THEIR ANCIENT LINEAGE 



we note that on many trees the leaves change from 

 green to beautiful hues of purple, crimson, orange, 

 yellow, and leather-brown; in the winter that many 

 trees are entirely leafless, look stark and dead, others 

 bear brownish leaves which rustle in the wind but are 

 obviously lifeless. Other trees, on the contrary, are 

 clothed with small dark green or gray-green leaves 

 even as they were in spring, summer, and autumn. 

 Those of an inquiring turn of mind are quick to per- 

 ceive other points of difference and soon realize that 

 among the group of life-forms we designate as trees 

 variety is infinite. Scarcely two are identical in out- 

 line and detail, and although some sort of classifica- 

 tion is obviously possible, almost every tree has an 

 individuality of its own. The beauty of trees — their 

 form, foliage, flowers, and the tracery of their branches 

 — appeals to the artistic instinct of man ; their cool, 

 shade-giving qualities in the heat of summer are ap- 

 preciated by man and animals alike, and so also are 

 the edible fruits which many kinds of trees produce in 

 the autumn. But alas ! the utilitarian spirit so domi- 

 nates the world in general, and modern civilization 

 in particular, that comparatively few people see any- 

 thing in the trees which form our woods and forests 

 except a source of fuel, of lumber, of pulp for paper- 

 making or of some other product useful for manu- 

 facturing purposes. Too often even their very use- 



5 



