FOREST TREES IN THEIR WINTER CONDITION 129 



Range. This tree has the largest range of all North 

 American trees. If we could make a long fishing and hunt- 

 ing trip from southern Labrador to Hudson Bay, then north- 

 westward to the lower course of the Mackenzie Biver and 

 from there to the mighty Yukon in Alaska, we could pitch 

 our tents in a grove of quaking asp almost every night. If 

 from Alaska we roamed along the mountains to southern 

 California and then across the continent through northern 

 Missouri and through Pennsylvania to the Atlantic coast, 

 we should have made a trail around the enormous territory 

 in which every child may hear the whisper of the aspen 

 leaves. 



2. From the following list, select for study with the 

 children the tree you can most conveniently observe. 



a. The Cottonwood. Populus monilifera. 



b. The Balsam Poplar or Balm of Gilead. Populus baL 

 samifera. 



c. The Lombardy Poplar. Populus clilatata. 



The latter is the poplar with the familiar spiry top. It 

 does not grow wild in our forests, but has been introduced 

 from Europe. Any farmer can point out the Cottonwood 

 and Balsam Poplar to you. 



The following topics are suggested : 



Size and shape. 



Bark of trunk and large branches. 



Where the tree grows. 



Branchlets. 



Buds. 



The wood. 



Catbird, brown thrasher, Baltimore oriole, rose-breasted grosbeak, chip- 

 ping sparrow, yellow warbler, red-eyed vireo. 



