CHAPTER XVI 



EXPLORING THE WOODPILE 



T OGS, neatly stacked In the shed, with their 

 -*— ' ends turned toward the public, show many 

 things which were hidden under the bark while 

 yet the trees stood erect In the forest. 



Almost all the sound logs show a marked dif- 

 ference between their outer and their Inner wood. 

 The outer wood Is often lighter In color than the 

 inner — generally also It is lighter In weight, and 

 yields more readily to axe or saw. This Is " sap- 

 wood," so called because Its cells formed the 

 pathway of the moving sap while the tree was 

 standing and alive. 



Toward the middle of most logs, the wood Is 

 different In color, heavier, and harder. This Is 

 " heartwood." No sap moved through It, either 

 upward or downward when life was astir in the 

 woods last spring. No sap has traveled through 

 the heartwood of some of these logs for many 

 years. 



For even the living and healthy tree has a dead 

 part as well as a living part. The dead part is the 



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