a -delicate shade of olive green tinged with crimson, and bears many small -oval buds (3) which are red like rubies. In May these ruby buds burst -open, and their crimson coverings fall to the ground, disclosing the -pale emerald-green leaf that is tightly folded within. The leaves (2) -soon open in the sunshine, and you see that each is shaped like a large -pointed heart, and that the two sides of the heart are uneven. - -The edge of the leaf is cut into sharp teeth, and all over it a network -of fine veins is spread. When the leaf is still young you find tufts -of soft, downy hairs on the under-side, and at first each leaf hangs -straight down from its stalk as if it had not strength to rise and face -the sunlight. But they soon raise themselves, and gradually their pale -green colour darkens, though the Lime tree leaf never becomes so dark, -nor is it as glossy, as the leaf of the Beech tree. - -In September the Lime tree leaves turn pale yellow: rather a colourless -yellow, very different from the rich gold and red-brown of the Beech, -and they fall with the first touch of frost. - -You may sometimes find leaves which are marked with large black, -sooty-looking spots. These spots are caused by a tiny insect which has -made its home on the leaf. - -If you sit beneath the branches of the Lime on a warm summer day you -will hear the constant hum of myriads of bees which are buzzing round -the tree. They are gathering honey from the Lime tree flowers, whose -delicious perfume is scenting the air. - -From the spot where next year’s leaf bud will grow there hangs a long -stalk; at the end of this stalk there droops a cluster of flowers -(4), and at the base of each flower cluster stands a long slender -leaf called a bract. This bract looks like a pale yellow wing, and is -covered all over with a network of fine veins. - -The flowers have five greeny white petals and five pale green sepals. -In the centre is a small seed-vessel like a tiny pea, and from it there -rises a slender green pillar which ends in five sticky points. Closely -surrounding this seed-vessel is a ring of many stamens. Each stamen has -a white stalk with an orange-coloured head, and among these stamens lie -the drops of sweet juice which attract the bees. - -The stamen dust is ripe before the sticky points of the seed-vessel -on the same plant are ready for it; but the bees, when they bend down -to suck the honey juice, brush against the ripe stamen heads, and -their backs become covered with the fine powder. Away they fly to the -flowers on another Lime tree, and the powder will probably be rubbed -off on one where the seed-vessel is ready to receive it. - -When the seed is ripe you see many little downy fruit-balls (5), each -hanging from a slender stalk. In warm countries this seed ripens into a -small nut which is ground down and made into a kind of chocolate. But -it never ripens in England. - -In some countries there are large forests of Lime trees, and the air is -filled with the busy hum of the bees. The peasants make large holes in -the tree trunks, and these holes the bees fill with honeycomb, which -the peasants easily remove and sell. This Lime tree honey is much -prized for its fine flavour. - -The wood of the Lime tree is not hard enough for building purposes, but -it is greatly in demand for carving. It is light and soft, and much of -the beautiful wood decoration in our churches is carved from Lime tree -wood. It does not easily become worm-eaten as do so many of our harder -woods. - -We read that in old days the soldiers’ shields were made of Lime tree -wood, as the blow of a weapon was deadened when striking it. - -[Illustration: PLATE VIII - -THE ELM - - 1. Elm Tree - 2. Leaf Spray - 3. Ready Buds - 4. Flower Spray - 5. Stamen Flower enlarged - 6. Seed Flower enlarged - 7. Fruit Clusters and Wing] - -The inner bark of the tree has always been valuable. From it are made -those mats of light brown grass which gardeners use to protect their -delicate plants during winter; and these tails of dried-looking -grass with which they tie bunches of flowers instead of using string, -are also made from the Lime tree bark. This inner bark is called “bass” -or “bast,” and is chiefly made in Russia and Sweden. - -It is from this bass or string that the tree gets its name, which -is not really Lime, but Line or Linden, and is so called in other -countries. We in Britain have got into the bad habit of mispronouncing -the word. The true Lime tree is a cousin of the Orange and Lemon -trees, and bears a yellow fruit called Limes. But the Linden tree is -no relation of this Lime tree, and is so called because it is the tree -from which we get gardener’s dried string or line, and we must remember -that our popular name is a wrong one, and not the true name of the tree. - - - - -PLATE VIII - -THE COMMON ELM AND WYCH OR BROAD-LEAVED ELM - - -There are two kinds of Elm which grow abundantly in this country, and -both are lofty, noble trees. The Common Elm (1) you will recognise -easily, because its rough black trunk is clothed right down to the -ground with a dense mass of brushwood. This brushwood is really a -forest of small branches, and shoots, and twigs which spring from the -Elm tree root; and if you separate some of these young shoots and plant -them alone they will grow into young Elm tree saplings. - -In winter you will always know the Common Elm by its brushwood -clothing, and in early spring, in March, after there have been a few -sunny days, you will see tiny green leaf buds opening in this brushwood -sheaf before the large upper branches show any signs of life. - -The Common Elm is one of our tallest trees. It has a thick rough trunk, -on which are many large gnarled bosses or knobs. The bark of the tree -is very rugged and is covered with many deep furrows. - -The branches of this Elm do not grow gracefully in sweeping curves like -those of the Ash tree; they have a dwarf, zig-zag appearance, and often -they are twisted and knotted. - -The young twigs that grow on these branches are short and tiny, a -network of little bushy sprays growing close to the branch, and their -bark is downy and corky when it is young, but becomes hard as the -season advances. - -In early spring these tiny twigs bear many small scaly buds (3) like -beads. These beads open very early, before the end of April, and from -each there bursts a bunch of flowers (4). What you notice first in this -flower tuft is the crowd of reddish stamens with large purple heads. -But if you gently pull to pieces one of these flower bunches, you will -find that the stamens are not growing loose, but that they are held -together in groups of five or more, in a dark green or purplish vase -(5). This vase is funnel-shaped, and widens out round the mouth into -four scallops. The oval seed-vessel (6) is at the bottom, hidden from -sight. Do not forget to notice that in the Elm tree the stamens and -seed-vessel grow close together in one flower. - -The stamens soon shrivel and fall off, and their place is taken by -bunches of flat green wings (7), each with a tiny knob in the centre, -which is the fruit. These green shields, or wings, serve the same -purpose as the keys or wings of the Ash tree. They are thin and light -like paper, and in the Common Elm each shield is deeply notched at one -end, almost to the centre seed. - -When the seed is ripe the wind blows these bunches of papery shields -away from the twigs, and they are carried long distances. - -The Elm tree seed is almost ripe before the leaves (2) begin to sprout. -The leaf buds are pink and downy, and the young leaves are folded -fan-ways inside. Each leaf has a short stalk, and is small and narrow, -with two rows of unequally-sized teeth round the edge. These leaves -are rough and harsh above, with many hairs along the centre rib, hairs -like those on the Nettle, which is a member of the same family as the -Elm, but these hairs, though they irritate, do not actually sting. In -October the leaves turn yellow, and after a touch of frost they fall in -showers. - -Sometimes you will notice large black spots disfiguring the leaves. -These spots are caused by a minute plant which makes its home on the -leaf and in the end destroys it. After the leaves have fallen, they lie -on the ground till spring comes again, then this black plant increases -rapidly, and soon covers all the leaf, which quickly decays. - -Cattle love the Elm tree leaves when they are green and young, and in -some places they are stripped from the trees in sackfuls to feed the -cows. - -Many insects make their home on the Elm tree. The caterpillar of the -large tortoise-shell butterfly feeds on the leaves, and there is an -insect beetle that burrows little tunnels in the wood and loosens the -bark from the tree. If you pick up some pieces of Elm tree wood where a -woodman has been sawing, you will see curious markings like the veins -of a skeleton leaf, tunnelled in the wood. These are made by a tiny -beetle, and are very injurious to the tree. - -But the beetle has an enemy that comes to the tree’s rescue. Sometimes -on a still day if you are sitting quietly in the woods, you will hear -a gentle tap-tapping close beside you. This is the woodpecker, a bird -which is perched on the rough bark of the Elm tree, and with his bill -he pecks at the tree in search of insects which form his favourite meal. - -Birds love the Elm trees, as their shade is not too dense to shut -out the sunshine, and you will often find rooks’ nests in the upper -branches, tossed and swayed by the gales. - -The Elm tree is useful for many purposes. Farmers plant it in their -hedgerows, as grass will grow freely above its roots. - -In Italy the Elms are trained to carry the Vines. The young trees have -all their lower branches cut off, leaving the bare stem like a living -pole; round this pole the slender vine is twined, and its graceful -trails hang in festoons from the crown of Elm branches which are left -at the top of the pole to give shade. In poetry you read of the Vine -tree wedded to the common Elm, which it clasps with its clinging arms. - -Elm tree wood is very valuable as timber. These rough bosses which grow -on the trunk are prized by cabinet-makers, who find the wood curiously -veined and streaked. - -The inner lining of the bark is very tough, and is made into ropes and -garden string or bast, as in the Lime tree. And the wood is sought for -all purposes where durability is needed; it lasts well in water, and is -much in demand for ship-building. - -The Wych Elm or Broad-leaved Elm resembles the Common Elm in many ways, -but there are several small differences you must note. There is no -brushwood sheaf clothing the base of the Wych Elm trunk; it is bare and -rough right down to the ground. The leaves are larger and much broader, -resembling those of the Hazel, and the branches of the Wych Elm are -long and spreading and much more graceful than the twisted boughs of -its sister Elm. - -If you look carefully at the green wings that surround the tiny seed of -the Wych Elm and compare it with those of the Common Elm, you will find -that the seed lies nearly in the centre of the wing, and that the notch -which is cut at the end of the wing is smaller than the deep notch of -the Common Elm. - -The Wych Elm is far the more graceful of the two trees, and it grows -much more quickly than its rugged sister. - -The name Wych is supposed to be Scotch. Small pieces of the wood were -said to be effective as charms against witches, and country dairy-maids -used to place a tiny bit of this Elm wood in the churn so that the -witches could not prevent the milk from becoming butter! - -[Illustration: PLATE IX - -THE ASH - - 1. Ash Tree - 2. Leaf Spray - 3. “Keys” or “Spinners” Ash Fruit - 4. Black Buds - 5. Leaf Scars - 6. Stamen enlarged - 7. Seed enlarged - 8. Ash Flowers] - - - - -PLATE IX - -THE ASH - - “If the oak before the ash, - Then you’ll only have a splash; - If the ash before the oak, - Then you’re sure to have a soak.” - - --Old Saying. - - -If the Oak is well named the King of the woods, to the Ash belongs the -honour of being called Queen, the wood’s fairest. She is a queen with -an ancient history. In the dim long ago there must have been Ash trees, -for we read that the great spear of Achilles was an “ashen spear”; -also, that the gods held council under the boughs of a great Ash tree: -on its highest branches sat an eagle; round its root a serpent lay -coiled; and a tiny squirrel ran up and down the branches carrying -messages from one to the other. - -In much later times the Ash tree was held to have magic powers of -healing. Sick babies were said to be cured if they passed through a -cleft made in its trunk; and there are many tales of men and animals -who recovered from illness on touching an Ash twig gathered from a tree -in which a shrew mouse had been buried. - -Nowadays we have grown so wise that we think differently about these -things, and we love the Ash tree because of its beauty, and are -grateful for the many ways in which the wood is useful to us. - -You should try to find an Ash tree (1) in early spring. It is one of -the easiest trees to recognise before it is clothed in leaves. - -The trunk is very straight, and has none of the knobs and bosses which -grow on the Oak and Elm tree trunks. When the Ash tree is still young -the bark is a pale grey colour--ash-colour, we call it--and it is very -smooth. But as the tree grows older the bark cracks into many irregular -upright ridges, which remind you of the rimples left by the waves on a -sandy sea-shore. - -At first the lower branches grow straight out from the trunk, but soon -they curve gracefully downwards; then they rise again, and the tips -point upward toward the sky. - -Notice the tips of these branches--they are quite different from all -other tree tips. In an Ash tree you will not see a network of delicate -branching twigs outlined against the sky. Each branch ends in a stout -pale grey twig, which is slightly flattened at the tip, as if it had -been pinched between two fingers when still soft. Beyond this flattened -tip you see two fat black buds (4), and there are smaller black buds at -the sides of the twig. It is these curious black buds at the tips and -on the sides of the twig which will make it easy for you to distinguish -the Ash tree from every other. - -Long after the other trees have put on their young green leaves the -Ash tree stands bare and leafless, waiting till the frost and cold -winds are gone before its black buds will unfold. Then out it comes, -flowers first. The sooty buds at the sides of the twig open, and you -see that they have dark brown linings, and that in the middle of each -bud there lies a thick bunch of purple stamen heads (6), crowded -together like grains of purple corn; these are the Ash tree flowers (8). - -Ash tree flowers have no petals and no sepals; they have only a green, -bottle-shaped seed-vessel (7), which stands between two stamens with -pale green stalks and fat purple-coloured heads. Sometimes there is not -even a seed-vessel; you may find nothing but a crowded bunch of purply -stamens. This latter kind of Ash tree cannot produce any fruit. - -In a few weeks these stamens shrivel and the purple heads fall off. -The seed-vessels, too, become very different. They change into long -flat green wings, which hang each from its own stalk in a cluster at -the end or from the side of the branch. These silky green wings are -called “keys” (3), or in some places, “spinners”; at one end they are -notched, and at the other, close to the stalk, lies the fruit. Long -after the Ash tree leaves are withered and fallen you can see these -bunches of “keys,” grown brown and shrivelled, still clinging to the -branches. When wintry weather comes they are torn off by the wind, and -the winged seed, spinning round and round in the air, is carried a long -distance. - -You will see Ash trees growing high up on rocky precipices, where only -the birds or the wind could have left the seed. - -By the month of May, when the keys of the Ash are fully formed, the -green leaves (2) begin to appear. They are beautiful feathery leaves, -full of lightness, and grace, and strength. Each leaf is made up of -from four to eleven pairs of leaflets, shaped like a lance, with -toothed edges, and these are placed opposite each other on a central -stalk: there is nearly always a single leaflet at the end. The leaves -are pale green, and when they first open you see a soft browny down on -the leaf ribs, but this soon wears off. They droop gracefully from the -twigs, which you can now see require to be stout and strong to carry -such large wind-tossed feathers. - -But the Ash tree leaves are among the first to fall. Whenever the cold -winds come they wither, and a single night of frost will strew them in -hundreds on the ground. Where the leaf stalk joined the twig you will -see a curious scar (5) shaped like a horse-shoe, and next year a black -bud will appear inside this scar. The Ash tree will live for several -hundred years. It is not fully grown up till it is forty or fifty years -old, and till then you will not find any bunches of keys, with their -seeds, growing on the tree. - -[Illustration: PLATE X - -THE FIELD MAPLE - - 1. Field Maple in Autumn - 2. Leaf Spray - 3. Flower Spike - 4. Fruit] - -Notice that the ground beneath the branches of the Ash tree is usually -bare. Many of its roots spread out to a great distance close below the -surface, and they are so greedy, and require so much nourishment for -the tree, that there is none left for other plants. Some farmers think -that the raindrops which drip from the feathery Ash leaves are hurtful -to other plants, so they are unwilling to plant Ash trees in their -fields and hedgerows. - -The wood of the Ash is very valuable, and will bring as much money as -that of the Oak or Elm. It is used for all kinds of work--for furniture -and for ship-building, and for making wheels and poles, and it lasts -well and does not readily split. - - - - -PLATE X - -THE FIELD MAPLE - - -There are many mistakes made in naming the Maple and Plane trees. -The Sycamore or False Plane tree, the Oriental Plane, and the Field -Maple are often called wrongly by each other’s names. So you must -note carefully the differences between them. The Sycamore and the -Field Maple are cousins, but the Oriental Plane is not even a distant -relation of these, and only resembles them in the shape of its leaves. -It is not really difficult to distinguish one from the other. - -The Field Maple (1) is nearly always a small tree which you find -growing in the hedgerows, where it is more like a large bush than a -tree. You rarely find it standing alone in a wide park, bearing great -branches heavily clothed with leaves, as you find the Sycamore or Great -Maple. In England it is a common hedgerow tree, but it is not native to -Scotland and is seldom found there. - -Early in spring you find the long slender shoots covered with buds, -from which burst small leaves of a beautiful bright crimson colour. -These leaves (2) are toothed round the edges and are shaped like a hand -with five short fingers; in the Field Maple the fingers are blunt at -the points, not sharp as are those of the Sycamore and of the Oriental -Plane. - -As the spring advances those pretty crimson leaves become dark green -above and a light green on the under-side, and they lose the soft down -which covered them, but even when fully out they are never so large -as those of the Sycamore. When autumn draws near, with its cold winds -and frosty nights, the Field Maple leaves change colour once more and -become brilliant yellow; you will see them shining in the hedgerows -like a bush of gold. - -Many of the leaves are disfigured by small red spots, and if you look -at one of these spots with a magnifying-glass you will see that is -caused by a tiny insect which has made this little red nest in which to -lay its eggs. - -The leaves of the Field Maple, like those of the Sycamore, are placed -opposite each other on the twig; in the Oriental Plane they grow -alternately, one a little way above the other on opposite sides of -the spray. There is a great deal of sugary juice in Maple leaves, and -cattle love to eat them. In some countries they are stripped from the -trees and kept for winter fodder for the cows. - -The bark of the Field Maple is noted for its strange corky nature and -its curious growth. It grows in upright ridges, deeply furrowed, which -look as if they could easily be broken off. In the Oriental Plane the -bark is quite smooth, and it peels off in large flakes, leaving patches -of different colours on the tree trunk. - -In April, when the leaves are still unfolding, the Field Maple brings -out its spikes of flowers (3). You will at once notice that these -flower clusters stand erect, and do not droop in pointed tassels like -those of the Sycamore. Now, look at the flowers in an Oriental Plane, -and you will discover that they bear no resemblance either to those of -the Sycamore or of the Field Maple, with which it is often confused. -They do not even grow in clusters, but in round, prickly balls which -are threaded on a slender green chain. - -The flowers of the Field Maple are what botanists call “perfect -flowers,” which means that each flower has all its parts complete -within itself. In every bloom you will find five narrow green sepals -and five narrow green petals; within the ring of petals stand eight -yellow-headed stamens, and seated in the centre of the flower is a -seed-vessel with a small wing at each side and with two curly horns -standing up at the top. There is plenty of honey juice hidden among -these stamens, and the bees buzz all day long around the Maple blossoms. - -As the season advances, the petals and sepals and stamens fall off, -but the seed-vessel grows larger and larger, till you find bunches of -winged seeds (4) standing erect where the flowers once grew. - -Notice that in this tree the seeds are close together beside the stalk, -and that the wings stand straight out from the seeds and are not bent -into the shape of the letter U, as they are in the Sycamore. These -bunches of winged seeds are frequently tinged with bright crimson, and -are very attractive among the glossy green leaves. - -In autumn the strong winds strip them from their stalks and the wings -bear the seed far from the parent tree. Some botanists tell us that -these seeds require to lie in the ground for more than a year before -they begin to grow. - -[Illustration: PLATE XI - -THE SYCAMORE - - 1. Sycamore Tree - 2. Leaf Spray - 3. Fat Bud - 4. Flower Spike - 5. Winged Fruit] - -The Field Maple is full of sugary sap, but nothing is made of it in -this country, as the trees do not yield enough to make it worth while. -But in Canada the sap is drawn from the trees and made into sugar. -I am sure you must have seen the brown blocks of Maple sugar in the -confectioners’ windows. - -The wood of the Field Maple is too small to be of much use, but it is -strangely and beautifully marked and veined with spots and stripes like -the skin of a tiger or panther, and is eagerly bought for decorative -purposes. The knots that grow on the roots were said to be worth their -weight in gold, and in old history books you read that the thrones of -great kings were made of Maple. Nowadays the wood is largely used for -making small articles such as plates, and cups, and trays, and it can -be cut so thin without breaking that the light may be seen through it. - -In France the long slender Maple shoots are used for coachmen’s whips. - - - - -PLATE XI - -THE SYCAMORE, OR GREAT MAPLE, OR MOCK PLANE - - -There is a good deal of confusion in people’s minds as to the right -name for this familiar tree. Sycamore is not an English word, but is -made from a Greek word meaning fig or mulberry. The tree has been so -called because many years ago people believed that it was a relation of -the fig tree which grows so abundantly by the roadside in Palestine. -The leaves are a little alike, but there is no real resemblance between -our English Great Maple and the Eastern Sycamore: the name has been -given by mistake. - -Another mistaken name given to this tree is Plane tree. The Great -Maple is only a mock Plane tree or false Plane tree; it is not even a -relation of the real Plane any more than it is a relation of the Fig or -Sycamore. But mistakes even in names are very difficult to correct, and -in many places, particularly in Scotland, you will find that Sycamore -(1) or Plane tree is the name usually given to the Great Maple. - -It is a large heavy tree, with a great central trunk covered with a -gnarled bark which peels off in flakes, leaving patches of different -shades. From every side of this central trunk there grow stout branches -covered with masses of thick foliage, the thickest and heaviest foliage -of any British tree. - -If you look at the Sycamore tree as it stands in an open field, or in a -hedgerow, with grass growing close to its very trunk, I think what will -strike you most is how evenly it has grown all round. There are so many -trees that grow all to one side if they are much exposed to a cold -wind. Look at the Beech, or the Hawthorn, or the Elm on the crest of a -ridge, and you will at once know from which direction the wind blows -strongest and coldest, by seeing how the tree puts out all its best -branches on the sheltered side. But the Sycamore tree is indifferent to -cold, or even to the salt sea winds; it sends out its branches equally -on every side, and there is always a thick roof of leaves at the top. - -The Sycamore tree prefers a dry soil, in which it grows very quickly; -and it will not die if transplanted. - -In early spring the twigs bear many large fat buds (3), which are -covered with soft downy pink scales. The Horse Chestnut is the only -other tree which bears such large buds, but they are dark and very -sticky. - -In country places the children call the largest buds at the end of -the Sycamore twig “cocks,” and the smaller buds which grow along the -sides they call “hens.” When these buds open early in May you see how -beautifully the leaves are folded fan-ways inside. Each leaf (2) is -shaped like a large hand with five bluntly-pointed fingers; the edges -are coarsely toothed, and the leaf is dark green above and a paler -green underneath. They grow on long stalks, which are a reddish pink -colour so long as the leaves are young, and each stalk is scooped into -a hollow at the end, so that it may fit closely to the twig. - -These leaves are not placed alternately on opposite sides of the -branch, as in the Beech or Elm: they grow in clumps, or bouquets, and -each pair of leaves is placed cross-ways to the pair above. Those that -come out first have long stalks and are the largest; then the second -pair is smaller, and the third pair smaller still, till the bouquet is -finished with two tiny leaves in the centre. - -Notice that the leaves of the Sycamore are often marked with sticky -drops. By old writers these drops are called honey-dew. It is believed -that the sap of the Sycamore is sugary, and some of this sugary juice -escapes through the leaf pores to the surface. These handsome leaves -are often spotted with small black dots, which are caused by a tiny -plant. This plant makes its home on the Sycamore leaf, and unknowingly -disfigures its kind host. - -Before the leaves are quite out the flowers appear. They grow in -drooping spikes (4), or large tassels of a pale yellowish green colour. -Each tassel is made up of many separate flowers, and most of these -flowers have a calyx with five to twelve narrow strap-shaped sepals, -and a corolla of the same number of yellow-green petals. There is -also a ring of slender stamens standing round a flat green cushion or -disc. In the centre sits the seed-vessel, which has two curved horns -at the top. But in the flower tassel you may also find flowers in -which some of the parts are awanting: one flower will have stamens, -but no seed-vessel, and its neighbour will have a seed-vessel and no -stamens, while in a third the petals may be awanting. You must examine -each flower till you find one which is perfect. These Sycamore flowers -contain much honey, nearly as much as those of the Lime tree; and the -bees are glad to hover round the tree flowers, which blossom long -before those in the meadow are open. - -After the flowers are withered the seed (5) develops wings like the -Ash and the Elm. But these wings are very different from those of any -other tree. They are shaped like the letter U, with the two seeds at -the bottom of the letter where it joins the stalk. Each seed is like a -small pea, and is snugly packed in a horny case lined with the softest -and silkiest down. When it is ripe the wind blows the winged seeds from -the tree and carries them a long way. They fall into the ground, where -the horny case prevents the young seed from rotting during the cold -winter months before it is time for it to begin to sprout. Then when -spring comes the baby seed bursts its covering and sends up two tiny -green ribbon leaves which are the beginning of a new Sycamore tree. The -wings of the Sycamore seed are beautifully tinged with pink. - -The wood of the Sycamore or Great Maple is white and very soft, but -it is closely grained. Sometimes you see big knobs on the tree trunk -where a branch has died or been broken off, and cabinet-makers prize -these knobs, as the wood is very curiously marked with beautiful veins -and streaks. Maple wood will polish as smooth as satin, and the backs -of violins are often made of it. In old books we read of table-tops -that were made of curiously marked pieces of Maple, and it is told that -more than eight hundred pounds was given for one of these Maple tables. - -In Scotland the Sycamore tree was often called the dool tree, or tree -of mourning, because the nobles used to hang disobedient servants or -vanquished foes on its strong branches; and at Cassilis, in Ayrshire, -there is a Sycamore tree which is well known to have been used for this -cruel purpose. - - - - -PLATE XII - -THE ORIENTAL PLANE - - -There are two kinds of Plane tree which have come to us as strangers -from foreign lands and have taken kindly to our cold climate and biting -winds. These are the Oriental or Eastern Plane and the Occidental or -Western Plane. The differences between them are not great, and the one -which you will most easily remember is, that in the Oriental Plane the -leaf stalk is green, whereas in the Occidental Plane tree it is -purply red. We owe a special debt of gratitude to these Plane trees -because they add beauty to so many of the dingy streets and squares in -our big cities. - -[Illustration: PLATE XII - -THE ORIENTAL PLANE TREE - - 1. Oriental Plane Tree - 2. Leaf Spray - 3. Stamen Flower Balls - 4. Seed Flower Balls - 5. Fruit] - -The trunk of the Oriental Plane (1) is very smooth, and is usually -ash-grey in colour; sometimes it is a very dark green. The outer layer -of this trunk peels off in flakes, leaving large patches of greenish -yellow, and these give the tree a curious speckled appearance. It is a -tall, handsome tree, and if you look at it from a distance you see that -the broad leaves group themselves into large masses with a wide space -between each mass. This you can only see in a full-grown tree, and such -trees are rarely met with in our dusty towns. - -On account of its leaves the Oriental Plane tree is frequently confused -with the Sycamore, so you must notice carefully wherein they differ. -The leaves (2) of the Oriental Plane are shaped like a hand with five -sharply-pointed fingers, and each finger is cut all round into sharp -teeth. The leaves are very smooth, and light, and fine, and are as thin -as paper. They will lie quite flat if you lay them on a table. Each -leaf is placed alternately with its neighbour on the twig, the second -leaf growing on the opposite side of the twig, but a little further up -than the first leaf. In the Sycamore you remember that the leaves grow -in pairs placed exactly opposite each other, and that the second pair -is always placed cross-ways to the first pair? These Oriental Plane -leaves are so smooth that the rain easily washes all dust and soot from -them, and this is why this tree manages to live in a city better than -those which have crinkled, or hairy, or sticky leaves, which catch and -keep the choking dust. - -In most trees the leaf buds are to be found growing between the base of -the leaf stem and the twig which supports it. You will find no trace -of such buds in the Oriental Plane; they are carefully hidden, and are -tenderly protected in a marvellous way. - -You see that the base of the leaf stalk is considerably swollen, and -that round it there is a line? If you gently pull the leaf, it will -come apart from the twig at this line, and then you will discover that -the swollen part of the leaf stalk is hollow, and is fitted like a cap -over the tiny leaf bud, which is cosily sheltered within. This baby -leaf bud is very sensitive to cold, and has many wrappings as well as -the leaf cap. Its outer case is lined with sticky gum, which keeps out -any damp; then come many small scales covered with soft fur, and inside -these lie the tiny leaves, wrapped in a quilt of soft, silky down. This -silky down is golden-brown in colour, and it remains on the young leaf -till it is quite grown up. Sometimes the young buds are tempted by -bright sunshine to throw off their winter coverings too soon. Then if -biting frost comes they all die, and the tree will bear no more buds -that year. The Plane tree gets its name from a Greek word which means a -shield, and this name was given because its broad, flat leaves cast a -very welcome shade in hot Eastern lands. - -In winter it is easy to recognize the Oriental Plane by its curious -seeds. Hanging on the bare branches are strings of round bristly -fruit-balls (5), three or four, or even five, threaded like large beads -on a long slender chain. There are no seed balls such as these on the -Sycamore tree, nor on its cousin the Field Maple. - -These seed balls are very interesting. Early in spring you see them -dangling in the air, and you must pluck one of the green chains and -examine its round beads. In one ball are grouped together bunches of -purple stamens (3), which have a few pointed, dry scales at the base -of each group. As soon as these stamens are ripe and their pollen -dust has been blown away, these balls shrivel and fall off. But close -beside them, on a similar green chain, are dangling the seed balls (4). -Inside these balls there is a soft green cushion, and all over this -cushion are stuck small green seeds shaped like pears, each with a tiny -point like a stalk standing up at the top. After the stamen dust has -fallen on these seeds they enlarge into a small hard nut, and a tuft -of bristly down grows up from the base of each seed. The ball becomes -a dark brown colour, and it dangles all winter on the tree; then in -spring, when the leaves are ready to burst their coverings, these brown -balls fall to the ground and the dry seeds are blown away, each seed -floating in the air by the aid of its bristly down. - -In America these Eastern and Western Plane trees are called Button -trees, because the seed balls resemble old-fashioned buttons. - -The wood of the Oriental Plane is used by piano-makers, coach-builders, -and cabinet-makers. It is a light brown colour, and is said to be very -tough. - - - - -PLATE XIII - -THE WHITE POPLAR OR ABELE TREE - - -In the old Greek legends we read that Hercules won a victory over -Kakos on Mount Aventine. On the mountain grew a thick grove of Poplar -trees, and Hercules, overjoyed with his triumph, bound a branch of the -graceful leaves around his brow as a sign of victory. Soon afterwards -he went down into the infernal regions, the place of tears and gloom, -and when he came back to earth it was seen that the upper side of -his leafy garland was darkened with the smoke of Hades, but that the -under-side of the leaves had been washed silver white with the sweat -which streamed from his brow. Ever since that day the leaves of the -Aventine Poplar grow white on the under-side, and in course of time its -seeds were brought by travellers to Britain, and the tree has taken -kindly to our less sunny land. So the tale runs. - -[Illustration: PLATE XIII - -THE WHITE POPLAR - - 1. White Poplar or Abele Tree - 2. Leaf Spray - 3. Seed Catkin - 4. Stamen Catkin] - -It is by these dark green leaves with their thick white lining that -you will always know the White Poplar or Abele tree (1), and when you -learn how many relations it has, and how closely they resemble each -other, you will be glad to have this marked distinction by which you -may easily know this member of the family. - -The Poplar, like the Willows, prefers to grow in damp places. The most -perfect trees are found in meadows close to a river. In France the -people plant them along the river banks, and from far away you can -trace the windings of the water by the tall Poplar spires which edge -its banks. - -The Poplars are very fast-growing trees; they will shoot up to a great -height in the life-time of a man, and for this reason they are often -planted where a screen is quickly required. The lower part of the trunk -is dark and is deeply furrowed, but the upper is a dingy yellow colour, -and on it there are many black streaks. - -Early in March the White Poplar begins to flower. It is one of the -catkin-bearing trees, and high on the upper branches there dance and -dangle long slender woolly tails of a purplish red colour. These are -the stamen catkins (4), and you must pick one to pieces and see how -beautifully it is made. - -The stamens are grouped together in little bunches of from eight to -thirty on a round disc, and at the foot of this disc, on one side, -rises a scale which is green on the lower half and reddish brown on -the upper half. This scale is deeply and irregularly toothed all round -the edge, and is surrounded with fine silk which stands up like a fan. -These bunches of stamens are placed all round the catkin tail, with the -scales nearly covering the purple stamen heads. As soon as the pollen -dust in the stamen heads is ripe and the wind has shaken it out of -their dust-bags, the catkin shrivels and falls to the ground. You will -find the ground strewn with them in early spring. - -But the White Poplar has another catkin flower which bears the seeds, -and this flower grows on a separate tree. These seed catkins (3) are -stouter and shorter, and are not nearly so noticeable as the long -stamen catkins. The green seed-vessel sits in a tiny cup, and on the -top of the seed you see a cross of four yellow rays. On one side of -the cup rises a scale which is brown at the upper edge and is fringed -with down as in the stamen catkin. The wind brings the stamen dust to -the four yellow rays on the top of the little seed-vessel, but if there -should be no stamen-bearing trees growing near, then the White Poplar -can produce no new seeds; it remains barren. - -The leaves (2) of the White Poplar are triangular in shape and are -deeply jagged all round. When in bud the sides of the leaf are rolled -towards the centre, so that the under-side of the leaf, with its thick -white lining, is turned outward. The young branches and buds are also -thickly covered with fine white down. - -The Poplar leaves never seem to be still; they dance and sparkle in -the sunshine, and even on quiet days you will see them fluttering. In -autumn these leaves turn golden yellow before they fall. - -The wood of the White Poplar is too quickly grown to be very durable. -It is largely used for making children’s toys, because it does not -readily split when nails are driven into it. It will not burn easily, -and for this reason it makes good floors for dwelling-houses. - -Besides the White Poplar or Abele tree there are two other Poplars -which are fairly common in this country. One is the Lombardy Poplar, -which grows tall and slender like a church spire; its branches rise -upward like the flame of a torch, and the tree trunk is clothed to the -very ground with withered branches, which never spread outwards, but -grow close to the main stem. There is no difficulty in recognising the -Lombardy Poplar. - -The Black Poplar is also common in many parts of Britain. Its leaves -are not lined with white; they are heart-shaped, with no jagged edges, -but with dainty little teeth cut evenly all round. The heads of the -stamens, which grow in groups on the catkin tail, are very dark purple, -and they hang from the end of twigs, which are rough with the scars of -last year’s leaves. - - - - -PLATE XIV - -THE ASPEN - - “Variable as the shade - By the light, quivering aspen made.” - - --Scott. - - -The Aspen (1) is a member of the Poplar family, and in many ways it -resembles its cousins. But you will always know an Aspen tree by its -leaves (2). These are never still unless when a storm is brooding and -the air is perfectly calm; at all other times they shake and quiver -incessantly, and you can hear the gentle rustle they make as each leaf -rubs against its neighbour. In the Scottish Highlands the country -people tell you that the Aspen trembles because at the Crucifixion the -cross of Christ was made of Aspen, and the tree must always shudder at -the recollection of the cruel purpose it served. - -[Illustration: PLATE XIV - -THE ASPEN - - 1. Aspen Tree - 2. Leaf Spray - 3. Stamen Catkins - 4. Seed Catkin] - -The Aspen is usually found growing in copses, or in meadow lands, -where it flourishes best in a damp soil; but it is also found on -mountain ground, and is very common in the north of Scotland. It is -not a long-lived tree: the heart of it begins to decay after fifty or -sixty years, just at the age when many of our most familiar trees are -at their finest. The wood is very soft, and is of little use either for -building or for manufacturing purposes; but it is beautifully white, -and sculptors use it for decorative carving; also many of the wooden -blocks required by engravers for printing are made of Aspen wood. - -The Aspen is one of our catkin-bearing trees. Early in spring you will -see dangling on the branches long fluffy tails, which you must pluck -and examine carefully. There are two kinds of flowering catkins on the -Aspen, and both kinds may be found growing on the same tree. Sometimes -you find them close beside each other on the same branch. - -In the stamen catkin (3) you see many bunches of tiny stamens with -bluey-purple heads: these bunches are dotted all over the catkin tail, -and each stamen bunch is nearly hidden by a large scale which rises at -one side. This scale is green in the lower half and pale brown in the -upper half, and its edges are cut into deep jagged points. This jagged -scale lies above the stamen bunch, so that you can just see their heads -appearing under the torn edge of the scale. Each stamen is surrounded -by a mass of soft grey woolly down, which makes all the catkin look -fluffy and silky. - -The seed catkin (4) of the Aspen looks much the same as the stamen -catkin; it is a long, dangling fat tail, covered with fluffy grey down; -but it has no stamens. This catkin bears the seed-vessels, and each -seed-vessel resembles a small green pea sitting in a tiny green cup. -This pea splits open at the top, and you see four pale pink points -rising from the opening. These points are waiting for the stamen dust -to reach them, and as soon as that happens they shrivel and disappear; -then the seed busies itself in preparing the new plant. Above each -green seed-vessel there stands a scale with the edge cut into large -torn-looking points. These scales nearly cover the seed-vessel, and -they look like brown splashes on the bed of soft fluffy down. - -When the seeds are ripe the catkins fall from the tree; the seeds -separate from the tail, and the wind blows them a long distance by the -aid of the fluffy down which surrounds each seed. - -[Illustration: PLATE XV - -THE WHITE WILLOW - - 1. White Willow Tree - 2. Leaf Spray - 3. Pussy Buds - 4. Stamen Catkin - 5. Seed Catkin] - -The Aspen leaves (2) are very dainty and pretty. Each leaf grows at the -end of a long slender stalk which is flattened like a ribbon, and is -placed edge-ways to the twig. The stalk is not strong enough to hold -the leaf upright, so it droops, unless when the breeze lifts it in the -air, and then you hear a constant rustle-rustle, as if the leaves -were whispering to each other. These Aspen leaves are nearly round, -and they have evenly-cut teeth on the edges. They are rather small and -are dark in colour, and there is no white lining underneath except the -soft down which you often find on very young leaves, and which soon -disappears. - -Through the grass beside its root the Aspen sends up a great many young -shoots which are called suckers. The leaves on these young suckers are -heart-shaped, and the edges are quite smooth, without any teeth. - -Cattle are very fond of these young leaves, so are deer, and goats, and -even the beaver. In some places people strip the Aspen leaves from the -trees and give them to the cattle, which eat them greedily. - - - - -PLATE XV - -THE WHITE WILLOW - - -To distinguish different members of the Willow family is very -difficult. It contains many brothers and sisters who are so much alike -that you would require to study nothing but willows for many a day if -you wished to know each from the other. - -In this book are described three different Willows. The first is a -lofty tree with a thick trunk and spreading branches; the second is -usually a bushy mass of slender twigs bending over the river bed; and -the third is a small creeping shrub which twines itself among the roots -of the heather, and carpets the ground with masses of silky down. And I -think if you know well these three kinds of Willow, you should be able -to group the other members of the family around them. - -The White Willow (1) is the name given to the largest Willow tree, and -very beautiful it is in early spring when the leaves unfold. It has a -thick trunk covered with rough, rugged bark, and it sends out large -branches, from which grow many smooth, slender twigs. The leaves (2) -appear about the middle of May, long narrow leaves which taper to a -point, and from a distance you would think that the edges were quite -smooth. But when you pick a leaf you find that there are dainty little -teeth cut all round the edge. These narrow leaves are covered on both -sides with a silky grey down; this gives them a pale, silvery-grey -colour, and from a distance you can easily recognise a White Willow -tree by the glistening of this beautiful grey foliage, so different -from the vivid young green of the Larch and the yellow-green of the -Limes and Sycamores. - -The White Willow produces two kinds of flowers, and these grow in -catkins on different trees. The stamen catkins are the prettiest, and -they appear about the same time as the young leaves. At first these -stamen catkins are small egg-shaped buds, closely covered with silky -grey down--pussy buds (3) the children call them; but they open very -quickly, and in a few days you will see, dropping from the branches, -small green catkins which curl slightly like caterpillars. Each catkin -is covered with closely-shut scales, and by the time the leaves are out -the scales of these stamen catkins unclose (4). Behind each scale there -rises a pair of stamens on long slender stalks. These stamen stalks -are hairy on the lower half, and so are the catkin scales. The heads -of the stamens are sometimes tinged with red, and between each pair -of stamens there lies a honey bag. Notice how constantly the bees are -heard buzzing among the Willow branches. When the stamen heads are ripe -they burst open, and the fine dust inside is carried by the wind to a -Willow tree, on which the seed catkins grow. - -These seed catkins (5) are covered with greenish scales, which are -tightly pressed together at first. But in the warm spring sunshine the -scales unclose, and from the foot of each scale rises a small green -pear-shaped seed-vessel which has two tiny straps standing up at the -top. The wind wafts the stamen dust to the tree, and some of it falls -on these two small straps, which act as messengers and carry the dust -down to the inside of the seed-vessel, where the plant makes ready the -new seed. Unless you have a seed-bearing tree and a stamen-bearing -tree growing within reach of each other, you cannot have any new seeds; -but it is possible to increase the number of Willow trees by cutting -off branches and planting them in a particular way in the ground, when -they will send out roots and grow. - -There are two other kinds of White Willow which are found nearly as -frequently as the one I have just described, and neither is difficult -to recognise. The Golden Willow is the name usually given to one, -on account of its twigs, which are a bright shade of yellow-green, -and these golden twigs are very noticeable in winter beside the dark -branches of the Elms and Beeches. In this Willow the stamens and scales -of the dust-producing catkins are the colour of a canary’s feathers, -and in the spring sunshine they glisten like gold. This is the -loveliest of all the Willow trees. - -The third White Willow is known as the Crack Willow, because the -branches are very easily broken; a knock will snap them from the tree -trunk. If ever you try to gather a twig from other Willow trees, you -will find how difficult it is to separate it from the branch. The thin -green peel, with the leaves clinging to it, comes away in your hand, -leaving the bare white twig still clinging to the branch, and without -a knife you will scarcely force them apart. But the twigs of the Crack -Willow may be snapped across easily, and the large branches are -readily broken on a windy night. - -[Illustration: PLATE XVI - -THE GOAT WILLOW - - 1. Goat Willow or Sallow Tree - 2. Leaf Spray - 3. Pussy Buds - 4. Stamen Catkins - 5. Seed Catkins] - -The wood of the White and of the Golden Willow is valuable, and is much -used by builders for floors and rafters. Coopers say it makes excellent -casks, and many of our best cricket bats are made from Willow wood. -When straw is scarce people are said to make hats from Willow sprays. -They gather the small branches and split them into long, thin strips, -and these are woven into fine plaits, which are then joined together. - - - - -PLATE XVI - -THE GOAT WILLOW OR SALLOW - - “In Rome upon Palm Sunday - They bear true palms, - The cardinals bow reverently - And sing old psalms. - - Elsewhere these psalms are sung - Beneath the olive branches, - The holly-bush supplies their place - Amid the avalanches.” - - -The second Willow or group of Willows you should learn about is the -most difficult of all. In it there are many different varieties, and -you would require to plant one of each kind in your garden, as a -gentleman in England has done, and study them carefully for many years -to discover the points wherein each Willow differs from the other. - -Though the Goat Willow or Sallow (1) sometimes grows into a tall tree, -it is more often seen as a bush--a bush with a short, rough stem, which -does not rise far above the ground, and which sends up many tall, -slender branches, covered with smooth, purplish brown peel or skin. -Early in March, before the snowdrops have withered, you will find the -Goat Willow in every hedge and coppice bursting into scaly brown buds. -It is one of our earliest trees, and after a few days of warm sunshine -the brown scales unclose and the branches are dotted with the softest -and silkiest little pussy buds (3), shaped like tiny eggs and covered -with grey down. - -These buds grow alternately on the smooth stem with a small space -between each bud. In a few days the baby buds have changed, and you may -find two Willow bushes growing quite near each other on which the buds -are very different. For those woolly buds are the flower catkins, and -the Goat Willow bears two kinds of flowers, which do not grow on the -same tree. - -The bees have found out that the Willow is in flower; you can hear a -swarm of them buzzing in the leafless branches, and you wonder where -there is any honey to be found. On one tree the soft grey downy buds -have grown larger, and they are now golden yellow catkins (4). The -whole bud is covered with dainty yellow-headed stamens, nestling in -pairs among oval scales edged with silky down, and it is at the base of -these yellow-headed stamens that the bee finds the sweet drops of honey -juice. - -For many hundreds of years branches of the Goat Willow or Sallow have -been carried in this country to church on Palm Sunday in remembrance -of the branches of palm which the people strewed in front of Christ -when He entered Jerusalem. Troops of boys and girls go into the country -lanes and coppices to gather Willow-palms, which they sometimes pluck -so roughly and carelessly that the tree remains broken and ruined for -the rest of the year. These silky stamen catkins of the Goat Willow are -one of the most welcome signs of the return of spring. - -But there are other Willow flowers to be looked at: flowers which may -not be so attractive, but which bear the seeds and make ready the new -plants. These flowers are silky too, and underneath the soft down is an -egg-shaped catkin (5), covered with small pear-shaped green seeds. Each -seed has a thick yellow point at the top, and at the base there rises -a scale which is pointed like a cat’s ear and is covered with long, -silky hairs. When the stamen flowers are ripe their yellow heads burst, -and the fine dust which fills them falls on the backs of the bees who -are sipping the honey juice. Then they fly away to find another honey -flower, and they often alight on a seed catkin, where the pollen dust -is shaken off among the little yellow points which are waiting for it -to help in the making of the new seeds. Each flower catkin sits upright -on a tuft of small pale green leaves. - -The leaves (2) of the Goat Willow are very different from those of the -other Willows; they are broad and oval, with edges which are crinkled -or waved all round and with a network of fine veins covering the leaf. -These leaves, when they first come out, are covered with white down, -but by the time they are full grown they are dark and shiny on the -upper side, and are only downy beneath. - -There is another bushy Willow which perhaps you might mistake for the -Goat Willow or Sallow: this is the Purple Osier. It grows in boggy -marshes, by the banks of slow-running streams, and it too has silky -grey catkins. But you will easily recognise the Purple Osier by two -things. It has long, slender stems like whips, rising straight from the -tree trunk. These slender stems are covered with a fine purple skin or -peel, and if you try to pick an Osier stem the peel comes away in your -hand, leaving the white Willow stem still growing. These Osier stems -are valuable for making baskets, and are grown in great quantities for -this purpose. - -The second point in which the Purple Osier differs from the Goat -Willow is this: if you gather a yellow catkin and look at the -yellow-headed stamens which cover it, you will see that the slender -stalks of the stamens are joined together, making one stalk with two -yellow heads, whereas in the Goat Willow or Sallow each yellow stamen -head sways at the end of its own stalk. - -There is one other Willow tree I should like to tell you about, because -it is so curious. It is a tree which creeps close to the ground, and -which is found growing in great quantities in the Highlands among the -grass and heather. It is called the Dwarf Willow, and it too has silky -catkins which grow on the tough wiry branches. - -You might not notice these stamen catkins, but you could not help -noticing the seed catkins. These cover the ground with tufts of white -cotton wool like thistle-down, and when you lift one of these tufts -you find that the pear-shaped green seed-vessels have split down the -centre to allow many tiny seeds to escape, and each seed is winged with -a tuft of silky down. After all the seeds have flown away on the wind, -the withered seed-vessels still remain on the catkin, no longer green, -but a rusty red-brown colour, which is very noticeable among the small -glossy green leaves. - - - - -PLATE XVII - -THE SCOTCH PINE OR SCOTCH FIR - - -The Scotch Pine (1), or, as it is often called by mistake, the Scotch -Fir, is one of our noblest trees; it is tall, and rugged, and sturdy, -with a beauty which lies in its strength and dignity rather than in its -grace. In bygone days large tracts of Scotland were clothed with vast -forests of Scotch Pine, under whose gloomy branches many wolves roamed -and the wild deer wandered in herds. But the owners of these noble -forests cut down the trees to get money for the timber, and the wolves -have disappeared. There is now only a scanty remnant of the great army -of Pine trees which once clothed the northern lands of Britain. - -Those vast forests were not planted by man. The young trees sprang from -seeds which had fallen from the woody fruit cones, and were carried by -rooks or other birds to places where human beings rarely trod. There -the young seeds grew and sent out their greedy roots. If the soil was -good and plentiful they produced a strong carrot-shaped root, which -bored deep into the ground and gave the tree such a firm hold that no -storm could tear it up. But if the ground had only a little earth on -the surface and there were hard rocks beneath, then the roots crept -like serpents near the surface of the soil, clasping the rocks with a -tight grip to steady the tree. - -[Illustration: PLATE XVII - -THE SCOTCH PINE - - 1. Scotch Pine Tree - 2. Leaf Needles - 3. Stamen Flower - 4. Seed Flower (pink cones) - 5. Green Cones - 6. Grey Cone - 7. Seed with Wing] - -How the wind roars in the Pine branches on the high mountain lands! It -is like the sound of the sea. If the Pine tree had broad leaves, such -as the Sycamore or the Lime tree, it would soon be blown down; but the -storm gusts pass through its fine needle-leaves, and no harm is done. - -The trunk of the Scotch Pine is very rough, and it is covered with -rugged pieces of reddish bark, separated from each other by deep -furrows. It rises to a great height, throwing out many large branches -on each side, and there is always a bushy rounded tree-top looking up -to the sky. In a Pine forest the lower part of the tree is usually -bare. This is because the trees are planted so close together there is -little air except near the top of the tree, and the lower branches are -stifled. - -Beneath the branches the ground is always carpeted with fallen Pine -leaves, and very curious these Pine leaves (2) are. They look like -green needles with soft blunt points, and the edges of each needle are -rolled back so that the leaf appears round above and is boat-shaped -below. The under-side of the needle is much lighter in colour than the -dark green surface. - -These needle-leaves usually grow in pairs, though you may find a bunch -containing three or even four needles; they are held together by a thin -grey sheath, which looks like paper and clasps the end of the bunch. -These needle-bunches are placed all round the twig, close together, -so as to form a dense brush. They remain on the tree for two or three -years, then they fall; but their work is not done. Very often the Pine -tree seed has been carried to some sandy sea-shore upon which nothing -is willing to grow. There it takes root and flourishes, and in course -of time it throws down handfuls of withered needle-leaves on the loose -sandy ground. These needles decay and form a bed of soil which binds -the sand together, and when the wind and the birds bring other seeds, -they find a place in which they can take root and grow. In France great -tracts of waste land have become valuable in this way through the -planting of Pine trees. - -The Pine tree has its flowers in catkins and its fruit in cones. The -catkins are of two kinds, and they grow on the same tree, sometimes on -the same branch. The stamen flowers (3) are found in dense spikes at -the end of last year’s bushy twig. They look like a cluster of bunches -of small yellow grains from which a tuft of fine green spears rises -in the centre. These grains are the stamen heads, and in May and June -they send out clouds of fine yellow powder, which floats in the air and -settles on the leaves and on the grass and on the margins of lakes and -rivers, where you can see little patches of it lying. Country peasants -sometimes tell you that this yellow powder is sulphur which has fallen -from the sky during a thunder-storm! - -The seed flowers (4) of the Pine tree are very different. They grow -either singly or in pairs at the end of this year’s new twig, and at -first they are tiny pale pink cones. These cones are egg-shaped, and -are made up of scales tightly pressed together, with little hard dots -showing at the tip of each scale. The seeds are behind the scales, -but you will not see them for a long time, as the cone takes eighteen -months to grow up. At the end of the first summer you find that the -pink cone has become a rich green colour (5) and is still soft, but -when the second summer comes round, the cone is ash-grey in colour (6) -and is hard and woody. - -When the seeds are ripe the tightly-pressed scales unclose and curl -up, showing thick wooden lips; at the base of each scale lie two white -seeds, and each seed (7) has a thin filmy wing. When the seeds fall -from the cone they are blown long distances, floating on the air by -their filmy wings. - -There is a bird called the crossbill which is very fond of Pine seeds, -and very clever at picking them out of the half-opened cones. - -You will occasionally find a tree, very similar to the Scotch Pine, in -which the cones grow in groups of three or four together at the end of -the twigs. This tree is called the Cluster Pine, and you will notice -that its bunches of leaves are different in colour: they are a bluey -green, and the tips of the needles are yellowish, as if they had begun -to wither. - -The wood of the Pine tree is very valuable. Thousands of pounds were -paid for the trees in the old Scotch forests, and many stout ships were -built from their sturdy trunks. Besides the good timber, the Pine tree -gives us turpentine and resin from its juice. If you cut a hole in a -Pine tree stem a thick juice will soon be seen oozing from this hole, -and it quickly hardens into a clear gum. - - - - -PLATE XVIII - -THE YEW - - -Once upon a time a discontented Yew tree grew in a country graveyard. -Other trees, it thought, had larger and more beautiful leaves which -fluttered in the breeze and became red and brown and yellow in the -sunshine, and the Yew tree pined because the fairies had given it such -an unattractive dress. One morning the sunshine disclosed that all its -green leaves had changed into leaves made of gold, and the heart of -the Yew tree danced with happiness. But some robbers, as they stole -through the forest, were attracted by the glitter, and they stripped -off every golden leaf. Again the tree bemoaned its fate, and next day -the sun shone on leaves of purest crystal. “How beautiful!” thought -the tree; “see how I sparkle!” But a hailstorm burst from the clouds, -and the sparkling leaves lay shivered on the grass. Once more the good -fairies tried to comfort the unhappy tree. Smooth broad leaves covered -its branches, and the Yew tree flaunted these gay banners in the wind. -But, alas, a flock of goats came by and ate of the fresh young leaves -“a million and ten.” “Give me back again my old dress,” sobbed the -Yew, “for I see that it was best.” And ever since its leaves remain -unchanging, and it wears the sombre dress which covered its boughs in -the days when King William landed from Normandy on our shores, and the -swineherd tended his pigs in the great forests which covered so much of -Merry England. - -[Illustration: PLATE XVIII - -THE YEW - - 1. Yew Tree - 2. Leaf Spray - 3. Stamen Flower - 4. Seed Flower - 5. Spray with Fruit] - -In history books we read how important the Yew tree once was. Long -before the invention of guns and gunpowder, many of our soldiers -carried bows made of Yew tree wood, and from these they shot deadly -arrows with tremendous force. Three of England’s Kings--Harold, William -Rufus, and Richard Cœur de Lion--were slain by such arrows, and it was -from a Yew tree bow that Tell sent the arrow that halved the apple -placed on his son’s head. - -The Yew tree (1) grows very, very slowly; it never becomes a tall tree, -not even when it has lived hundreds and hundreds of years, because, -instead of sending up one thick trunk, it has the strange habit of -dividing into a cluster of trunks, three or four or more of equal -thickness, which rise from one root. These trunks are covered with -browny red bark and are very smooth; the red bark peels off in thin -flakes, and you can see that the wood beneath it is a deep orange red. - -From the clustered trunks many branches stretch out to form a densely -bushy tree; these branches are closely covered with small twigs, on -which grow short narrow leaves (2), ending in blunt points, and with -the edges slightly curved backwards. These leaves grow alternately -all round the twig, and they are dark and glossy above but much paler -beneath. They do not fall from the tree in winter, as the Yew, like -the Holly, is one of our evergreen trees. Yew tree leaves are very -poisonous, and many tales are told of cattle and horses which have died -from eating them. - -Some people believe that the Yew tree is planted in churchyards because -it is poisonous and is associated with death; while others think just -the opposite, and say that it is placed among the tombstones to remind -us that the soul is undying, like the Yew tree leaves. - -In February or March if you strike a Yew tree bough with a stick you -will see clouds of fine yellow powder rising from the tree. This powder -is the stamen dust, and if you pull a spray of leaves and examine it -you will discover clusters of small oval yellow flowers (3) nestling -close to the main stem where the leaf joins it. The Yew tree belongs to -the great family of trees whose fruit is a cone and which bear their -flowers in catkins. Take a magnifying-glass, and it will show you that -each catkin is composed of a bunch of stamens rising from a slender -pillar at the foot of which are a few dry, papery scales. Each stamen -has six dust-bags at the end, and when the stamen powder is ripe these -dust-bags open, and the fine yellow powder is blown like meal over the -leaves and seeds. - -The Yew tree has seed flowers (4) as well as those which bear the -stamens. Usually they grow on a different tree, but occasionally you -will find them on the same Yew, but on a separate branch. It is a -curious thing about the Yew tree and its relations that these seeds are -not covered in any way, but lie naked to the sun and rain. They always -grow on the under-side of the stem, and at first they look like tiny -acorns. You notice a small disc surrounded by a few scales, and on this -disc sits the little green acorn with its olive green skin. This acorn -is waiting for the stamen dust to reach it. As soon as the wind has -blown the yellow powder over it a beautiful cup of pale pink wax grows -round the green seed. There is no hard, woody cone on the Yew tree; -the fruit (5) is this pale pink waxen berry, shaped like a fairy cup -and filled with sticky juice. The walls of the pink cup are soft and -fleshy, and you can just see the tip of the green seed standing up in -the centre. They are very lovely, these waxy pink berries on the dark -green spray, but they are said to be poisonous. - -Sometimes at the end of a Yew spray there grows a curious-looking cone -like a small artichoke, made of soft green leaves. This is caused by a -tiny gnat which lays its eggs in a Yew tree bud, and in some strange -way that we do not understand causes it to develop this tuft of strange -leaves. You will remember that in the Oak a similar growth is found. - -The wood of the Yew tree is very hard and durable, as are all woods -which grow slowly. “A Yew tree post will outlast a post of iron” is -a saying often repeated by farmers; but the Yew wood is not much in -demand for manufacturing purposes. - - - - -PLATE XIX - -THE JUNIPER - - -In the Bible we read that when Elijah fled from the cruel persecution -of King Ahab and the wicked Queen Jezebel, he sat down under a Juniper -tree to rest. When we look at the Juniper as it grows in this country, -we wonder how the prophet could have found rest beside such a prickly -tree, or shade beneath such a small one. But in other lands the -Juniper grows much taller; and as all books about trees give it a place -beside its relations the Yew and the Scotch Pine, it must be included -among the common trees you should learn to know. - -[Illustration: PLATE XIX - -THE JUNIPER - - 1. Juniper Bushes - 2. Leaf Spray with Flowers - 3. Stamen Flower (much enlarged) - 4. Seed Flower (much enlarged) - 5. Spray with Fruit] - -In Britain the Juniper (1) is found on heathy commons or high on the -upland plains, where it flourishes as a large, thick, bushy shrub, and -occasionally shoots up into a small tree. It is rather a gloomy-looking -tree: in spring time, when most of our trees look fresh and bright in -their young green leaves, the Juniper shows little change. Its leaves -are evergreen, and the new leaves grow in small tufts at the tips of -the branches, so that you scarcely notice them. - -The Juniper bark is dark reddish brown, and it flakes off in small -pieces in the same way as the Yew tree bark. The branches are small and -thin, and they clothe the trunk close to the very ground; it would be -difficult to sit comfortably under a Juniper tree in this country. Like -the Yew, it is a very slow-growing tree. - -Juniper leaves (2) are not in the least like ordinary leaves: they are -more like thorns than leaves, and they are not easy to gather. But if -you examine a spray carefully you will find that each leaf is like a -narrow flat spear with a sharp point at the end. Each leaf has a slight -groove cut from end to end in the upper side, which is dark green, very -smooth and glossy. Notice how curiously the leaves are grouped on the -spray. They are placed in incomplete circles of three, and there is -always a short space between each of the circles. - -Juniper flowers are of two kinds, and they usually grow on separate -trees, though sometimes you may find both kinds on separate branches of -the same tree. The stamen flowers (3) are in full bloom in May, and you -will find them growing in small scaly catkins close to the foot of the -leaf where it joins the stem. The heads of the stamens stand like a row -of small yellow beads along the edge of each scale, and when they are -ripe the beads burst and the leaves around are covered with their fine -yellow powder. - -The seed flowers (4) also grow at the foot of the leaves, and at first -you might mistake them for young buds. They have thicker and more -fleshy scales than those of the stamen catkins, and after the yellow -stamen dust is blown by the wind on to their seed-vessels the upper -scales grow into a green berry (5). These green berries remain in the -tree all through the winter, and the following summer they change into -a deep purplish black. Each berry has a soft grey bloom all over it, -like the bloom on a grape. - -These berries are very bitter to taste, but are not poisonous; in some -illnesses country people use them successfully as a medicine. - -Many are the uses of the Juniper, and in olden days it was highly -valued. - -[Illustration: PLATE XX - -THE LARCH - - 1. Larch Tree - 2. Leaf Tufts - 3. Stamen Catkins - 4. Seed Catkins - 5. Young Cone - 6. Ripe Cone] - -In Sweden the berries are eaten to breakfast; sometimes they are -roasted and ground into coffee. - -The wood and its berries may be burnt in sick-rooms to purify the air -and refresh the patient. Country people believed that burning sprays -of Juniper kept away witches, and the smoke was supposed to drive away -serpents, as well as to destroy any germs of plague or other infectious -disease. - -In Scotland the smoke from a Juniper fire is used for curing hams. - -In Lapland the peasants make ropes from the Juniper bark, and they tell -you that if a bit of Juniper wood is lighted and then carefully covered -with ashes it will keep alight for a whole year. - -The trunk of the Juniper tree is too small and slight to be very useful -as timber; but good walking-sticks are often made from the branches and -young stems. - - - - -PLATE XX - -THE LARCH - - “When rosy plumelets tuft the larch.” - - --Tennyson. - - -The Larch (1) was brought to Britain in the seventeenth century from -its home on the high mountains of Germany, Austria, and Italy. It has -taken kindly to our cheerless climate, and now covers acres of what was -once barren moorland. - -A few years after Larches are planted the long flexible branches of -the young trees meet and form a thicket into which little light or air -can enter, and the weeds and heather growing round the tree roots are -stifled. Each winter the Larch sheds on the bare ground millions of its -tiny needle-leaves, which enrich the soil. - -After the young trees have grown to a certain height the forester thins -the plantation; he cuts down a number of the young trees, so that -those which remain may have more room to grow, and he removes all the -withered branches near the ground. This allows the sunshine to reach -the soil, and soon after a crop of soft, fine grass is seen carpeting -the ground. Sheep and cattle can now be pastured where a short time -before there grew nothing but heather and weeds. - -Look at a Larch plantation in winter time, and you will think that -all the trees are dead. The Pines and the Firs are resting, and the -Oaks and Beeches seem asleep, but their branches do not have the dead, -withered look of the Larch trees. Come again early in spring, and you -will see a wonderful change. These dead twigs are now a pale glossy -brown, so glossy that they might have been varnished. Try to pull one, -and you will find how tough and sound it is; only where the twig joins -the branch can you separate it from the tree; and what a delightful -smell of turpentine remains on your fingers after gathering the Larch -twigs! - -In the trunk of this tree there are stores of turpentine, tiny lakes of -it, which are of considerable value. In Italy, where the Larch trees -grow to great size, small holes are bored through the trunk to the very -heart of the tree, and a thin pipe is put in. Then a can is hung on the -end of the pipe, and the pure turpentine juice drops steadily into the -can. It is then strained, and is sold just as it comes from the tree. - -Early in April the Larch tree begins to get ready for summer; it is -always one of the first trees to awaken at the call of spring. On each -flexible twig there appear little brown scaly knobs like small beads, -placed either singly or in pairs with a short space between each bead. -In a few days these scaly beads burst open, and a tuft of vivid green -leaves (2), like the fringes round the mouth of a sea-anemone, peeps -out. These leaves are soft and flat and slender, very different from -the hard needles of the Pine and the harsh swords of the Fir trees, and -they grow in tufts, thirty or forty together, rising from the centre of -the scaly brown bead. Each tuft is of the brightest green. So the Larch -tree is a very vision of spring in the dark Fir plantations, while the -leaf buds of many other trees are only awakening from their winter -sleep. - -In the hedgerows the Hawthorns are in full leaf, the stamen flowers -cluster on the boughs of the Elm, and the Hazel and Willow catkins -dangle their tails in the wind; but the forest trees remain sombre and -gloomy, and the young Larch seems gay as the sunlight among them. As -the season advances the Larch tree leaves become darker, and they fall -early in winter. We have only one other cone-bearing tree which is not -evergreen, and that is the Cypress. - -After the leafy tufts appear you will notice that some of the scaly -brown beads have not produced any leaves; instead they have become tiny -oval catkins (3), which are made up of a crowd of small yellow grains. -These catkins are the stamen flowers, and in the yellow grains, which -are the heads of the stamens, is prepared the dust powder which the -seed flowers require to assist them in getting ready the new seed. - -On the same twig, and not far from the stamen catkins, you see a -beautiful deep rose-red seed catkin (4). This tiny rose-red catkin -is very lovely among the brilliant green tufts of leaves; no other -cone-bearing tree has anything so attractive to show us. At first -the catkin scales are soft and fleshy; they overlap each other very -loosely, and from the base of each scale there rises a bright green -point like a single needle-leaf. - -In a few weeks the catkin has become a young cone (5), which looks like -a small rosy egg sitting erect on a bent footstalk, then the rose-pink -colour fades from the cone, and the scales become hard and woody. -Behind each scale lie two tiny white seeds with wings, and there is a -coating of sticky resin over these seeds to keep them dry. The ripe -cones (6) remain on the tree for years, long after the seeds have been -blown away on their transparent wings by the wind. - -The crossbill often builds his nest in a Larch tree. He is particularly -fond of Larch tree seeds, and is very clever at picking them out of the -ripe cones. - -The trunk of a full-grown Larch is reddish brown in colour, and it is -covered with a rough, scaly bark, which is often hung with hoary tufts -of pale grey lichen. - -Larch wood is very valuable, and is used for many purposes. It is very -tough, and does not rot in water. Joiners tell us there are fewer knots -in planks of Larch than in those of either Silver Fir or Spruce. Wood -knots are scars which occur where a dead branch has fallen from the -tree, and builders complain that when the tree is sawn into planks, the -knots shrink and fall out, leaving a round hole. This reduces the value -of the wood; but in the Larch planks the knots are said not to come -away from the surrounding wood. - - - - -PLATE XXI - -THE SPRUCE FIR - - -Although the Scotch Pine is sometimes called the Scotch Fir, the latter -name is generally admitted to be a mistake. It was given long ago by -people who had not seen the real Fir trees, and who did not know how -different they are from the Pines. It is several hundred years since -the Spruce Fir was brought to this country, but it is not one of our -native trees, like the Scotch Pine, the Yew, and the Juniper. - -The Spruce (1) is one of our tallest trees; it loves to grow on ground -many thousand feet above the level of the sea; and in Switzerland and -Norway there are great forests of these slender, soldier-like trees, -clothing the sides of the giant snow mountains. With us it does not -grow so abundantly, but you will find many Spruce Firs mingling with -the Scotch Pine in the large woods of our Scotch Highlands. - -The Spruce Fir has a very straggling root which does not penetrate -far into the ground; it creeps along close under the surface, and -intertwines itself with any other tree roots in the neighbourhood. This -does not give it a very firm hold, and after great gales you sometimes -find a broad path opened in the Fir woods, which has been made by the -Spruce trees falling in the track of the storm. - -[Illustration: PLATE XXI - -THE SPRUCE FIR - - 1. Spruce Fir Tree - 2. Leaf Spray - 3. Stamen Flowers - 4. Seed Flower - 5. Cone - 6. Seed Scale - 7. Growth caused by an Insect] - -It is a very straight tree, with a smooth scaly bark of a reddish brown -colour; from each side of the trunk slender branches grow straight -out like the spokes of a wheel; but each branch rises a little way -above the last as the steps rise in a ladder. These branches are very -slender, and at first they sweep downwards in graceful curves; but at -the tips they all turn upward, so that the points look toward the sky. - -The branches get smaller and smaller as the tree grows higher, which -gives it the appearance of a pyramid, and at the very top there stands -a single upright branch like a spear. This spear-like tip is one of the -distinctive features of the Spruce Fir. - -The leaves (2) are short and flat and hard, and they are rather prickly -to touch. They do not grow in pairs or bundles, as in the Scotch Pine -or the Larch; they are placed singly and very close together all round -the twig. The twigs grow almost opposite each other on the young -sprays, and each spray hangs straight down from the main branch, which -looks as if a parting had been made along its centre and the sprays -combed evenly to either side. From a distance the Spruce tree branches -resemble drooping feathers which curve skyward at the tips. - -The Spruce Fir has two kinds of flowers. In May or June, if you look at -the tips of the drooping sprays which grew last year, you will see two -or three little oval catkins of a pretty yellowish pink colour nestling -among the hard, flat leaves. These are the stamen flowers (3), and when -ripe they will burst open and scatter a great deal of yellow pollen -dust. - -The seed flowers (4) grow in cones, and are found at the end of this -year’s shoots. It is by these cones you will most readily recognise the -Spruce Fir. You remember that in the Scotch Pine the full-grown cones -were grey and woody, with tightly-pressed lips, and that these lips -were very thick and curled upwards when the cone opened? - -In the Fir trees the scales of the ripe cones (5) are like thin glossy -brown paper. Each scale ends in two sharp little teeth, and the scales -are not tightly pressed together, but overlap each other loosely, so -that you could put the blade of a knife under each. The woody cones are -always found in Pine trees, and the papery cones are characteristic of -the Firs. - -In the Spruce Fir these cones are about six inches long, with blunt -tips, and when full grown they hang from the sprays. Do not forget -to notice this, as in some Fir trees the full-grown cones are seated -upright on the branches. Under each scale there lie two little seeds -(6), with large pale brown wings; these seeds require over a year to -ripen, then the wind blows them from the loosened cone scales to many a -strange resting-place, where they take root, and a new tree begins to -grow. - -Sometimes you may see strange leafy-looking bunches (7) like soft, -badly-made cones on the young sprays. These are caused by an insect -which lays its eggs in the young leaf bud and destroys its graceful -shape. - -The Spruce Fir has two enemies that do it great harm. These are the -crossbill and the squirrel. They break off the young shoots close to -the end, and so stop the growth of the branches. You will often find -the ground strewn with these fresh green twigs; but you require to sit -very still for a long time if you wish to see the enemies at work. - -The wood of the Spruce Fir is valuable for many purposes. The tall, -smooth tree trunks are used for the masts of ships, for scaffolding -poles, and telegraph posts; and many boat-loads of Fir planks are -brought from Norway and from the shores of the Baltic Sea, to be -manufactured into flooring boards for our houses. In some places the -fibre of the Spruce Fir is reduced to pulp, and from this a common kind -of paper is produced which is used for newspapers or cheap magazines. - -From the sap we get resin and turpentine, and the bark is used in the -tanning of leather. - -Some people say that the name Fir wood is just a mistake for fire-wood, -because in the old days torches were made of the young fir branches, -whose gummy twigs burnt easily with a clear, strong light. - - - - -PLATE XXII - -THE SILVER FIR - - -Many people find it difficult to distinguish between the Spruce Fir and -the Silver Fir, and they are often called by each other’s names; yet -they are unlike in many points, and a little trouble would prevent such -mistakes. - -The Silver Fir (1) is not one of our native trees; it was brought from -Central or Southern Europe to this country in 1603, and has taken -kindly to our moist climate. It does not grow on such lofty mountains -as the Spruce, but it will thrive at a level of six thousand feet above -the sea, higher than the highest mountain in Great Britain. - -It is a tall, stately tree, but it is bushier and less regular than -the Spruce Fir. The trunk is covered with greyish brown bark, which -is smooth when the tree is young; but as the tree grows old--and the -Silver Fir will live for four hundred years--this bark cracks into -many rugged fissures. You remember that the Spruce tree has a sharp -spear-like point rising from the very top of the trunk. In the Silver -Fir the tree is only pointed when very young, and by the time it is -full grown the top is bushy, with many small unequal branches standing -out from the main stem. - -[Illustration: PLATE XXII - -THE SILVER FIR - - 1. Silver Fir Tree - 2. Leaf Spray - 3. Stamen Flowers - 4. Cone Flower - 5. Ripe Cone - 6. Seed Scale] - -These branches do not grow in whorls or circles, like the spokes of -a wheel; they are often irregular, and there may be gaps in the tree -where a branch has fallen off, and only a scar is left to show where -the branch should have been. The Silver Fir is a firmly-rooted tree; it -sends a long tap-shaped root, ending in two forks, deep into the soil, -so that there is little danger of the wind uprooting it during the -wintry gales. - -Now look at the leaves (2) which grow on the Silver Fir. Like those of -the Spruce, and unlike those of the Pine, they grow singly, each little -leaf standing by itself on the rough twig. Although they are placed all -round this twig, these leaves have a tendency to grow to right or left -of the twig, and look as if they had been parted down the centre and -carefully combed to each side. - -Each leaf is flat and slender, and on the upper side it is a dark -glossy green; the edges are rolled back on to the under-side of the -leaf, which is much paler in colour. The centre rib of the leaf is much -raised, and looks like a slender cord, and on each side of this cord, -between it and the curled-back leaf edge, there runs a silvery white -line; it is from this silvery line that the tree gets its name. - -Notice that the leaf twigs of the Silver Fir do not droop in the -feathery way they do in the Spruce; they are much stiffer, and stand -out all round the branch; also, there is not nearly such a marked -upward curve at the tip of the branch as you find in the Spruce Fir. -The leaves of the Silver Fir remain on the tree eight or nine years, -but each year the tree lengthens its sprays, and the young leaves are -a beautiful pale yellowish green colour, almost as pale as the young -leaves of the primrose. - -The stamen flowers (3) grow at the ends of the young sprays. They -consist of a few overlapping scales with a cluster of stamens inside. -The seed flowers or cones (4) grow on the same tree, sometimes on the -same branch, and they become cones in the same way as the seed flowers -of the Pine and the Spruce. But you will at once notice a difference. -The cones of the Silver Fir grow upright; they sit on the branches with -their tops looking up to the sky, whereas the cones of the Spruce and -the Scotch Pine when full grown hang down from the ends of the spray -with their tips pointing to the ground. If there are any cones visible -you will never mistake the Silver Fir for the Spruce. - -The ripe cones (5) are made up of many thin, soft scales which overlap -each other closely, and each scale ends in a sharp point which turns -backward; this gives the cone a hairy appearance. At first the cones -are green, like those of the Scotch Pine, but soon they turn purple, -and when quite ripe they are a rich red-brown. - -If the tree is old enough--that means if it is forty years of age--you -will find small angular seeds (6), with a long filmy wing attached, -nestling behind each scale. But if the tree is still young, the cones -are seedless. It takes eighteen months for the cone to ripen, and when -the seeds are ready and they and the red-brown scales fall from the -cone, a bare brown stick is left standing upright on the branch. - -The wood of the Silver Fir is very valuable, and it is used for many -purposes; doors and window-frames and floors are constantly made of it, -and for ship-building it is in great demand. In Switzerland there are -great forests of Silver Fir, but they grow high on the mountain sides, -where there are no roads and no means of getting the trees brought down -after they are felled. - -But at Lucerne, a town on the shores of a large lake, with great -forests on the mountains above, the people invented an excellent way of -overcoming this difficulty. - -A narrow avenue was cut in the forest among the trees, and this was -floored with trunks of Fir and Spruce. Snow and water were poured down -this avenue, which the cold air quickly froze, and the avenue became a -gigantic ice-slide eight miles long. The Fir trees were felled, and all -their branches lopped off, the bare trunks were placed on this slide, -and in six minutes they shot into the waters of the lake eight miles -below. There they floated till the wood merchant was ready for them. - -The Silver Fir tree is rich in gummy juice, which is made into -turpentine and resin. Have you ever seen necklaces of pale cloudy -beads, and of clear dark brown made of amber? People tell us this amber -is found on the shores of the Baltic Sea, and that it is just the -gummy juice which dropped long ago from some kind of Fir tree and has -hardened in a mysterious way of which we know nothing. - - - - -PLATE XXIII - -THE HOLLY - - “Below, a circling fence, its leaves are seen, wrinkled and keen. - No grazing cattle through their prickly round can reach to wound; - But as they grow where nothing is to fear, - Smooth and unarmed the pointless leaves appear.” - - --Southey. - - -The Holly (1) is our most important evergreen, and is so well known -that it scarcely needs any description. It has flourished in this -country as long as the Oak, and is often found growing under tall trees -in the crowded forests, as well as in the open glades, where lawns of -fine grass are to be found. - -[Illustration: PLATE XXIII - -THE HOLLY - - 1. Holly Tree - 2. Blunt Leaf - 3. Prickly Leaf - 4. Flower Cluster - 5. Fruit] - -People say that the Holly, or Holm tree, as it is often called, is -the greenwood tree spoken of by Shakespeare, and that under its bushy -shelter Robin Hood and his merry men held their meetings in the -open glades of Sherwood Forest. Sometimes it is called the Holy tree, -because from the oldest time of which we have any record its boughs -have been used to deck our shrines and churches, and in some parts of -England the country people in December speak of gathering Christmas, -which is the name they give to the Holly, or Holy tree. It is this -evergreen which we oftenest use at Christmas-tide to decorate our -churches, and very lovely the dark green sprays, with their coral -berries, look when twined round the grey stone pillars. - -The Holly is looked upon as a second-rate forest tree. It is never very -large, and it usually appears as a thick, tall bush, with many branches -reaching almost to the ground. Sometimes you find it with a slender, -bare trunk, clothed with pale grey bark, and if you look closely at -this bark you will see that it is covered with curious black markings, -as if some strange writing had been traced on it with a heavy black pen. - -This writing is the work of a tiny plant which makes its home on the -Holly stem and spreads in this strange way. - -The bark of the young Holly shoots and boughs is pale green and quite -smooth. - -The tree requires little sunshine, and it seems to keep all it gets, -as every leaf is highly polished and reflects the light like a mirror. -These leaves grow closely on every branch; they are placed alternately -on each side of the twigs, and are oval, with the edges so much waved -that the leaves will not lie flat, but curl on each side of the centre -rib. - -The prickly leaves (3) which grow low down on the tree have sharp -spines along the waved edges, and a very sharp spine always grows at -the point of the leaf. But the upper branches are clothed with blunt -leaves (2) which have no spines along the edges; instead there is a -pale yellow line round each leaf, and there is a single blunt spine at -the point. - -Sheep and deer are very fond of eating the tough, leathery leaves of -the Holly, and it is believed that the tree clothes its lower branches -in prickly leaves to protect itself from these greedy enemies. - -Country people tell you that if branches of smooth Holly are the first -to be brought into the house at Christmas-time, then the wife will be -head of the house all the next year, but if the prickly boughs enter -first, then the husband will be ruler. - -The Holly leaves hang on the tree several years, and after they fall -they lie a long time on the ground before the damp soaks through -their leathery skin and makes them decay. You will find Holly leaves -from which all the green part of the leaf has disappeared, leaving a -beautiful skeleton leaf of grey fibre, which is still perfect in every -vein and rib. - -The flowers (4) of the Holly bloom in May. They appear in small -crowded clusters between the leaf stalk and the twig, and each flower -is a delicate pale pink on the outside, but is pure white within. -There is a calyx cup edged with four green points, and inside this cup -stands a long white tube, with four white petals at the top. There are -four yellow-headed stamens, and a tiny seed-vessel is hidden inside -the flower tube. Sometimes all these parts will be found complete in a -single flower; sometimes there will be flowers on the same branch which -have stamens and no seed-vessel, and others which have seed-vessels and -no stamens. Perhaps you will find a whole tree on which not a single -seed flower grows. This tree may be laden with lovely white flowers -in spring, but it will bear no berries in winter. You must have both -stamen flowers and seed flowers if the tree is to produce any fruit. - -As summer passes, the seed-vessels, which have had stamen dust -scattered over them, become small green berries (5), and these berries -turn yellow and then change into a deep red, the colour of coral or -sealing-wax. The berries cluster round the green stalk, and most -beautiful they are among the glossy dark leaves. Inside each berry -there are four little fruit stones containing seeds, and the birds love -to eat these red berries, which are full of mealy pulp; but remember -that children must never eat the Holly berries, as they are poisonous -except for the birds. - -You will find that if the Holly tree has a good crop of berries this -winter there will not be many the following year; the tree seems to -require a year’s rest before it can produce a second large crop. - -There are some Holly trees with leaves which are shaded with pale -yellow or white--variegated Hollies, we call them. These are -greatly prized for planting in gardens, where the bushes with -different-coloured leaves lend much beauty when all the trees are bare -in winter. - -The wood of the Holly is too small to be of much use. It is white and -very hard, and when stained black it is largely used instead of ebony, -which is scarce and expensive. The black handles of many of our silver -teapots are made of stained Holly wood. A sticky lime, which is used -for snaring birds, is made from the young green shoots and twigs, and -the slender branches are good for making walking-sticks and coachmen’s -whips. - - - - -PLATE XXIV - -THE WILD CHERRY OR GEAN - - -There are now more than forty varieties of Cherry in Britain, and they -all are descended from the Gean or Wild Cherry tree. This favourite -tree belongs to the great Rose family, and is related to the Apple, -and Pear, and Plum. It grows freely all over Britain except in the very -north of Scotland; and we read that six hundred years ago the county of -Kent was famous for its Cherry orchards. - -[Illustration: PLATE XXIV - -THE WILD CHERRY - - 1. Wild Cherry or Gean in Autumn - 2. Flower Cluster with Leaves - 3. Fruit] - -In Germany the Cherry is planted for many miles by the roadsides, so -that all passers-by may eat the fruit and enjoy the shade cast by the -tall trees. And if there should be any particular tree whose fruit the -owner does not wish taken, he ties a wisp of straw round that tree, and -the people understand the sign and do not touch these Cherries. - -In France the Wild Cherry fruit, along with a little bread and butter, -is often the only food of the poor charcoal-burners and wood-cutters, -who stay in the forest during the cold winter months. - -Song birds, especially the blackbirds, love to eat cherries, and as we -are very grateful to the birds for eating the many grubs and insects -which destroy our fruit and corn, we must not grudge them a feast from -our Cherry trees. It is probably the birds who have carried the seeds -to the many different places where we find Cherry trees springing up. - -The Wild Cherry (1) is a tall tree with wide-spreading branches. It has -a smooth grey bark, from which you will often see oozing large drops -of clear gum. This gum is very sticky, it will not melt in cold water, -and it is very difficult to remove from your fingers. The Wild Cherry -leaves (2) appear in spring, long oval leaves ending in a point, and -with sharp teeth along the edge. These leaves are very soft, and they -droop from the twigs. At first the leaf is folded lengthways, with the -two edges meeting, and it is a dull brown colour; but this colour soon -changes in the sunshine to a soft green, and when autumn comes you find -leaves of every shade of pink and red and crimson. - -The large white Cherry blossoms (2) come almost at the same time as the -leaves, and they grow in loose clusters, in which the flowers hang from -the end of long, drooping stalks. There are always many small leaf-like -scales where these flower stalks join the twig. Each blossom has a -pear-shaped calyx at the end of the flower stalk, and this calyx is -edged with five green points. These points fold back against the stalk -after the flower is withered. - -There are five large snowy petals which make the flower clusters look -very lovely in the spring sunshine, but the petals fall very quickly -and strew the ground with their snowy flakes. - -Within the petal circle there are many slender stamens, and you can -see a long red-tipped point rising from the seed-vessel, which lies -concealed in the pear-shaped calyx which stands beneath the petals and -sepals. - -The Wild Cherry fruit (3) is black, and sometimes dark red. It is -rather sour, and the cherries we buy in the shops are usually cherries -which have been cultivated in an orchard, and have been grown in a -warmer country. - -In Cambridgeshire there is a festival called Cherry Sunday, when every -one goes to the Cherry orchard, and on paying sixpence may eat as many -cherries as he pleases. - -For some unknown reason the cuckoo has always been associated with the -Cherry tree. There is an old proverb which says, “The cuckoo never -sings till he has thrice eaten his fill of cherries”; and country -children play a delightful game in which he has a part. They join hands -and dance round a Cherry tree, singing-- - - “Cuckoo, Cherry tree, - Come down and tell to me, - How many years I have to live.” - -Then each child shakes one of the Cherry tree branches, and the number -of cherries that fall tell him how many years he will live. If five -cherries fall he has five years to live, and if twelve cherries fall he -will live twelve years, and so on. - -There is a cunning little bird called the woodpecker which very often -visits the Cherry tree. He eats the insects that live on its bark; and -you can hear his bill peck, pecking at the trunk as he picks up his -food. - -The wood of the Cherry tree is hard, yet easily worked. It is much -in demand by furniture makers, and is a rich red colour which can be -highly polished. - - - - -PLATE XXV - -THE WHITEBEAM - - -In the old Saxon language, which was once the language spoken by most -of the people in England, the word beam means a tree, so we must be -careful not to speak of the Whitebeam tree, as that would be just the -same as to say the White tree tree. - -The Whitebeam (1) is not nearly so common as the Oak, or the Ash or -Beech, and yet it has been known in this country for many hundred -years. It is found growing stiff and tall on bleak chalky pastures as -well as in beautiful parks and plantations. The trunk is covered with -a rough brown bark, and there are great deep roots which spread widely -and keep the tree firmly attached to the soil. - -[Illustration: PLATE XXV - -THE WHITEBEAM - - 1. Whitebeam - 2. Flower Cluster with Leaves - 3. Fruit Cluster with Leaves] - -It is easy to see why this tree is called the Whitebeam. Look at the -fat buds which have been on the tree all winter, making you think that -spring was close at hand. In April these buds burst open, and you -see that the young leaves inside are covered with a thick coating of -woolly down. They are the woolliest buds which grow in this country, -and the leaves (2), when they first come out, are as white as if -they had been sprinkled with flour. They are pretty leaves, broad and -oval, with large teeth cut all round the edge and with clearly-marked -veins. At first each leaf is white above as well as below, but as it -gets older the woolly down disappears from the upper side, and the leaf -becomes a dark, glossy green. But watch the tree some day when the -wind is stirring, and at every gust the dark green leaves blow upwards -and sideways, and you will see that the back of each leaf is silvery -white--the woolly lining has remained. You remember that the white -Poplar or Abele tree had leaves which were white-lined too. - -The flowers of the Whitebeam (2) resemble those of the Rowan, but they -are larger and are not so closely clustered together on their short -stalks. Each flower has five pointed green sepals standing out like -the rays of a star beneath the circle of five white petals. There is a -ring of delicate stamens with yellow heads within the petal circle, and -the seeds are concealed in the pear-shaped swelling which supports the -flower at the end of the flower stalk. There are often dark spots on -the main flower stem from which all the smaller ones branch. - -After the white petals and the stamens have fallen off, the swollen -flower stalk enlarges and becomes an oval berry (3), considerably -larger than that of the Rowan. At first the berries are covered with -white down, but soon that wears off, and you see that the berries are -smooth and are a rich red colour. They are not good to eat, these -attractive-looking berries, though people say they are pleasant when -over-ripe and ready to decay. But the birds love them, and so do -hedgehogs and squirrels. - -In France the people plant a great many Whitebeams. This is because -the small birds require the berries for food in the winter, when there -are no longer grubs and insects to be found. These grubs and insects -destroy the vines and corn when they are young and tender in early -spring, and the small birds are needed because they eat these pests, -and so save the young plants. - -The wood of the Whitebeam is not much used, though small objects, such -as wooden spoons, knife handles, and combs, are made of it. It is very -hard, and will take a high polish. - - - - -PLATE XXVI - -THE ROWAN OR MOUNTAIN ASH - - “Their spells were vain, the boy returned - To the Queen in sorrowful mood, - Crying that witches have no power - Where there is Roan tree wood.” - - --Old Song. - - -The Rowan tree is closely related to the roses, and is a cousin of the -Hawthorn, the Apple, and the Pear. It is not related in any way to -the Ash, but the leaves have some resemblance, because, like the Ash -tree leaves, they are made up of many pairs of small leaflets growing -opposite each other on each side of a centre stalk, and with an odd -leaflet at the end. But the leaflets of the Ash tree have each a stalk; -those in the Rowan have none, and in the Ash tree each large feathery -leaf is planted exactly opposite its neighbour, while in the Rowan the -leaves grow alternately. The name Mountain Ash is a mistake. - -[Illustration: PLATE XXVI - -THE ROWAN - - 1. Rowan Tree in Autumn - 2. Flower Cluster - 3. Leaves and Fruit] - -The Rowan tree (1) is seen at its best among the wild glens and -mountains of the north and west of Scotland. It requires air and light, -and will flourish in almost any kind of soil, and many are the tales -which are woven round the life of this beautiful tree. It is called the -Roan, or whispering tree, because it has secrets to tell to those who -will listen. No witches or evil spirits can cross a door over which a -branch of Rowan is nailed, and no harm will happen to him who has a -sprig of Rowan pinned to his coat. In every churchyard in Wales a Rowan -tree is planted to scare away demons who might disturb the sleep of the -dead; and on lonely farms high up on the mountain sides, the Witchin, -or Wiggin tree, as it used to be called, is placed close beside the -dwelling-house. - -The Rowan is not a large tree; it grows easily and requires no pruning, -as its branches rarely die, and the tree never loses its graceful -shape. The branches are wiry and slender, and they all point upward. -The bark is a dark purple colour and is glossy and smooth; across it -there are many curious deep gashes, as if the tree had been scored with -a knife. - -The Rowan is often planted in new coppices to shield the young trees, -but as soon as these grow up and throw out many branches, they stifle -their kind nurse, which cannot grow without plenty of light and air. - -Early in spring the Rowan buds appear, fat woolly buds covered with -grey cottony down. The young leaves (3) are carefully packed inside -among plenty of cotton wool, and very downy they look when they first -come out. Each leaflet is toothed round the edge, and is dark glossy -green above and much paler green underneath. These leaves remain on the -tree till late in autumn, then when the frost touches them with its icy -fingers they change to wonderful shades of gold and scarlet and pink, -and they fall with the October winds. - -The Rowan tree flowers (2) blossom in May, and they grow in dense -dusters, each flower at the end of a small stalk. There are many -small stalks, all about the same height, and they branch again and -again from the main stem, forming a thick cluster. The flowers are -very delightful, though they lack the snowy beauty and have none of -the delicate scent of the Hawthorn. Each Rowan flower has five green -sepals and five creamy white petals. These are placed round the end of -the flower stalk, which is slightly swollen, and inside this swelling -lies hidden the seed-vessel; you can see three sticky threads rising -from it in the centre of the ring of petals. There is a circle of -yellow-headed stamens within the petal ring. - -By the end of June the Rowan flowers have faded and the creamy petals -strew the ground. But the tree does not only depend for its beauty on -the creamy flowers or on the changing leaves. - -The swollen flower stalks have been growing all summer, and now the end -of each stalk has become a small round berry (3), and a dense cluster -of these berries hangs in a bunch from the main stem. In autumn these -berries turn a rich yellow red, and very brilliant they look among the -dark green leaves. Song birds love these Rowan berries, and so long as -any remain on the tree the blackbird and thrush will be its constant -visitors. - -When corn was scarce in the hard winters of long ago these Rowan -berries were dried and made into flour. Many people to-day make them -into jelly, which is a rich golden colour, but has rather a bitter -taste. - -The wood of the Rowan tree is very tough, and is principally used for -making poles. - - - - -PLATE XXVII - -THE HAWTHORN - - “Mark the fair blooming of the Hawthorn tree, - Who, finely clothed in a robe of white, - Fills full the wanton eye with May’s delight.” - - --Chaucer. - - -We cannot think of the Hawthorn as one of our noble forest trees, like -the Oak and the Beech; it is dear to us as a village tree, a friendly, -bushy tree which has grown in our garden, or in the fields and meadows -close to our country cottages. We remember the long sunny May days -when we gathered armfuls of its lovely blossoms, and the frosty autumn -mornings when its berries shone like rubies on the bare, wind-stripped -branches. It has always been in close touch with our lives, and it has -left many pictures graven deep in our memory. - -The Hawthorn (1), or May, or White-thorn, as it is often called from -the colour of its flowers, has been known to us since very long ago. -When the hero Ulysses came home from his weary wanderings, he found -his old father alone; all the servants had gone to the woods to get -young Hawthorn trees to make a hedge, and the old man was busy digging -trenches in which to plant them. - -[Illustration: PLATE XXVII - -THE HAWTHORN - - 1. Hawthorn Tree in Early Summer - 2. Leaves and Blossoms - 3. Fruit] - -Even in that far-off time people had discovered that nothing makes -so good a hedge as young thorn trees. They grow very quickly and -send out many side-shoots and small branches. Each branch bears sharp -thorns, and so closely do these thorny branches grow together that it -is impossible to push your hand through the hedge without being badly -scratched. Young cattle and horses love to feed on the Hawthorn leaves, -and one wonders how they can eat them without getting many scratches. - -Long after the time of Ulysses we find that bunches of flowering -Hawthorn were carried in wedding processions as an emblem of hope, and -torches made of its wood were burned. There is a strange old legend -which tells how Joseph of Arimathea landed on the island of Avalon at -Christmas-tide. He was very weary, and lay down to rest, but first he -planted his staff of Hawthorn firmly in the ground beside him. And in -the morning he found that the staff had put out roots and was covered -with Hawthorn blossoms. By this he knew it was meant that he should -stay in Avalon, and he built a monastery for himself and his brethren -and remained there till he died. - -Until not so long ago the country people in England used to hold gay -sports in the village in the month of May. A tall mast, or Maypole, -was planted in the ground, and the men and maidens decorated it with -wreaths of Hawthorn blossoms. Then they danced, and sang, and held -merry games around the Maypole in honour of summer’s return. - -In early spring the Hawthorn tree, if you find one growing singly in -a field or meadow, is most easily recognised by its bushy appearance. -The tree trunk is dark grey and very rough; often it is twisted like -a rope, but it is rarely a thick trunk, as you seldom find a large -Hawthorn. Even when very old-about two hundred and fifty years some are -said to live--the Hawthorn is always a small tree. - -In April the young leaf buds appear; pale green knobs, or little -bundles, bursting from every branch. Each leaf (2) is cut up into blunt -fingers, and soon it loses its paleness and becomes dark green and -glossy. In autumn these leaves change to gold and dark red and brown; -but the frosty nights and cold winds soon strip them from the branches. - -May is the month when the flowers (2) begin to bloom--clusters of tiny -snow-white balls, each at the end of a slender green stalk. In England -it was the custom to give a basin of cream for breakfast to the person -who first brought home a branch of Hawthorn in blossom on the first of -May. - -When the flower balls or buds unclose, you find that they have five -snow-white petals, which are set in the throat of the calyx cup. Within -this ring of petals, round the mouth of the cup, grow many slender -stamens, each with a bright pink head. And if you look at the back of -the flower, you will see five green points which stand out like the -rays of a star behind the white petals. These are the sepals. - -Below this green star the stalk looks slightly swollen: this swelling -contains the seed, and by the time autumn comes it will have grown into -a small green berry. After the white petals and the pink-headed stamens -have fallen, you will find clusters of these berries, which are called -haws, each with the withered remains of the sepals clinging to the top, -as you find them in the Rose and in the Apple. The berries (3) become -crimson when the frost comes, and birds eat them greedily. - -We have few trees which flower so beautifully as the Hawthorn. In May -and June the hedgerows are laden with its masses of snowy blossoms. -Sometimes you will find Hawthorns on which the flowers are a vivid -crimson, and these are so transparently beautiful they look as if the -light shone through them. And in autumn no tree is more attractive than -the Hawthorn, with its gleaming berries and many-coloured leaves. - -The wood of the Hawthorn is not very serviceable. It is hard and may -be highly polished, but the trees are too small for the timber to be -useful. - -The branches, like those of the Ash and the Whin, burn readily, even -when green, and in Scotland the bark was used in olden days to dye wool -black. - - - - -PLATE XXVIII - -THE BOX - - -Many of us only know Box as the name given to the small bushy plant -which is placed along the edges of our garden borders to keep the earth -from falling out on the gravel path. And we are surprised to learn that -this plant is only the Dwarf Box, and that the true Box is a tree, -a fair-sized tree, which may be seen any day in Oxford growing to a -height of over twenty feet. We must learn to recognise the Box tree, -for in the South of England there are still many districts where it -grows freely. - -It has been known in this country for hundreds of years, but its fame -has come down to us in a curious way. In old books we read that the Box -was chiefly prized as the tree which would stand more clipping than -any other. People in those days had a strange fancy for cutting trees -and bushes into quaint shapes. They had Box trees which looked like -peacocks, and Box trees shaped like beehives. There were arm-chairs, -and tubs, and even statues made of growing Box, cut and trimmed by the -gardener’s clever shears. - -[Illustration: PLATE XXVIII - -THE BOX - - 1. Box Tree - 2. Leaf Spray with Flowers - 3. Single Flower - 4. Fruit] - -The best gardener then was the one who clipped best, and a very -difficult art it was, to clip the tree into a certain shape and yet not -to kill it. Nowadays these quaint Box tree curiosities are scarcely -ever made, but a Box tree hedge is often planted, and its masses of -closely-crowded evergreen leaves afford good protection to young plants -in a windy garden. - -The Box tree (1) has a dark grey-green bark, and the young shoots are -four-sided. It grows very slowly--only a few inches each year--and -because of this the wood is very hard and fine, as fine as ebony. - -The leaves (2) are placed opposite each other, and are small and -egg-shaped, with smooth edges. Above they are dark green and very -glossy, but underneath the colour is paler. They are very poisonous -these Box leaves, and fowls are known to have died from eating them. - -The poet Wordsworth tells us that at country funerals it was usual to -have a basin filled with sprays of Box standing at the door, and every -friend who came to the funeral took a spray, which he carried to the -churchyard and laid on the new grave. Rosemary or Yew sprays were often -used in the same way. - -The flowers are very tiny; you will scarcely be able to see how they -are shaped without a magnifying-glass. They grow in crowded yellow -clusters at the foot of the leaves, where they join the stem. In each -cluster there is usually one seed flower (3) with a tiny green pea in -the centre, from which rise three curved horns. All the other flowers -will be stamen flowers, which shed plenty of pollen dust over this -single green pea. The fruit (4) is a green berry, enclosing a tiny -black seed, which you cannot see. - -Box-wood is very valuable and is scarce in this country. Most of what -we use comes from other lands. In France there is a large Box-wood -forest near the village of St. Claude, and all the people in that -village spend their days making the Box-wood into small articles, such -as forks and spoons, and rosaries and snuff-boxes, for which they get -a good deal of money. The wood is pale yellow, and may be cut into the -finest pattern without breaking. For many years Box-wood has been used -by engravers for making the blocks from which pictures and patterns are -printed; the wood is so hard that these blocks can be used many, many -times without the edges becoming worn. - -Near London there grew a famous wood called Boxhill, and when the trees -in that wood were cut down they were sold for ten thousand pounds. - - - - -PLATE XXIX - -THE WALNUT - - -The Walnut tree (1) comes to us from sunny Italy and France, where it -has grown for many centuries and is greatly prized. Its Latin name, -_Juglans_, means the nut of Jove, and the Romans called it so -because they thought the fruit was worthy to be set before their chief -god Jove. It was brought to this country about five hundred years ago, -and seems to have been grown in many districts until the beginning of -last century, when there came a great demand for its wood. As much as -six hundred pounds was given for a single Walnut tree, and at once -all the people who had Walnut trees cut them down and sold them. This -greatly reduced the number. - -[Illustration: PLATE XXIX - -THE WALNUT - - 1. Walnut Tree - 2. Leaf Spray - 3. Bud - 4. Scar - 5. Stamen Flower - 6. Seed Flowers - 7. Fruit] - -It is a large, handsome tree, which grows to a considerable height, and -has a very thick trunk covered with grey bark. This trunk is smooth -when the tree is young, but turns rugged as it grows older. The Walnut -branches are large and spreading; they are sometimes twisted, but the -tips of each branch always turn to the sky. For long it was thought to -be dangerous to sleep beneath the shade of a Walnut tree, but for what -reason I have not been able to discover. - -The leaves (2) are very handsome; each leaf is made up of several -pairs of leaflets placed opposite each other on a central stalk, with -a single leaflet at the end. When they first come out these leaflets -are dull red, but the colour soon changes to a pale olive green, and -each leaf is smooth and soft and has a delicious scent if crushed ever -so slightly. The twigs which carry these leaves are very stout, even -to the tips, but they break easily, and you will find many lying on -the ground after a windy night. The bark on these young twigs is very -smooth and glossy. - -The Walnut tree produces two kinds of flowers, which are both found on -the same tree, and one kind, the stamen flowers (5), requires a whole -year to ripen. If you look at the twigs which support the leaves you -will see several tiny cone-shaped buds (3) dotted here and there on -either side, close to the scars (4) left by last year’s leaf stalk. -These are the beginnings of next year’s stamen flowers, and they remain -like that all summer and all winter until the following spring. Then -the bud lengthens and becomes a slender, drooping catkin (5). This -catkin is covered with small flowers, each made up of five green sepals -enclosing many stamens. These stamen catkins drop from the tree when -the pollen dust is scattered. - -The Walnut seed flowers (6) are so small that they require to be looked -for carefully. They grow among the leaves at the end of the twig, and -their small seed-vessels, each with a closely-fitting calyx covering, -are ready before the leaves come out. Very soon the small seeds develop -into smooth green fruits, which continue to grow all summer, and in -July they are the size of a small plum. This fruit is a nut (7), the -famous Walnut, and at first you will not see in it any likeness to the -Walnut which we eat at dessert after cracking the pale brown shell. -But look more closely. The green fruit is a soft juicy envelope which -conceals a large nut. This green envelope turns brown when it is ripe -and splits open, showing the nut inside, a nut with a crinkled skin, -which is soft and green at first, but which becomes a hard, pale brown -shell when the fruit dries. It is the kernel of this nut which we eat -with salt as a dessert fruit. - -The Walnuts usually ripen in October, but often they are gathered in -July before the juicy green covering has turned brown, and they are -preserved in vinegar and used as a pickle. Ripe Walnuts contain a great -deal of oil, and the oil is much valued by artists, who mix it with -their paints. It is the most liquid of all the oils, and it dries very -quickly. - -If you look at your fingers after gathering Walnuts you will find that -they are stained a dark brown. The Walnut tree contains a juice which -leaves a dark stain. It is said that with this juice the gipsies dye -their skin brown; and it is also used to stain floors. - -Walnut wood is very valuable. It is light in weight and dark in colour, -with beautiful veins and streaks throughout. Much fine furniture is -made of Walnut wood, and it can be polished till it shines like satin. -To-day it is largely used in the manufacture of guns and rifles. - -You will now understand what an important tree the Walnut is, as it -yields fruit and oil and wood, which are all valuable. - - - - -PLATE XXX - -THE SWEET CHESTNUT OR SPANISH CHESTNUT - - -The Sweet Chestnut is a cousin of the Oak, and belongs with it to the -great family of cup-bearing trees, or those that bear their fruit -sitting in a cup. Like the Oak, it is a tree with a great and ancient -history, although nowadays we are apt to take little notice of this -tree, which was once well known and grew abundantly in many parts of -England. - -The largest Chestnut in the world grows in Sicily, in the great forest -which covers the slopes of Mount Etna. It is said that a Spanish Queen -was once overtaken in this forest by a tremendous storm, and that she -and a hundred soldiers and horses were all able to find shelter beneath -the wide-spreading branches of this one tree. - -In this country we have a famous big Chestnut tree in Gloucestershire -which is believed to be a thousand years old; it is written about in -old books, which tell us that this tree belonged to a certain house in -the time of King Stephen. - -[Illustration: PLATE XXX - -THE SWEET CHESTNUT - - 1. Sweet Chestnut Tree - 2. Leaf Spray with Flowers - 3. Stamen Flowers - 4. Seed Flowers - 5. Fruit in Case] - -The Sweet Chestnut (1) is a large bushy tree with beautiful leaves, -which painters love to put in the background of their pictures. The -branches are heavy and spreading, and they sweep downwards. Each branch -is thickly covered with long green leaves (2), which are so thick and -glossy that you expect them to be evergreen. Each leaf is sharply -oval, and has a stout rib running up the centre, from which straight -veins branch to the very edge of the leaf, where they each end in a -point. These points make the edge of the leaf look as if toothed. -Insects do not destroy these Chestnut leaves, and they hang on the -twigs till late in autumn, when they turn pale yellow; this yellow -deepens to gold and brown, and when winter comes they cover the ground -with a thick carpet of rustling leaves. These leaves are often gathered -to make winter bedding for the poor people, who call them “talking -beds” because they rustle and crackle so when lain on. - -Those leaves that are left on the ground greatly enrich the soil. - -The trunk of the Chestnut tree is scored up and down with many deep -ridges, and these ridges seem to bend round the tree strangely, as if -they had been twisted, like the strands of a rope, when the tree was -young and tender. - -The Chestnut flowers appear on this year’s shoots early in May or June, -and they are of two kinds, both of which grow on the same tree. The -stamen flowers (3) are in long catkin spikes, which rise stiffly among -the leaves. The centre stem of the catkin is very stout, and seated -round it are tufts of yellow-headed stamens, each enclosed in a green -calyx. These stamen heads are filled with yellow dust, which they shed -in the same way as the Pine tree stamens, in such quantities that it -lies like sulphur on any still lake or pond that may be near. - -On the same catkin spike, near the foot, grow the seed flowers (4). -These look like short, fat paint brushes with a stout green handle. -There is a cup made up of many slender green leaf-like points, and -inside this cup sit the seeds; you can see a bunch of their points -standing up like the bristles of the paint brush. When plenty of the -stamen dust has fallen on these bristles, the seed sets about getting -ready its fruit, and the stamen part of the catkin spike shrivels and -falls off; its work is done. - -But the seed grows bigger and bigger, till it looks like a round green -ball (5) covered all over with bristles. The seeds are ripening inside -this ball, two or three, sometimes five, seeds closely packed side by -side. In October the green covering splits into four pieces and the -seeds fall to the ground. Notice how beautifully this bristly covering -is lined with soft, silky down to protect the smooth skin of the nut. - -Each nut is slightly flattened at the sides where it was tightly -pressed against its neighbour, and it comes to a point at the top, -where the withered remains of the seed bristles show in a dry brown -tuft. The skin on the Chestnut is dark brown, and there is a large scar -at the foot of the nut where it was fastened to the green cup. - -In Italy, where there are miles and miles of Chestnut forests, the nuts -are gathered in sackfuls when October comes. They are then spread out -on a brick floor in a thick layer, and a fire, made of dry leaves and -sticks, is lit beneath. This fire is kept burning for ten days, and the -nuts are frequently turned with a wooden shovel. Whenever the skins -crack off quite easily the nuts are ready; the hard, cracked brown -skins are removed, and the nuts are ground into flour from which many -delicious foods are prepared. - -The fruit of the Chestnut is one of the most important tree fruits we -know. In France and Italy the people use Chestnuts as much as we do -potatoes, and many are the clever ways in which they prepare and cook -them, but the commonest way is to boil and eat the chestnuts with a -little salt. When the cook is preparing the nuts, he makes a slit in -the skin of every Chestnut except one, and when that one bursts and -cracks with a loud noise, he knows that the others are ready. - -The Chestnut fruit ripens in the South of England, but it is never so -large, nor is it so plentiful, as in the sunny South. - -The wood of the Chestnut tree is valuable. For many years people -believed that the great beams in some of our old historic buildings -were Chestnut wood, and this made them think that the trees must have -grown much larger then than they do to-day. But it is now decided -that these old beams must be made of Oak. Old Oak beams are very like -Chestnut beams, but clever people tell us that Chestnut wood is best -when it is young, as the old wood is apt to break off in little pieces, -and it would not really be a suitable wood to use in buildings where -strength was needed. - -Chestnut wood makes excellent fences and is also used for wine casks; -the hoops which go round these wine casks should be made of it, as it -does not rot in a damp cellar. Chestnut wood burns badly; it sends up a -great many sparks, and it smoulders, but will not burn brightly. - - - - -PLATE XXXI - -THE HORSE CHESTNUT - - -The Horse Chestnut is not related in any way to the Sweet Chestnut; -there is no resemblance between them except the appearance of their -nuts, and even in these there are many points of difference. It is -said that the name Horse Chestnut was given because the nuts of this -tree were only fit for horses to eat, whereas the Sweet Chestnuts are -valuable as a food for human beings. Even horses will not eat the nuts -of the Horse Chestnut tree. You must not forget that if the Chestnut -is spoken of without an adjective, it is the sweet Spanish Chestnut -that has the right to the name, and is by far the more valuable tree. - -[Illustration: PLATE XXXI - -THE HORSE CHESTNUT - - 1. Horse Chestnut Tree in Autumn - 2. Young Leaf - 3. Full-grown Leaf - 4. Sticky Bud in Leaf Scar - 5. Flower Spike - 6. Single Flower - 7. Fruit in Case] - -The Horse Chestnut (1) was brought to this country five hundred years -ago, and we prize it greatly for its beautiful flowers and leaves. It -has a large, stout trunk, covered with a rough, scaly bark, on which -you will frequently notice many green patches caused by a tiny plant -which makes its home there. - -The branches are large and spreading, and they sweep downwards to the -ground, then rise again towards the tips, forming graceful curves. The -shoots bearing the buds always point towards the sky, and in spring -these shoots grow very fast for about a month, then they do not become -any larger, but the shoot thickens and is soon tough and woody. - -All winter the Horse Chestnut buds can be seen on the tree--large, -dark, purply brown buds (4) covered with a thick coating of sticky gum. -In April these buds begin to swell and the gummy covering melts. It -held together twelve dark brown scales, and these fall to the ground, -showing an under layer of paler scales. The growing bud inside soon -pushes itself through these scales, and the young leaf appears, a -delicate, pale green bud, with its leaves closely folded like a fan. -They open very quickly in the warm sunshine, but for some days after -they have shaken themselves loose from the scaly coverings each leaf -(2) hangs on its stalk like a half-opened parasol, with all its tips -pointing to the ground. But soon the leaf tips rise, and the parasol is -fully opened and a beautiful leafy screen it is. - -The leaf (3) is cut up into seven leaflets, and every leaflet is shaped -like a pear, with the broad part pointing outwards and the narrow end -joining the leaf stalk. These pear-shaped leaflets are not all the same -size; there are two which are quite small and two a little larger, and -the other three are larger still. The leaflets have small teeth round -their edges, and there is a raised rib running up the centre, from -which branches a network of fine veins all over the leaflet. - -The Horse Chestnut leaves grow opposite each other in pairs, and each -pair is placed cross-ways to the pair farther down on the branch, in -the same way as those of the Sycamore. In July the leaves begin to -change colour; they turn red and brown, and they fall very early in -autumn. Look closely at the twigs and you will see on them many curious -marks shaped like horse-shoes; these are the scars (4) where a leaf -stalk joined the twig, and above each of these scars you can see next -year’s leaf bud already distinctly formed. - -In May the Horse Chestnut is in flower (5), and a wonderful sight it -is; the tree is laden with snowy spikes, which look like great candles -set on a bushy Christmas tree. A giant’s nosegay, it is sometimes -called by the country people, this great tree, with its wealth of -fan-shaped leaves and these stiff snow-white spikes rising from every -branch. - -The lowest flowers (6) in each spike open first, and they are called by -botanists perfect flowers, because each one has all its parts complete. -They have a green bell-shaped calyx with five divisions round the -mouth. Within this calyx are five separate white petals, one of which -is much larger than the others, and these petals have many hairs on -them and are splashed with crimson and yellow stains. - -In the throat of this flower there are seven stamens with curved stalks -and pale salmon-coloured heads, and among these you can see a slender -curved green thread rising from the seed-vessel, which lies hidden in -the centre of the flower. - -The upper flowers on the spike have no seed-vessel, and they fall off -as soon as their stamen dust is scattered. The spike may bear thirty or -forty flowers, yet only a few will remain to produce seeds after the -beautiful petals are withered. - -When this has happened the seed-vessel grows larger and larger till it -becomes a rough, horny green ball (7) studded with short spines. It is -not bristly all over like the Sweet Chestnut fruit ball, but is hard -and smooth, and its spines are thick and clumsy, with a wide space -between each. If you open one of these balls before the fruit is ripe, -you will find a nut inside, which is white and polished like a piece of -ivory and which fits the covering closely. But if you leave the fruit -to ripen on the tree, then the green ball splits into three pieces, and -you see that the nut (7) inside has shrunk a little and has become a -rich, dark brown. It is so glossy that it looks as if it had just been -oiled, and it is almost round. - -There is a white scar at the foot of the nut, where it was fastened to -the inside of the green ball. - -In the Sweet Chestnut, you remember, there were always two or three -nuts inside each bristly ball, and these nuts were dull, and not glossy -like those of the Horse Chestnut. - -Although horses will not eat this fruit, deer and cattle and sheep all -like it. In this country the nuts are usually left to rot on the ground -where they fall. After they decay these nuts may be pounded and made -into a kind of soap; they contain a juice which is said to be good for -cleansing. - -The Horse Chestnut is a very fast-growing tree. In fourteen years a -tree grown from a nut will be large enough to sit under, and the wood, -on this account, is less hard and lasting than woods that have taken -longer to grow. It is used for cabinet-making and for flooring. - -[Illustration: PLATE XXXII - -THE CEDAR - - 1. Cedar Tree - 2. Leaf Spray - 3. Stamen Flower - 4. Seed Flower - 5. Closed Cone and Open Cone] - -The tree does not produce any fruit till it is twenty years old, but -after that it will bear nuts yearly till it is two hundred. - -There is a variety of Horse Chestnut with pink flowers, which has not -been so long known as the white-flowered tree. - - - - -PLATE XXXII - -THE CEDAR OF LEBANON - - -In the Old Testament we read that when Solomon was building the temple -he sent to Hiram, King of Tyre, for stores of goodly Cedar wood from -the forests of Lebanon. And Hiram sent the wood by sea in floats, or -rafts, as much Cedar and timber of Fir as King Solomon wanted. This was -used to cover the stonework of the temple, within and without. - -There is a delightful fragrance in these planks of Cedar wood which is -said to come from the sap or resin with which the tree abounds. Cedar -oil is made from this resin, and it was long in use as a safeguard -against the attacks of insects, which dislike the smell. - -The Cedar (1), as we see it in this country, rarely rises to the -dignity of a large tree; it is most familiar to us as a stunted, bushy -tree with a thick, short trunk divided into more than one main stem. -Short branches rise from these stems, and at first these point upwards -to the sky, but after the branch has grown some length it bends -backward and stands straight out from the tree. From a distance the -tree looks as if the branches grew in layers, or shelves, with a clear -space between each shelf. You will always recognise a Cedar by these -layers of branches densely covered with gloomy green leaves. It is -said that in countries where much snow falls the Cedar branches always -remain upright, because the tree knows that it could not carry the -great weight of snow that would gather on its leafy shelves if they -grew flat as in warmer lands. - -The Cedar is frequently found growing in churchyards, beside the Yew -tree, and a dark, gloomy tree it is. The trunk is covered with a thick -rough bark of a pale greenish brown colour, but on the branches this -bark is thin and flaky. The Cedar grows very slowly. The tree may be a -hundred years old before it produces any seeds, though you sometimes -find seedless cones on Cedars that are twenty-five to thirty years old. - -The leaves (2) are evergreen, and usually remain on the twigs for -four or five years. They grow in tufts, like those of the Larch, on -the upper side of the twig; but each leaf is needle-shaped, as in the -Scotch Pine, and is much harder than the soft Larch leaves. In colour -they are a dark bluey green. - -The Cedar has two kinds of flowers. Those that bear the stamens (3) -appear at the end of short, stunted little twigs which have taken many -years to grow. The stamens are in slender catkins, about two inches -long, and are a pale reddish yellow colour. - -The seed flowers (4) grow in cones, and the Cedar of Lebanon has very -curious cones. They grow in pairs, and are like fat green eggs, sitting -upright on the branch, with the blunt end uppermost. These cones look -quite solid, because the scales are so tightly pressed together. You -can scarcely see where one begins and the other ends. It takes two -or three years before these scales unclose, and during that time the -cones (5) become a rich, dark purple. When the scales unclose, the -three-cornered seeds are blown out by the wind, and each seed is -furnished with a wing to float it away on the air. The Cedar cones -remain on the tree several years after all their seeds have fallen. - -The timber of the Cedars grown in this country is of little value; the -tree is usually planted for ornament. But in warmer lands, where there -are large forests of mighty Cedar trees, the wood is sold for a great -deal of money. - - -PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN. - - - - -TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES: - - - Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_. - - Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. - - Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TREES *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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