THE OLD PEAR-TREE 39 



those things. And the other trees, oak, beech, chest- 

 nut, do they do the same!" 



" Absolutely the same. In our country every tree 

 counts one year for each layer. Count its layers 

 and you have its age. ' ' 



"Oh! how sorry I am I did not know that the 

 other day/' put in Emile, "when they cut down the 

 big beech which was in the way on the edge of the 

 road. Oh, my! What a fine tree! It covered a 

 whole field with its branches. It must have been 

 very old. ' ' 



"Not very," said Uncle Paul. "I counted its lay- 

 ers ; it had one hundred and seventy. ' ' 



"One hundred and seventy, Uncle Paul! Honest 

 and truly?" 



"Honest and truly, my little friend, one hundred 

 and seventy." 



1 1 Then the beech was a hundred and seventy years 

 old, ' ' said Jules. "Is it possible ? A tree to grow 

 so old! And no doubt it would have lived many 

 years longer if the road-mender had not had it cut 

 down to widen the road." 



"For us, a hundred and seventy years would cer- 

 tainly be a great age," assented his uncle; "no one 

 lives so long. For a tree it is very little. Let us 

 sit down in the shade. I have more to tell you about 

 the age of trees." 



