38 THE WORLD IN WHICH WE LIVE 



tree arranges its leaves so that they are held out flat 

 or slope down a little. They are long and irregular 

 in shape and there is room for many more of them 

 than of the great horse-chestnut leaves. The elm 

 carries its small, oval leaves on long, slender, droop- 

 ing bj*anches and the finest of twigs, and in that way 

 it can give free air and sunlight to thousands and 

 thousands of leaves. Look at the great, white pine 

 with its branches of needles, five in a bunch, and 

 yet all held out erect and free like a beautiful 

 blue-green pompon, each needle untouched by its 

 neighbors. 



A full-grown maple has enough leaves upon it to 

 cover one-half an acre of ground. Think of all those 

 leaves being planned for! Think of the maple tree 

 growing in such a way, with just so many branches 

 and small twigs as will hold all those leaves free and 

 unhampered! You did not realize that a tree took 

 care of itself like that when it was growing, did 

 you? 



Now the leaves on the different trees and vshrubs 

 and plants are quite unlike. The shape of the leaves 

 and their texture suits the tree or plant to which they 

 belong. The broad, heavy horse-chestnut leaf is 

 held up by a stout, stiff twig. The vslender, drooping 

 branches of the elm or birch would be weighed down 

 and broken by such great leaves, and moreover, if the 

 horse-chestnut leaves were not held out quite stiff 

 and straight they would interfere, for they are so 

 large that they could not help getting in each other's 

 way. Try to think how a horse-chestnut leaf would 

 look upon the dainty twigs of the elm tree! 



