I] TERMS 17 



Walnut, and that of a Norway Maple, a Beech or Lime, 

 or an Ash, consists in the angle at which the principal 

 branches come off from the trunk ; or, as it is often 

 expressed, in the way the trunk breaks into the crown 

 in each case. In the former the heavy branches (limbs) 

 come off approximately at right angles and zigzag prin- 

 cipally in the horizontal plane, whereas in the latter they 

 ascend at more or less acute angles with the vertical and 

 break into twigs or spray at their upper ends. It is true 

 the weight of the foliage may bend down these branches 

 into more or less graceful curved forms, and so cause the 

 crown of a large tree to spread widely above (e.g. Lime, 

 Wych Elm, &c.), but the principal point of difference is 

 the prevalence of acutely forked branches where the 

 trunk passes into the crown in the Beech and Ash^ as 

 contrasted with the wide open angles in the case of Oak 

 and Walnut. Every boy who has climbed trees knows 

 the difference of knee-hold afforded by the two types. 



At this point in the discussion it may be worth while 

 to adopt certain terms, avowedly conventional, which will 

 aid us in our conceptions and descriptions to follow. Ac- 

 cepting the terms bole 1 or trunk for the large stems of 

 our timber trees, we may also go further and adopt the 

 somewhat popular term "limb" for those principal branches, 

 of timber size, which leave the trunk at wider or narrower 

 angles to carry the solid weight of the crown. This leaves 

 us free to restrict the word " branch " to all the smaller 

 off-shoots from the limbs, until we reach the periphery 

 of the crown, where the daughter-branches, bearing the 

 leaves and buds, are so thin that they are usually termed 

 " branchlets," " twigs," or " shoots/' But it will be useful 



1 [It is advisable to restrict the term "bole" to the lower part of the 

 trunk, where this is devoid of boughs. That is to say the "bole" is 

 below the crown, but the trunk extends up into the crown.] 



W. V. 2 



