HOME NATURE-STUDY COURSE. 



TREE STUDY IN WINTER. 



It would seem snobbish, to say the least, if we were to recognize 

 our friends and acquaintances only when they were dressed in their 

 best clothes. Y^et many of us rejoice in the spreading branches of 

 a tree when covered with leaves, and pass by indifferent when those 

 same branches are displayed in all their grace and beauty of spray 

 shorn of their summer glory. By some the only trees recognized in 

 winter are the evergreens. However, to the true lover of trees 

 they are quite as beautiful and interesting in winter as in sunmier 

 or autumn, and the characteristics which distinguish them are quite 

 as noticeable. 



The country boy who early learns the treasures of the wood-lot 

 recognizes the different species of trees more readily in winter than 

 in summer. It might be difficult for him to say just why he is able 

 to call a tree by name the moment he sees it; he just "naturally 

 knows " what it is. His trained eye takes in at a glance, the general 

 shape of bole and branches, the angle of the branches to the trunk, 

 the coarseness or fineness of the twigs or spray, and, above all, he 

 looks at the bark. Thus it must be with every one who learns to 

 know trees in their winter guise. It is not a knowledge that one 

 can gain from books or from the exj^erience of others; it nmst be 

 gained at first hand or not at all. 



HOW TO LEARN TO DISTINGUISH TREES IN WINTER. 



First begin with the trees that grow along the roadsides and in 

 the fields; select the ones you know; then take those you do not know, 

 one at a time ; ask the name of any farmer, become perfectly familiar 

 with every detail of its appearance and select others that seem like it. 

 If you are clever at drawing, or even if you are not, try to draw it 

 as a help to observation. Study it according to the following out- 

 line: 



(a) General shape of whole tree. 



(b) Height of bole as compared mth height of tree. 



(c) Is the bole slender or stockj^? Does it continue straight up 

 or divide into great branches? 



(d) What sort of bark has it, rough or smooth? If rough, are the 

 ridges or sutures far apart or close together? Do they intersect 



25 



