are long and different in shape. The 

 silky needles look something like a paint 

 brush at the end of each twig." 



"It is a far more beautiful tree than I, 

 so straight and lofty. Its pointed top 

 looks down upon all the other great trees 

 in this cemetery. If you could go 

 \hrough Canada and northern United 

 States, especially around the Great Lakes, 

 you would see great forests of this — ine 

 white pine. As its wood contains little 

 resin it looks white, and is not so valuable 

 for fuel. As it is easily nailed and 

 worked, it is said to be a soft wood. You 

 can whittle it with your knife which 

 Santa brought you. Furniture, shingles, 

 laths, boards and many other things are 

 made of it. 



"If you could tramp around the Rocky 

 Mountains you would find another soft 

 pine tree, popularly called the sugar pine 

 because the burnt resin has at times been 

 used by the Indians for sugar. Coarse 

 cakes are made from its nut-like seeds. 

 Its cones grow to be more than a foot 

 long. Its leaves, too, grow in fives. 



'The pine growing in the South, 

 known as the Southern or Georgia pine, 

 has yellow, hard wood. It is heavy and 

 very strong. It makes fine lumber, ties, 

 fuel, fencing and furniture. It is used in 

 shipbuilding and for other things when a 

 durable wood is needed. It is rich in 

 turpentine, resin and tar. Indeed, the 

 markets of Europe are supplied with 

 those articles largely by the Scotch pine 

 and those of the United States, chiefly 

 by the Georgia pine. Because of the 

 length olf the southern pine's needles, 

 which sometimes measure more than a 

 foot, it is sometimes called the long- 

 leaved pine. The leaves grow in threes. 

 Its large cone also contains seeds, which 

 are eaten." 



One day when visiting the pine, Jacob 

 said: "When I get big I mean to visit 

 some of the pine forests." 



"Go as soon as you can, then, my bov. 

 In cutting pine timber men are so 

 thoughtless and lacking in foresight and 

 management that they are being' cleared 

 away very fast." 



"Tiicn I must try to teach them to 

 know the pines better and to love them 

 more for iliejr lieauty and their great 



usefulness. Then I am sure they will 

 use better judgment." 



"Thank you, Jacob." 



Another day Jacob asked : "Have you 

 told me of all your cousins?" 



"Oh, no, indeed. I have told you of 

 only a few of my nearest ones. There 

 are seventy first cousins, of which thirty- 

 five different ones are American trees. 

 Then there is a host of more distant rela- 

 tives. There are the twelve spruces, with 

 short, sharp-pointed, four-cornered nee- 

 dles which grow singly all around the 

 branches. They like cool places, and 

 make their homes in great forests at the 

 north or on mountains. The fir sisters 

 and brothers have flat, blunt leaves grow- 

 ing on opposite sides of the branches, 

 making them look like combs. The 

 larches, who lose their needles in the fall ; 

 the cedars, the junipers, the arbor vitse, 

 the great California redwood — there are 

 so many I can not name them all ! They 

 all belong to the cone bearing families." 



Jacob, who loved the talking pine tree, 

 spent many happy hours in its shade and 

 learning lessons taught by it. Through 

 it he came to know of the wonderful 

 great trees of California ; of what the 

 straight, tall masts of ships see; of se- 

 crets known only by telegraph and tele- 

 phone poles ; 6f the sweet sounds of mu- 

 sical instruments ; of things which props 

 can teli of mining affairs ; of the travels 

 of railroad ties and the tragedies v/hich 

 occur within their sight ; of the water 

 folk with whom bridge piles neighbor; 

 of the animals whose hides the evergreen 

 barks help to tan; of the birds and ani- 

 mals who seek the shelter of these trees 

 and feed upon their seeds and young 

 buds ; and of beautiful things with which 

 loving hands deck the gay Christmas tree 

 and the hosts of happy children who love 

 it most of all trees. 



Every child who will select a favorite 

 tree and watch it with patient, loving 

 care will also find himself helped. Al- 

 though it may not be able to talk as Ja- 

 cob's talking pine tree did, if he will but 

 be taitiiful to its lessons it will teach him 

 many useful facts ; will prompt him to 

 roach, like a tree, upward and outward, 

 and to throw out from his life an in- 

 fluence as healthful and pure as the fra- 

 grance of the pine. 



LOVEDAY AlMIRA NeLSON. 



