524 Our Surroundings 



The conifers, or cone4)earing trees, are readily recognized by 

 their evergreen appearance and their cone-bearing habit. The 

 sycamore is known by the mottled appearance of its bark, and the 

 horse-chestnut by the horseshoe markings on the twigs. Trees 

 such as the oak, ash, chestnut, catalpa, beech, locust, and walnut 

 may be readily recognized in the autumn by their fruits. By prac- 

 tice one soon becomes acquainted with our common trees through 

 their general appearance without stopping to think of individual 

 characteristics. 



Arbor Day. Nearly every state in the Union has set aside a 

 day on which the school children are especially encouraged to 

 interest themselves in the planting of trees. It has become an 

 annual custom for schools, especially in the rural districts, to 

 observe a day of this kind by appropriate exercises followed by 

 the planting of a tree. The object of Arbor Day celebration is 

 to interest the coming generation in the importance of the con- 

 servation of tree life. 



Precautions in Transplanting a Tree. Everyone should 

 know how to plant a tree in a proper manner so that it will live. 

 In removing a tree for transplanting, great care should be taken 

 not to break the root hairs. It is by means of these that the 

 tree secures its food in solution from the soil. Removal neces- 

 sarily causes the tree to lose its hold temporarily on the soil and 

 thus reduces its power of absorbing water. 



A wise gardener cuts off, or prunes, part of the top growth 

 of a tree he transplants. By so doing he prevents too much 

 evaporation of moisture from the leaves. Because their relation 

 to the soil has been more or less disturbed, the root hairs are not 

 able to supply water as fast as it is passed off by transpiration 

 through the leaves if all are at work. The gardener by pruning 

 reduces the number of leaves and so saves the tree. Even after 

 a tree is properly planted, it is necessary to see that it has suffi- 

 cient moisture and is protected from insect pests. 



SUMMARY 



A forest is a tract of woodland. The ground covered by the 

 forest is called the forest floor. 



