VII 



LOCUSTS AND OTHEE POD-BEAEEBS 



The pod-bearing trees are the connectirig 

 links between the plant and the tree world. 

 They belong to a variety of families, but their 

 fruits prove their relationship to the peas and 

 beans of the garden. Many of them also carry 

 the resemblance further, bearing flowers of the 

 sweet pea type. 



The yellow locust is perhaps the most fa- 

 miliar pod-bearing tree. We often find it grow- 

 ing in little clumps in the woodland, and along 

 the country roadside. We may see it at its best 

 in the deep, rich soil of the Appalachian Moun- 

 taiasi. There it grows to its greatest height, 

 about eighty feet, and produces its most valu- 

 able timber. The Indians prized locust wood 

 for bows, and carried the tree from the moun- 

 tains to the low countries, both east and west. 

 No American tree is more common in Europe. 

 It is planted in parks and gardens, in hedges 

 and OQppices, along railrpad embankments, and 

 in sandy stretches to retain the soil. It is also 



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