734 Handbook of Nature-Study 



Spring Work — i. At what date do the young leaves appear upon your 

 tree ? What color are they ? Look carefully to see how each leaf was folded 

 in the bud. Were all the leaves folded in the same way? Are the young 

 leaves thin, downy and tender? Do they stand out straight as did the old 

 leaves last autumn, or do they droop? Why? Will they change position 

 and stand out as they grow stronger ? Why do the leaves stand out from 

 the twigs in order to get sunshine ? What would happen to a tree if it lost 

 all its leaves in spring and summer ? Tell all of the things you know which 

 the leaves do for the tree ? 



2. Are there any blossoms on your tree in the spring? If so, how do 

 they look? Are the blossoms which bear the fruit on different trees from 

 those that bear the pollen, or are these flowers placed separately on the same 

 tree ? Or does the same flower which produces the pollen also produce the 

 seed?. Do the insects carry the pollen from flower to flower, or does the 

 wind do this for your tree ? What sort of seeds are formed by these flowers ? 

 How are the seeds scattered and planted? 



3. At what date does your tree stand in full leaf? What color is it 

 now? What birds do you find visiting it ? What insects? What animals 

 seek its shade? Do the squirrels live in it? 



4. Measure the height of your tree as follows : Choose a bright, sunny 

 morning for this. , Take a stick 3^ feet long and thrust it in the ground so 

 that three feet will project above the soil. Immediately measure the length 

 of its shadow and of the shadow which your tree makes from its base to the 

 shadow of its topmost twigs. Supposing that the shadow from the stick is 

 4 feet long and the shadow from your tree is 80 feet long, then your example 

 will be: 4 ft. 13 ft.:: 80 ft.:? Which will make the tree 60 feet high. 



To measure the circumference of the tree, take the trunk three feet from 

 the ground and measure it exactly with a tape measure. To find the thick- 

 ness of the trunk, divide the circumference just found by 3.15. 



Supplementary Reading — Among Green Trees, Rogers; Chap. I in A 

 Primer of Forestry, Pinchot; Part I in A First Book of Forestry, Roth; 

 Chapter IV in Practical Forestry, Gifford. 



LESSON CLXXXIX 



How TO Make Leaf Prints 



A very practical help in interesting children in trees, is to encourage them 

 to make portfolios of leaf -prints of all the trees of the region. Although the 

 process is mechanical, yet the fact that every print must be correctly labeled 

 makes for useful knowledge. One of my treasured possessions is such a 

 portfolio made by the lads of St. Andrews School of Richmond, Va., who 

 were guided and inspired in this work by their teacher, Professor W. W. 

 Gillette. The impressions were made in green ink and the results are as 

 beautiful as works of art. Professor Gillette gave me my first lesson in 

 making leaf prints. 



Material — i. A smooth slate, or better, a thick plate of glass, about 

 12 X 15 inches. 



2. A tube of printer's ink, either green or black, and costing 50 cents; 

 one tube contains a sufficient supply of ink for making several hundred 

 prints. Or a small quantity of printer's ink may be purchased at any 

 printing office. 



