15 



provided there is a definite list for eacli grade, so that when 

 the pnpils enter the fourth grade they will not have been 

 studying a few of the abundant species to the exclusion of 

 the others. Constant revioAvs, of course, are necessary, but 

 when the pupils really know a species a new one should be 

 taken up. 



A good time to begin the study of the conifers in any of 

 the grades is late in JSTovember, four or five weeks before 

 the holiday vacation. The subject can be gone over pretty 

 thoroughly before the term ends, and rapidly finished when 

 the winter term begins. It may well be followed then by a 

 study of the broad-leaved evergreens. 



The Conifers to Study. 

 First Year List. 



White Pine (Pinus Strobus). — Leaves arranged in clus- 

 ters of five, each leaf being long and slender and averaging 

 from 21/^ to 4 inches in length; its margins are finely serrate, 

 and in cross-section it is triangular. Green in color, with 

 two or three distinct whitish lines on the two lower surfaces. 

 Bark of young twigs olive brown, covered with a brownish 

 pubescence ; bark of older twigs smooth and shining. Scars 

 where the bundles of leaves have fallen off broadly oval, 

 sometimes nearly circular. Buds conical, with a distinctly 

 pointed tip ; they are rather small, averaging 1/4 inch in 

 length. Cones large, slender, 4,'^^ to 6 ^^^^ong; scales 

 resinous, whitish brown, each scale distinctly pointed ; rather 



' While the larch is not an evergreen it is a conifer and is usually associated with 

 evergreens. 



