HOW A TREE GRCT 3 315 



HOW A TREE GROWS 

 FRED BERXIXGHAUSF-X 



Profe?sor Ebermeier of Munich. Germany says: "When the 

 leaves take carbonic acid from the air they break it up and 

 force its carbon into new chemical compounds which are then 

 stored away as new material in the tree. The forest is the most 

 highly organized portion of the vegetable kingdom.*" 



Xo man can really know the forest without feeling the gentle 

 influence of one of the kindest and strongest parts of nature. 

 It is the most helpful friend of man. 



There is no other natural agent which has done so much for 

 the human race. Its influence upon streams alone makes farm- 

 ing possible. It supplies fuel, one of the fh si ssaries : 

 life, and lumber, the raw material without which railroads and 

 all the great achievements of material progress would have 

 either been long delayed or wholly impossible. 



The forest is as beautiful as it is useful. A tree is a woody 

 plant growing up from the ground. It consists of three parts : 

 First, the roots which take up water from the soil and some 

 mineral substance which the tree needs in its growth ; second, 

 the trunk, stem or bole which supports the crown itself with its 

 network of branches, buds, and leaves, in which all the food 

 taken up by the tree from the soil and air is worked over and 

 made ready to assist in the growth of the whole tree. The 

 crown has more to do with the life of the tree than any other 

 part. The most important process is the reproduction of the 

 tree and the digestion of the food, which takes place in the 

 crown. The material upon which the tree feeds is derived from 

 the soil and the air. The minute root hairs take up water from 

 the ground and with it substances which it holds in solution. 

 These are the earthy contents of the tree which appear in the 

 form of ashes when any part is burned. The water which con- 

 tains these materials goes straight from the roots to the leaves, 

 in which the most important process in the feeding of the tree 

 lakes place. This process is assimilation or taking up and 

 breaking up by the leaves of carbonic gas from the air. It goes 

 on only in the presence of light and heat and through the ac- 

 tion of chlorophyl. a substance through which the leaves and 

 the bark get their green color. Plants or trees containing 

 chlorophyl are the chief means by which the mineral materials 

 are changed into food so that nearly all plant and animal life 



