348 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [16:8— Nov., 1920 



and the geese flying by, and then soon the other birds are coming 

 I am very busy then too, for I have to get my blossoms ready to 

 open. You didn't know I had blossoms? Oh yes, I have many of 

 them. And such a lot of yellow pollen dust as there is in them. 

 Mr. Wind carries it far away with him to find other pine trees 

 that need it. You see that instead of having Mr. Bee carry my 

 pollen, as the poppy flowers do, I ask Mr. Wind to help. He is 

 always very kind and carries it as far away as he can. Then my 

 little seeds begin to grow in little cones that stand up like green 

 candles that boys and girls have on their Christmas trees. It 

 will be two long years — two simimers, two falls, two winters, and 

 two springs, before the seeds will be ripe. So you see I have to 

 take good care of them all that time, and see that they have enough 

 to eat. 



Then in the summer all the other trees seem so proud of their 

 fine new dresses, and of the birds that are nesting in their branches. 

 Sometimes birds nest in my branches too, and then I am very care- 

 ful not to wrestle too hard with Mr. Wind, lest I might shake out 

 the little eggs that are in the nests. Mrs. Chipmunk comes to 

 visit me sometimes, and Mr. Red Squirrel too, very often. Jack 

 Frost is far away in the northland then but I know that he will 

 come back before very long, and tell me strange tales of that 

 country of the Eskimos where the nights last a whole half year, 

 and the Northern Lights are so bright. Sometimes I see those 

 lights but he says they are much more beautiful in the far north. 



In the fall the seeds that began to grow a year ago, are nearly 

 ready to go out into the world for themselves. Each one has a little 

 wing so that it can fly away with Mr. Wind and find a new home 

 for itself." 



"It must have been a great many years since you were a little 

 seed, Mr. Pine Tree," said Roger. 



' * Indeed it was, ' ' answered Mr. Pine Tree. ' * I am now 200 years 

 old. That means that I was a tiny little tree just sending up my 

 leader — that is the middle part of my trunk — when there were 

 still many Indians left here. I was in a big forest of trees then, 

 many of them white pines just like myself. It was hard to get 

 enough sunlight but I managed to do it, and grew as fast as I 

 could. Nearly all the other trees are gone now but here I am still. 

 The Indians are gone too from this part of the country, for I never 

 see them any more. You see I am much older than even your 

 great-grand-father is, and he is a very old man." 



