FOREWORD 



In this little volume the author has brought 

 together an interesting fund of information 

 concerning the life history of the common spe- 

 cies of American trees, and such foreign species 

 that have been acclimated here, as one may or- 

 dinarily meet in garden and forest, together 

 with the folk-lore and poetic fancies associated 

 with them. 



In The Life and Work of the Trees, the sug- 

 gestions for interpreting the sign language of 

 the trees lead the young student into the open 

 to gather all manner of interesting facts con- 

 cerning the hopes and disappointments of the 

 trees about him, the trouble with their neigh- 

 bors, the secrets of age, how they prune them- 

 selves, and how they take care of cuts, bruises 

 and broken limbs. How the trees grow, and the 

 record of the year's work from the stirring of 

 the sap and the coming of the first fruit and 

 leaf buds, to blossom-time, and on to seed-time 

 and sowing, the falling leaves, and the sleep of 

 the trees, is most fascinatingly told. The 

 reader travels from the nethermost root to the 



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