TREES. 173 



LESSON XXXVIII. 



TREES USEFULNESS OF TREES. 



THOSE vegetable productions which grow to a 

 certain size, and have a distinct trunk or stem, are 

 called trees. Shrubs differ from trees merely in 

 being smaller and having a bushy character, and 

 from several stems often springing together from 

 the same root. 



Trees are applied to a great variety of useful 

 purposes. The wood obtained from them is used 

 for the building of houses and ships, particularly 

 oak, teak, and pine. The ash, the beech, the 

 elm, jthe lime, the white pine, and the birch, 

 amongst our native trees, are of the greatest value 

 to the cabinet-maker and the carpenter, all sorts 

 of useful wooden articles are being made from them. 

 The fruit of the oak and the beach, called acorns 

 and beech-mast, is used for feeding herds of hogs. 



