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FM YOUNG FOLKS 



V EDITED BY j 



, Edward FBrGEuow / 



W>HFHT YOU WPiHT 

 TO KFNOW. 



^ch , Conn. 



A Peculiar Tree Growth. 



BY H. W. WEISGERBER, SALEM^ OHIO. 



There is not much to this picture and 

 what there is is rather poorly taken, 

 but it could not have been conveniently 

 done otherwise. Nor does the pictured 

 subject tell much. But after studying 

 the tree in detail I found enough inter- 

 esting material for this little sketch. 



The tree is a soft maple, and in a 



WHY 1)11) THE TRKI-: CROW IX THIS FORM :^ 



moderately wet season stands on wet 

 or spongy ground. Hence this story. 

 Originally it was a large tree, for even 

 now the old "half shell" that remains 

 measures fully eighteen inches across 

 and is about fifteen feet in length. 

 How long since the tree was blown 



over or the top broke ofif I am unable 

 to say. But these facts are apparent, 

 although the broke off top long ago 

 returned to the earth as dust, and like- 

 wise all the trunk except the shell of 

 bark with a thin layer of rotten wood. 

 Either the tree had three small bran- 

 ches before its top was broken or else 

 they developed afterward ; in any event, 

 the three growing limbs must have 

 been too much for the weak hulk and 

 in time the wind broke the old trunk 

 just at the surface of the ground. The 

 two branches shown grew upward, 

 while the third remained on the ground 

 and developed into a root system for 

 the new top growth. The twigs of the 

 lower branch that reached above 

 ground long since rotted away, but 

 there remained one of the roots that 

 has succeeded in keeping alive the old 

 shell of the former trunk. Another 

 peculiarity is that just within the 

 crotch of the limbs a root system de- 

 veloped that may have had its start 

 in the rotton wood of the old trunk, 

 but now the roots and rootlets are en- 

 tirely in the open. But this is not all, 

 for the most interesting thing about 

 the whole tree is the fact that there de- 

 veloped on the upper side of the limb 

 that forms the root system a perfect 

 specimen of natural bridge graft that 

 measures about two inches in diameter 

 by two feet in length, but too small to 

 show in the picture. It is unsupported 

 from end to end. How it was formed 

 and how it was able to make so long a 

 "jump" is, of course, a mystery. 



The trunks of the two young trees 

 plainly show the bending process that 

 they underwent in reaching a vertical 

 position. The whole shows to what 

 extent nature will often go to overcome 

 an injury. 



