148 . STEMS 



Their beauty impresses us as well as their utility. Have 

 you ever seen an ugly tree ? Tree stems show great variety 

 in form. This variety suggests that there is no one form 

 that has great advantages over all other forms. If this 

 were so, the trees having that one best form probably 

 would have crowded out all the others. Probably each 

 common form has certain advantages of its own. 



The two principal types of tree form are illustrated by 

 the pine and the oak. Trees like the pine in form have ' 

 one great central trunk running clear to the top and from 

 it the branches spread out horizontally. The crown of 

 such trees is cone-shaped ; by crown is meant the branch- 

 bearing part of a tree. Trees like the oak in form have 

 spreading crowns, more rounded than cone-shaped in out- 

 Hne. Their main stem does not continue to the top ; it 

 soon divides into large branches. 



The elm is one of our most beautiful trees, and its form 

 is quite different from that of the pine or the oak. It has 

 a form which is very characteristic; that is, it is quite 

 different from the forms of other trees. You can tell an 

 elm by its graceful and characteristic form almost as far 

 away as you can see it. Instead of becoming rounded or 

 conical in outhne, the elm tends to assume the form of a 

 huge vase with broad, flaring top. There are many trees 

 besides the elm which by their form you may recognize at 

 some distance if you study the matter a little and make 

 observations with care. Usually we give trees a hasty 

 glance and are satisfied with a general impression of their 

 beauty or of their novelty to us. But it will be found far 

 more satisfying to give them enough study to be able to 

 recognize them. Different kinds of trees are quite as dis- 

 tinctive as are the faces of the people we meet. We notice 



