How To Tell the Age of Trees 



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TO TELL the 

 age of trees is 

 always fasci- 

 nating. The best test 

 is to count the annual 

 rings on a cross-sec- 

 tion of the stem near 

 the ground and add 

 to this number as 

 many years as it took 

 the tree to grow to 

 that height (see the 

 two lower series 

 of drawings in the 

 plate). 



A second test ap- 

 plies to such species 

 as white pine, which 

 develops lateral 

 branches in distinct 

 and rather regular 

 whorls (see white 

 pine in illustration). 

 Each whorl normally 

 represents a year's 

 growth. If the 

 branches have fallen 

 off, the scars of the 

 branches may be 

 seen on the stem. 



The age of young 

 trees or small 

 branches can also be 

 detemiined by cotnit- 

 ing the rings of 

 terminal bud-scale 

 scars (see upper left 

 hand figure). The 

 portion of the 

 branchlet, from the 

 end down to the first 

 ring of bud-scale 

 scars, represents the 

 last season's growth, while that between the first and 

 second rings represents the next to the last season's 

 growth, and so on. 



After you have been successful in determining the age 

 of a few trees you may find yourself questioning the age 

 of others as you walk or drive by them. A careful study 

 of their growth will often indicate the successes and 



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From Pennsylvania Trees. 



GffOWT/i Of failures which they 

 met during their 

 development, since a 

 relatively narrow 

 ring often indicates 

 a struggle, while a 

 wide ring often 

 indicates favorable 

 growth conditions. 



Some trees reach 

 great size and 

 enormous age, while 

 others remain small 

 and die yovmg. The 

 size and age which 

 a tree attains depend 

 upon the inherent 

 tendency of 

 the species and the 

 factors of its en- 

 vironment. Some 

 species which nat- 

 tirally grow tall and 

 become old may re- 

 main small under 

 unnatural and un- 

 favorable growth 

 conditions. Other 

 species never be- 

 come large and old 

 under the most fav- 

 orable growth con- 

 ditions, since it is 

 inborn in them to 

 remain small. 



A definite age 

 limit cannot be fixed 

 for each species, but 

 for general con- 

 venience we may 

 classify the com- 

 mon trees as long- 

 or short-lived. 

 Of the trees in the Eastern states, the oaks, chest- 

 nut, buttonwood, tulip, white pine and hemlock may 

 be considered as long-lived trees, while the poplars, 

 willows, birches and some cherries are short-lived. 



Most of the native v\'estern trees, particularly the 

 sequoia, Douglas fir, sugar pine, and cedar, are 

 long-lived. 



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554 



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