AN INTERESTING AND HARMLESS COLLECTING FIELD 95 



An Interesting and Harmless Collect- 

 ing Field. 

 BY EDWARD F. BIGELOW. 



(From "Tree Talk," Stamford, Connecticut.) 



When I advise the collecting of 



woods, I am commending a practice 

 that 1 have pursued more or less dur- 

 ing all my life. My earliest remem- 

 brances of collecting arc that I cut 

 with a new jackknife numerous pieces 

 of wood. I cannot truthfully say that 

 1 was much interested in them from 

 the naturalist's point of view ; I do 

 not know that I carefully studied the 

 structure of the bark and the wood. 

 What I really wanted to do was to 

 show examples of good whittling with 

 a new jackknife, and the variety ot 

 specimens within my reach appealed 

 to me. But when 1 unconsciously and 

 perhaps unintentionally made a col- 

 lection of woods of various kinds — 

 birch, alder, chestnut, hickory, and 

 other kinds— I was laying a pretty 

 good foundation for a later and more 

 detailed interest in all our native 

 woods. In fact, I am not sure but 

 that that is one of the best ways in 

 which to begin any study of nature. 

 First do something, then see some- 

 thing, then sav something. I am 



relation to nature. Some one has said 

 that there is a charm in seeing some- 

 thing that nobody has ever seen. Such 

 special exclusive observing may easily 

 be done by any one who will cut into 

 wood. As the shavings fly and you 

 bring your unaided eyes or perhaps 

 a pocket microscope to bear upon the 

 freshly cut surface, you are literally 

 looking into something that nobody 

 but old Mother Nature has ever seen 

 before. It is a discovery for you in 

 an unknown field, a peep for you into 

 wonderland. 



I especially advise the boys who 

 would like to begin such a collection 

 to get lengths of wood about an inch 

 in diameter, with one end carefully cut 

 square across. Slant the other end at 

 forty-five degrees — that is, half a 

 square. Shave the side of the wood 

 in these pieces straight across and we 

 shall obtain what is known as the 

 transverse section ; in the slanting we 

 shall have the tangential ; in the 

 lengthwise the radial. This will show 

 the wood as in the accompanying il- 

 lustrations, in every possible manner, 

 with the exeception of what the lum- 

 bermen call quarter-sawed — that is, 

 from the heart out toward the bark, to 



TRANSVERSE SECTION, ACROSS THE GRAIN. 



aware that nowadays we occasionally 

 find naturalists who reverse this pro- 

 cess. They say something regarding 

 what they have never seen or done, 

 and frequently the seeing is done 

 through the eyes of other people. Rus- 

 kin says : "Hundreds of people can 

 talk for one who can think, but thou- 

 sands can think for one who can see. 

 To see clearly is poetry, prophesy and 

 religion — all in one." 



It is a good thing to have an original 



show the medullary rays. These rays 

 in some of the woods known to the 

 lumbermen as quarter-grained, are ex- 

 tremelv interesting and add much to 

 the beauty and luster. This is notable 

 in such woods as oak, sycamore, etc. 

 The accompanying illustrations are 

 taken from sections made by Romeyn 

 B. Plough, of Lowville, N. Y. He has 

 accomplished an untold amount of 

 good by interesting people in our na- 

 tive WGods, He is continuing the 



