i8 THE TREE BOOK 



work. After your first successes, you find your- 

 self questioning every tree you meet. . . . The 

 old apple tree by the roadside challenges you 

 to make out the story of its eventful life. You 

 can learn to read the record of last year's crop. 

 You can tell exactly how many fruits a particu- 

 lar branch has ever borne, and even whether 

 they reached maturity or were picked green. 

 The promise of next year's crop is revealed to 

 you, though you cannot foretell whether the 

 flowers will be frosted. The veteran recites to 

 you its past successes and failures, declares the 

 year it came into full bearing, the time of the big 

 wind or the ice storm that broke so many large 

 limbs, and you can even give a shrewd guess as 

 to whether the tree has been a profitable in- 

 vestment or not. It is as if the owner kept an 

 account with each individual tree and opened up 

 to you his book of record for this one." 



