542 



A burl that looks 

 like a leg 



Popular Science Monthly 



Pranks Played by Trees 



BURLS are abnormal growths 

 common to almost every spe- 

 cies of tree. They are produced as 

 a result of some injury, such as for- 

 est fires, insect attacks, gnawing of 

 animals, or excessive pruning. The 

 effect of the injury is to stimulate 

 the growth of dormant buds or to 

 give rise to a great many new ones 

 which cannot develop into branch- 

 es, but do form a gnarled and inter- 

 woven mass of woody tissue of very 

 intricate design. 



This unnatural growth is very 

 dense and hard. In most trees it is 

 very small, but in the case of the red- 

 wood, the largest tree that grows, it 

 reachesasizewhich makes it of value. 



Nature grew these legs 

 — on a tree 



Giant Ladle for 

 Molten Cinders 



A GIANT ladle for 

 carrying a w a >• 

 molten cinders from the 

 furnace of a Maryland 

 steel company has re- 

 cently been cast, 

 weighing nineteen thou- 

 sand, seven hundred 

 and ten pounds. A 

 fair idea of the propor- 

 tions of this huge ladle 

 can be gained by a 

 comparison with the 

 figure of the man w^ho 

 is standing in it. It is 

 ten feet in diameter 

 and nine feet deep. 



With a Trans- Conti 

 nental Burromobile 



ATRANS-CONTI 

 NENTAL "burro 

 mobile" recently 

 made its appear- 

 ance in Los An- 

 geles, California, 

 after having crossed 

 the country, from 

 the Atlantic to the 

 Pacific. The speed- 

 ometer on this ma- 

 chine showed that 

 more than five thou- 

 sand and forty-two 

 miles had been cov- 



A ladle to hold the cinders of 

 a steel furnace 



The burro goes along to help the car 



ered, and John A. F. 

 De Lion, the driver, 

 tells us that he is not 

 yet ready to "settle 

 down." In the accom- 

 panying picture John, 

 the owner of the car, is 

 seen seated in the ma- 

 chine; the boy who is 

 standing is a traveling 

 companion; while Jack, 

 the four-footer behind, 

 is the means by which 

 this car has been "lift- 

 ed" from many a sand- 

 hole and out of mud 

 hub-high. 



John started from 

 Philadelphia on June 

 30, 1912, and through- 

 out the intervening 

 time he has been on the 

 road. The route se- 

 lected led John to New 

 York, Chicago, 

 Omaha, Denver, El 

 Paso, Phoenix and 

 San Diego. He ex- 

 pects eventually to 

 tour the entire 

 length of California 

 and even to pro- 

 ceed farther up the 

 Pacific Coast. 



The donkey, 

 strangely enough, 

 goes behind the car. 



