40 CONVERSATIONS ON THE 



it shows that you have been thinking of what 

 we were talking about, and that what I told 

 you has not ' gone in at one ear and out at 

 the other,' as the saying is. And so, as you 

 have been good boys, we will take for our 

 subject to-day a kind of tree that you like 

 better than oaks, I am sure, for the sake of the 

 nuts ; you are all very fond of butternuts, are 

 you not ?" 



" Yes, when they are nice and dry in the 

 winter ; they are not good for much till they 

 have got to be quite dry." 



" Well, arid you like hickories, too, do you 

 not, and shelbarks ?" 



" Oh yes ; hickories are the best, after all ; 

 I never get tired of them." 



" Then we will talk about walnuts to-day ; 

 so come along, boys, for the wood. And 

 now, as we go, I will tell you a thing in 

 which trees are useful to man : all trees, but 

 large ones particularly. You know how im- 

 portant it is for trees and all other things that 

 grow in the ground to have rain." 



" Oh yes, Uncle Philip ; sister's flowers were 

 almost all dead last month for want of a wet- 

 ting ; and father had to water his young salads 



