XI 



LIFE-HISTORY OF A TREE 



PRELIMINARY to discussing tree-life it may be interest- 

 ing to the student in forestry to know that by taking ad- 

 vantage of certain laws governing its growth a tree can be 

 made to assume, when mature, such a form as to produce 

 practically all desirable forest products of its kind, but if 

 left to chance for its guidance it may be of little economic 

 value. In one case it may be tall, straight, and free from 

 limbs for a large part of its height, while in the other it 

 will be short in stem, with many large limbs from near the 

 ground up. In one the wood has been deposited in the 

 stem where it is available for lumber, and in the other in 

 the limbs where it is not. Either of these conditions can 

 be brought about when the causes which produce each are 

 understood and the requisite conditions are provided. Na- 

 ture produces both kinds of trees, and we have but to 

 choose as our needs demand and then obey her laws. 



This being the case a knowledge of the laws governing 

 tree-life becomes highly essential, and profitably to grow 

 and care for a forest one should possess a general know- 

 ledge of the Life-History of a Tree. An endeavor to give 

 that history and the laws which govern tree-growth will be 

 here made, discarding all technical terms possible and using 

 only those for which there is no substitute. 



Flowers and Fruit. The life-history of a tree may be 

 said to begin with the buds which produce the flowers and 

 fruit. The flower may be what is termed a " perfect " one, 

 capable within itself of producing a fertile seed, or 

 the organs which perform the functions of fertilization may 

 be in separate flowers, one bearing stamens and the other 

 pistils, being termed respectively staminate (male) and 



