Teacher's Leaflet. 



1215 



and to attempt to do so makes a torn and 

 jagged wound into which fungus spores 

 might enter to the great injury of the tree. 



Observations by Pupils: 



(i). Did the tree which you observed 

 grow freely in an open space or among 

 other trees in a forest? 



(2). Describe the appearance of the trunk. 



(3). Is the bark of the smaller branches 

 and twigs darker or lighter than that of 

 the trunk? 



(4). What color are the winter buds? 

 Are they large or small ? Round or pointed ? 

 Smooth or gummy? 



(5). Pull a strip of the fresh bark, about 

 a quarter of an inch wide or less, from a 

 small branch and try with all your might 

 to break it. What do you think of its 

 strength as rope or cordage? 



(6) . What color is the wood of the branch ? 

 Is its grain fine or coarse? Is it easy or 

 hard to break or to cut with knife or saw? 



(7). Do you know of any articles of 



Basswood seedling showing the 

 odd shape of the seed leaves 



manufacture for which basswood is especially serviceable? 



Facts for Teachers. — The basswood, growing freely in open space, is a graceful 

 tree, with a compact, symmetrical, and broadly oval head. In a forest it lifts a 

 straight and slender trunk far into the air, reaching above its neighbors for the 

 sunlight necessary to its life. The bark of the trunk is a dark brownish gray, 

 smooth in young trees but in old ones broken into firm vertical ridges, flattened 

 on the top and with narrow furrows between. Old trees are likely to be black- 

 ened and moss-grown on trunk and lower branches. In a forest, however, there, 

 are no branches which are very low, the slim, straight, cylindrical, scarcely taper- 

 ing trunk being sixty or more feet without knot or branch between root and crown. 



The winter buds are small, smooth, plump, pointed, dark-red cones, contrast- 

 ing sharply with the dark twigs and stems which are, in the season's growth, 

 greenish brown or reddish brown, dotted with rough brown breathing pores 

 or lenticels; older twigs and branches are very dark gray. The Linden endures 

 well the severest pruning, the thick inner bark covering and rapidly healing all 

 wounds, if they are smoothly cut; therefore young trees may be trained into 

 almost any desired shape. 



Manifold are the uses to which the tree is put. Its fagots make the best of 

 charcoal. Its leaves, both fresh and dry, are good fodder for cattle. Its flowers 

 yield the finest honey and are used by distillers of perfumes; also they have been 



