FOREST TREES 207 



Telling the age of a tree. The age of a tree may be 

 discovered by examining the log or the stump left after 

 it has been felled. On the smoothly cut end of the log 

 there are a number of light-colored rings with layers of 

 darker color between (Fig. 135). Generally one light- 

 colored ring and one dark-colored layer were formed each 

 year. The number of light rings tells in years the age of 

 that part of the body of the tree. The age of each limb 

 is told in the same way. 



There is another way to tell how long it has been since the 

 pine and some other trees were only as high as their 

 lowest limbs now are. This is done by counting the 

 number of sets of limbs or sets of knots where limbs 

 once grew. Every set of limbs, growing out of the trunk 

 at about the same place, means one year ; for each set 

 represents the buds or young branches which form on 

 the twig near the place where the new and the old growth 

 join (Fig. 136). 



EXERCISE. Report to the teacher the age of the following by 

 counting the annual rings: (i) a log, or stump, or piece of firewood, 

 all from an old-field pine, (2) a similar piece from a long-leaf pine, 

 (3) a branch of either old-field or long-leaf pine. Which has the 

 thicker annual rings? Judging by this, which tree grows more rapidly? 

 Select a pine tree 10 to 20 feet high and, without cutting it, count the 

 sets of limbs and tell how long it has been since that tree was only as 

 high as its lowest limb now is. Think about this subject for your next 

 composition, " How Much Harm One Forest Fire Did." Is the heart- 

 wood or the sapwood the best for lumber? 



