may be quite as interesting to us then as at any other season of the 

 year. The reason why they usually are not, however, is because we 

 have been associated with them only during their season of growth. 

 We have observed them leafing out in the spring. We have noted 

 their form and shape. Perhaps we have gathered their leaves or flow- 

 ers, or plucked their fruit, or maybe we have enjoyed their hospitable 

 shade. All these things have widened our interest in the summer life 

 of trees. Then we learned to recognize them chiefly by some charac- 

 teristic of shape, or of foliage, or maybe of bark. We may learn to 

 recognize the trees just as accurately in winter as in summer for 

 the unmistakable marks of indentification are there. Even though 



Slippery or Red Elm 



The American or White Elm 



the foliage is gone, the shape remains, and the frame-work is distinct 

 and conspicuous. The method of branching can be plainly observed, 

 and the bark not only on the trunk, but on the limbs as well, is in 

 plain view. 



Look at the tree as it prints its outline against the sky. After 

 looking at several kinds of trees, it is apparent that they differ in meth- 

 ods of branching. Some have the trunk continuing almost to the 

 top. Others divide into a few main branches. Some have limbs that 

 .are straight; others, long and sweeping. In looking at any one par- 

 ticular tree, we note first, perhaps, its height, then the size and shape 

 of the top, then the number of branches, how they are arranged on 

 the trunk, their direction with reference to the trunk, whether they are 

 set almost at right angles, obliquely, or extend almost parallel with it, 

 and lastly, whether the twigs are few or many, crooked or straight. 

 After observing these points in any one tree, compare one kind of a 

 tree with another. Note how they agree or differ. Observe for in- 



