48 DAVET'S PRIMER 



"Pshaw! " 



What's the matter, Mike? Don't you like the 

 looks of these trees? 



"No, I don't; Dad says that everything is pretty 

 over in his country, the Emerald Isle, even the girls ; 

 and the trees are always green ; nothing pretty about 

 them trees ! " 



Well, Mike, we'll not disagree with you ; for we 

 all admire a handsome tree top. This picture was 

 taken on the 4th day of July (nothing to "celebrate" 

 over, was it?), and thousands of trees could have been 

 found in the same city no better than these, some worse ; 

 let us see if we can discover the trouble. 



How many of you have seen a steam engine? All 

 hands up! Well, how many of you were ever inside of 

 a steam boiler? None; there are times when we 

 would not want to be there, for there is a terrific 

 power inside that iron cylinder! It is not necessary 

 to go into the boiler to know that the force is there, for 

 we have what we call a steam gauge, and this instru- 

 ment tells us how matters are within. It is much so 

 with a tree ; for the top that we so much admire is the 

 tell-tale, informing us whether the other parts are all 

 right. The foliage always indicates the good or the bad 

 condition of the roots. These tree tops are telling you 

 there is trouble within or below ; they have out "danger 

 signals " ; it is very unfortunate that most people do not 

 know what these signals stand for. W"e desire that all 

 children shall see and understand them. 



