PINES AND PINE FORESTS 255 



them. Where conifers do not grow wild, very good material 

 is furnished by the Norway Spruce and the Scotch Pine, 

 which are often planted for ornament. 



To the pine family belong also the Tamarack, the Spruces, 

 and the Firs. Spruces and firs are most commonly sold as 

 Christmas trees. The leaves of the spruces are set all 

 around the branchlets ; those of the fir appear two-ranked 

 like the teeth of a comb. 



If the Norway spruce or the Scotch pine are made the 

 basis of the lesson, material similar to that for this lesson 

 must be procured ; and the teacher must work from a care- 

 fully constructed outline and must have directed the chil- 

 dren to observe the trees while they are flowering. The 

 flowers of the Norway spruce appear in May; those of the 

 Scotch pine probably early in June. Where groves of some 

 kinds of pines are not accessible, the teacher may take a 

 Christmas tree for the object of the lesson, and give the 

 children some 1 idea about pine forests by means of pictures, 

 which can be selected from different sources. 



56. Pine Forests and Forests of Deciduous Trees Compared. 



MATERIAL : A walk to a grove of pines, if one is accessible. A col- 

 lection of twigs, cones, and flowers of all the trees of the pine family 

 which the neighborhood affords ; plants and dried berries of winter- 

 green ; blueberry and other plants characteristic of the pine forest. 



Some time ago we studied a dozen species of broad-leaved 

 trees; but on our excursions to the woods we also noticed 

 that the number of such trees in our neighborhood is con- 

 siderably larger. And what a bewildering number of small 

 trees, shrubs, and woody climbers we found associated with 

 the larger trees! There grew the wild cherries, the wild 

 plums, the June berry, gooseberry, currant, raspberry, the 

 dogwoods, the hazel, the snowberry ; also the wild grape- 

 vine, the false bittersweet, and several other climbers. 



