942 



Rural School Leaflet 



where it grows ■ 



TREES 



Alice G. McCloskey 



T is surprising how many persons in the world 

 have lived among a number of different kinds of 

 trees all their lives and yet scarcely know one from 

 another. There is no better way to train the mind 

 than to become a good observer. To study the 

 trees in your neighborhood will help to train your 

 mind for many other lines of work. We are hoping that 

 every boy and girl in rural districts this year will be 

 able to give the names of at least twenty-five trees in the 

 vicinity of the school. If you come across a tree that no 

 one can name for you, let us have a small piece of one 

 of the branches, if possible with a leaf or two. If you 

 want to know the name before the leaves come out, 

 we shall probably be able to identify it from a twig. 

 With the specimen that you send, be sure to give a 

 description of the shape and size of the tree and tell us 

 -in wood, orchard, or along the wayside. 

 Some people become familiar with trees without observing closely all 

 the parts. The writer knows an old woodman who in one day named 

 more than fifty trees by merely looking at the bark; he did not seem to 

 notice the leaves at all. Years ago this man had been sent to cut lumber 

 in the forest and had become familiar with the different trees that were 

 needed. It is a good thing, however, to know the trees by the leaves, 

 by the blossoms, and by the habit of growth, as 

 well as by the kind of bark. 



The special tree for study in New York State 

 this year is the locust. This is a valuable tree 

 because the wood is tough and strong and does 

 not decay easily. From the locust tree railroad 

 ties and posts are made, and it is used for other 

 purposes for which a strong, tough, durable wood 

 is needed. 



The locust tree belongs to the same family as do 

 peas and beans. This will seem strange to you 

 until you think of the pods that you find on the Leaf and fruit of common 

 locust tree. You will remember then that peas 



and beans also have pods, and you can see at least this one reason why 

 peas, beans, and locust trees are classed in the same family. 



