FORESTRY . 343 



worth while to plant them. 1 To find out what kinds 

 of trees are best adapted to different conditions is also 

 worth while. There should be trees around every home } 

 and along every street and road. 



STUDY OF WOOD 



The study of wood is also very interesting. Look 

 at the boards in the woodwork of a room. Which way 

 does the grain run? This will tell you how the board 

 stood in the tree. When the saw goes through the 

 center of the tree, we get a board with straight grain. 

 Otherwise we get a board with curved grain. Such a 

 board is handsome when smooth, but very apt to 

 splinter. 



The place where a branch or root joins the trunk is 

 called the crotch. At such places we find a peculiar 

 sort of grain, as shown in figure 180. Saw open a crotch 

 or stump, and smooth the surface with a plane or chisel. 

 Notice that the part of the grain which is dotted in the 

 figure is end wood (that is, the grain is cut across in- 

 stead of lengthwise). For this reason, and also because 

 the grain is often bent or twisted, crotch and stump 

 wood is beautifully figured and is highly prized by cabi- 

 net makers. It is often used as veneer. 



1 Those who have difficulty in getting tree seeds or in making 

 them grow should write to the Monterey Tree-growing Club, Mon- 

 terey, Cal., for free seeds and information. 



