44 DAVET'S PRIMER 



Children : As you grow up and procure homes 

 you certainly will endeavor to secure trees. To get the 

 best results you must not only avoid too thick planting, 

 but also stiffness. This photograph shows you a 

 glimpse of the grounds at the Agricultural College, 

 Amherst, Mass., where many young men are being 

 trained for forestry work, landscaping, and such health- 

 ful and desirable occupations. One thing, particularly, 

 I wish you to notice. Suggest one thing that strikes 

 you. 



"The branches of the evergreen are down on the 

 ground." 



That's good, Martha ; the very thing we desire 

 all to observe. 



Now, who will suggest some good to the tree 

 that comes from this? 



"Like the trees in the forest, keep the grass 

 down." 



Good for Norma ! That's just the lesson. 



The branches if let alone take care of the roots. 

 These low-hanging branches not only smother the grass 

 and other vegetation, but shade the roots and keep them 

 cool, and when it does rain the water enters the ground 

 and the tree gets the full benefit. If you were to plant 

 an oak or an elm or, in fact, almost any tree, and keep 

 the horses and cattle and "tree butchers" from it, the 

 lower branches would lie almost flat on the ground. 

 Boys, how would that be for climbing! The reason 

 that the trees in the forests have such clean, long trunks 



