THE WOODS. 131 



hard and is diffuse-porous, and the bark is quite thin. 

 The sweet gum and hackberry, on the other hand, 

 although of entirely different families, yet have a 

 crinkled, alligator-like bark which at times is not at 

 all unlike. Elsewhere in the forests I have noticed, 

 too, that the bark of the balsam and young white pine 

 is similar, and that of the red and white cedar, that of 

 the tamarack and red spruce, and that of the shad bush 

 and young red maple, or of the hard maple saplings 

 and mature mountain maples. 



All these can be distinguished as separate varieties. 

 I am speaking only of their general exterior to one first 

 observing them in the woods. The bark of the trees 

 in these chance resemblances is a most interesting and 

 delightful study, as are the leaves; for these singular 

 similarities in appearance exist also frequently with the 

 leaves of trees. I used to consider the basswood the 

 male mulberry, so alike seemed their leaves; and the 

 sycamore and tulip tree at a distance have foliage not 

 at all dissimilar, which is true also of the papaw and 

 magnolia. The trees thus superficially are sometimes 

 very much alike; and yet each species preserves intact 

 its own little points of identity, and retains forever 

 inviolate its own uniqueness among the trees. 



The bark of the trees is most pronounced in color 

 and appearance in early spring, when the sap seems 

 almost to show through it, even through the rough 

 outside flakes. In summer the real character of the 

 bark is somewhat obscured by the shade and the foli- 

 age. In autumn the bark "sets," as woodmen say; that 

 is, the growth of the tree having been practically com- 

 pleted for the year, the bark hardens and grows close 



