TREES AND WOODS 



and instead of their useless waste the water is 

 stored up in the earth during the wet seasons ; 

 the underground springs and watercourses are 

 filled up, and are therefore able to give out a 

 constant supply in dry weather. Trees them- 

 selves require large quantities of water ; they 

 suck up that which stays in the soil within reach 

 of their roots, and breathe or transpire it out 

 again through their leaves into the air, and this, 

 occurring throughout a large forest, greatly in- 

 creases the amount of moisture in the air, and 

 will therefore probably influence the climate of 

 the country and possibly affect that of the 

 world. 



The way in which trees ought to be grown, 

 and the kind of tree to grow, must clearly de- 

 pend on the purpose for which they are required. 

 In our parks and gardens we may have handsome 

 spreading and flowering trees, which are grown 

 for ornament rather than use, and have great 

 branches reaching out on all sides. But such 

 trees do not give the straight trunks that the 

 true forester loves to see and the timber mer- 

 chant prefers, trunks that can be sawn up without 

 waste into long planks. These must be cut from 

 trees which have been grown close together in 

 a wood or forest ; so close that the tops shoot 

 straight up towards the sun and the side branches 

 die off for want of light and air and leave long 

 smooth clean stems. 



Trees begin to grow each spring and con- 



("3) 8 



