Children's Department 



Devoted to imparting information about trees, woods and forests to boys and girls so that they may grozv to know 

 how necessary trees are to the health, wealth and future of their country. 



By Bristow Adams 



THREE TREES 



ONCE upon a time, a long while ago for that is 

 just the way that all Christmas stories begin 

 three trees stood fairly near together in the forest. 

 But before we begin, let me make it clear that this is a 

 fable. It is true, with variations. 



The three trees were blood brothers, and they had 

 grown for a number of years ; but because of the con- 

 ditions under which they had started, each one had 

 developed a different character; one might almost say 

 that each had developed a soul. 



One of them the tallest had started in good ground. 

 Straight above him there was an opening in the crowns 

 of the tallest trees around. Just at noon a shaft of sun- 

 light came down through this opening in the leaf canopy, 

 and the tree lifted its head up toward the life-giving 

 light, and grew straight, tall, and slender, with a long 

 space between each annual whorl of branches. 



The second tree had a much harder time of it. It was 

 more crowded l)y the other trees, and it had to start in 

 a rocky place. So it grew twisted, and knotty, and cross- 

 grained ; it had no decided aspirations and it therefore 

 did not get any place in particular. 



The third tree, the smallest of all, started in rocky 

 ground, but there was more than enough sunshine, 

 because of a big opening all around it in the forest. This 

 little tree rejoiced in the light ; it spread out all of its 

 arms to welcome the brightness, and was indeed able 

 to develop new arms, or branches, because it had so much 

 sun. 



AT the time this story begins, it was nearly Christ- 

 mas and the branches of the three trees were laden 

 with snow. The slender limbs of the tallest tree did 

 not afford much of a resting place for the snowflakes, so 

 that even in winter it was not in much danger of being 

 broken down. The gnarly tree held some snow on one 

 side, which made it even more twisted and bore some 

 of its limbs down to the ground. The little tree was 

 covered all over evenly, and its sturdy little branches 

 readily held up the white mantle. 



Two small Iwys came trudging through the woods 

 looking carefully from side to side as if they were search- 

 ing for something. They came first to the tallest tree, 

 and the smaller lad suggested that they cut that one. 

 But the larger boy thought otherwise, and e.xplained that 

 when it was brought into the house to be used as a Christ- 

 mas tree there would not be enougli close branches to bear 

 the ornaments and to hold the candles. You have guessed 

 by now that these two boys were looking for a Christinas 

 1120 



tree. Vou have also guessed that they could not take 

 the gnarly tree, because it was crooked, and that their 

 eyes alighted on the little tree with glee, for it was just 

 the kind they wanted. 



So the little tree was borne away and made a whole 

 household happy with its greenness and its sturdiness and 

 its exact fitness for the purpose for which it was intended. 

 It stood in the midst of the living-room, and the children 

 danced around it with shouts of joy. And upon the walls 

 there were festoons of what is variously called crow's 

 foot, or running cedar, or ground pine, or lycopodium. 

 There were wreaths of holly in the windows, and at night 

 a candle burned above each wreath and lighted the snow 

 outside the house. There were colored prints from 

 Christmas editions of the illustrated London papers, and 

 over the fireplace the father of the household had let- 

 tered a motto intertwined with yule-tide designs in 

 green, red, and gold : 



"God blesse ye mastre of thys house, 

 And eke ye mistresse too, 

 And all ye litel childrenne 

 Thatte rounds ye table goe." 



The little tree was glad because it had given service 

 where it was best able to serve. If it had thought into 

 the future it would have known that it could not serve 

 mankind by being made into lumber for his needs, for 

 each one of the many limbs would have meant a knot in 

 a board. 



AND what became of the other trees? They grev/ 

 on for many years, and the crooked tree grew 

 crookeder because it had got into the habit of doing 

 so, and it became more gnarled, knotted, and cross- 

 grained. Because it was crowded and elbowed by its 

 neighbors, and because it had lost the power to reach up 

 and hold itself straight, it finally gave up in despair and 

 became a decayed, unsightly object in the forest. 



The tall tree kept growing, and reached up for its spot 

 of light. It knew as well as a tree can know, that if it did 

 not reach that opening above it before the larger trees 

 had closed in that it might as well give up, too, then 

 and there. Finally some lumbermen and foresters went 

 through the woods selecting the trees which should be 

 cut, and those which deserved to be left to continue grow- 

 ing. The tall, straight, slender tree was growing so 

 vrcH that they left it and made use of some of the older 

 ones around, taking care when they felled the others that 

 lliey should not injure the slender one. When they had 

 taken out the trees which they thought should be cut, and 



