156 STATE HORTICULTUKAL SOCIETY. 



rels, and other aninisls. If a Imiulredth part of the walnuts and acorns and 

 liickory nuts of a single orood crop were to gcnninaLc and become trees, they 

 would crowd eacii other and most of them perish for want of light, room, and 

 nourishment. 



The squirrels cat many, but carry a portion to some distance in every direc- 

 tion, where they plant one or two in a jilace. It may be the thought of the 

 squirrel — 1 cannot read all his thoughts — to return at some futnie tin)e of 

 need, but his bump of locality is not well developed or he has laid up 

 more than he needed. At all events some of the nuts are allowed to remain 

 where he jilanted them. In this way, he is a benefit to the trees and pays for 

 the nuts which he eats. He has not lived in vain for he is a tree planter and 

 believes in arboriculture. His arbor days come in autumn, and he needs no 

 gubernatorial message to stimulate him to work. 



Many of our trees and shrubs produce a fleshy fruit or berry. Among them 

 arc the mountain ash, service berry, hawthorn, cherry, holly, viburnum, 

 pepperidge, hackberry, mulberry, sassafras, wild plum, wild crab apple, 

 persimmon, paw paw, cedars, and junipers. 



Many of these fruits when ripe arc rendered conspicuous by brilliant colors. 

 The fruits are eagerly sought by grouse, turkeys, deer, bear, or other animals. 

 In most cases the seeds are protected by a very firm covering and are not 

 digestible. They are sown broadcast by wild animals under circumstances 

 most favorable for germination. The birds, too, belong to the society of tree 

 planters. Deer and bear are rapidly retiring from the frontier, and happy 

 will it be if the pioneer who succeeds them is also a good tree planter. 



Other trees produce dry seeds or seed-pods, and usually drop only a portion 

 in autumn. They hold on to a portion with considerable tenacity. Among 

 these are the buLtonwood, basswood, ironwood, blue beech, box-elder, hop- 

 tree, tulip tree, the ashes, catalpa, locust, Judas tree, birches, alders, larches, 

 pines, and spruces. The fruit or the seed is thin, or provided with wings, 

 which distribute the seeds as they fall, or after they have fallen. 



An ex-president of our State Agricultural Society, an off-ox, tried to con- 

 vince me that these wings on the seeds or fruit were a failure and did not 

 amount to much. He took some seeds of the tulip tree to the top of a house 

 in a high wind and let them go. They only drifted a few feet out of the per- 

 pendicular direction. Had he looked farther and thoroughly investigated the 

 subject he would have seen that some of these seeds are tumbled along with 

 the dry leaves on the ground. Every once in a while a seed finds a secure 

 lodgment in a hollow, while others go on. In winter we often have a crust 

 on the snow stout enough to bear up these dry seeds and fruits. At such 

 times some of them are torn from the trees by the wind, and may be seen 

 sliding along like nnniature ice-boats. I have seen them a fourth of a mile 

 from the nearest ti'ce and still they were moving onward. 



Tlie seed-like fruits of elms fall early in spring. The wings around the 

 margin are not long, but the fruit readily finds its way for ten rods or more 

 over plowed ground, even where the force of the wind is checked by young 

 trees. I scarcely need mention the fact that the seeds of poplars and willows 

 are often carried for long distances by the wind. 



Having seen how the ripened seeds of trees are distributed, and some of 

 thetn planted by the wind, by birds, squirrels, and other animals, let us pro- 

 ceed to examine some of these more closely to learn their structure and mode 

 of growth. There are some things peculiar and of especial interest in each 

 kind of tree. 



