CHILDREN'S DEPARTMENT 



91 



weight, and toughness, a most serviceable implement as a 

 staff or a club. It was when he began to make dwellings, 

 however, and to construct boats with which he might 

 travel the seas, that the oak assumed its greatest import- 

 ance. In structures of all sorts on land and in vessels for 

 sea-faring, it has been one of the most enduring of all 

 woods, and the oak has lent itself readily to a greater 

 variety of uses than any other tree, except, possibly, the 

 palm and the bamboo. 



THERE are several hundreds of oaks, and there 

 are about fifty-five in North America. The lum- 

 bermen and the botanists both are argeed on two 

 types the white oaks and the black oaks, the division on 

 the part of the lumbermen being made on the basis of 

 the color of the wood; yet the color of the wood of the 

 white oak is not white, nor is that of the black oak black, 

 but is more likely to be of a reddish tinge, and the trees 

 in the black-oak group are known also as the red oaks. 



The main differences between the two groups are that 

 the trees of the red or black-oak variety need two years 

 to mature their acorns, and the divisions along the leaf 

 margins terminate in points. In the white-oak group the 

 acorns are matured in one year and the divisions, or 

 lobes, are rounded. In general, however, it may be said 

 that the leaf forms of the oak are not standard. 



The one feature which can be relied on to distinguish 

 the group is the acorn and cup, even though the acorn 

 cup is comparatively small with some forms, and in 

 others the cup almost entirely surrounds the acorn itself. 

 Some idea of the variations of the oak leaves may be 

 seen in the fact that the white oak, for example, has a 

 leaf with rather deep indentations with rounded edges, 

 while the red oak and the pin oak have similar deep in- 

 dentations with pointed lobes. The leaf of the live oak, 

 an evergreen, has very shallow indentations, and is not 

 unlike that of the holly, with sharp spines along its edges. 

 The willow oak is so named because of its long, narrow 

 leaf that has no divisions and has the general look of 

 the leaves of some of the willows. The laurel oak has 

 a similar leaf, which is larger and broader than that of 

 the willow oak. The chestnut oak is so called because 

 its leaf closely resembles that of the chestnut tree. 



THE oaks have a wide range through the coun- 

 try, though they do not grow as far north as 

 the willows, for example. The common white oak 

 and red oak grow all through the eastern half of the 

 United States. The willow oak is not hardy in the 

 Middle Atlantic and New England States, which is a 

 great pity because it is one of America's handsomest 

 shade trees. The live oak grows from Virginia to the 

 gulf coast and westward to California. California has its 

 own peculiar species the tan-bark oak, which grows 

 among the redwoods, which are also limited to the 

 Golden State. In the Southwest there are many differ- 

 ent kinds of oaks, but most of them are dwarfed by the 

 severe conditions in which they have to live, and form 

 a part of the elfin forest of that part of the world, and 

 generally known as chaparral. 



See how many different kinds of oaks can be found 

 near where you live. There is no special place to look, 

 for them because different kinds will grow either in 

 low, moist situations or on top of the driest hills, or at 

 many places between these two extremes. 



TOWER FALLS OF THE YELLOWSTONE 



THE Tower Falls is one of the most beautiful water- 

 falls in the United States, which is the less often 

 seen by travelers to the Yellowstone region be- 

 cause of its relative inaccessibility. The fall itself is a 

 magnificent sheer drop of milk-white, foamy water, but 



Photograph by hidings, U. S. Geol. Survey. 



THE TOWER FALLS 



The milky whiteness of the Tower Falls of the Yellowstone, the dark 

 green of the nestling trees and the protecting strength of the sur- 

 rounding mighty rock towers combine to form a beautiful and inspir- 

 ing sight. 



the great beauty and majesty of its setting are what also 

 fascinates. The river pours forth from a group of 

 mighty rock towers rising nearly 2,000 feet above the 

 bottom of the canyon, forming spires and pinnacles, with 

 massive bases of granite ; but clothed here and there with 

 the dark green of the mountain pines and firs. Some 

 20,000 horsepower might be developed from these falls, 

 but the iron hand of the Government wards off all pri- 

 vate spoliation of this great natural wonder, the entire 

 Yellowstone region being permanently reserved for the 

 benefit and enjoyment of all the people for all time. 



