FOREST TKECS 



out Ms initiative and guidance and that of the For- 

 est Service, the production of this handbook at the 

 present time would have been well-nigh impossible. 



The inclusion in this book of the botanical or 

 scientific names of the trees is thought advisable in 

 order to avoid the confusion likely to arise from the 

 use of the common names alone, which often vary 

 not only in different States, but even in separate 

 localities within the same State. 



A similar confusion has also been observed in the 

 use of the scientific names of certain trees because 

 of the difficulty of knowing which tree the botanist 

 had in mind when he gave it the name. Hence, the 

 practice has arisen of attaching the initials or ab- 

 breviation of the name of the botanist who gave the 

 plant that particular scientific name. It seems wise, 

 therefore, to follow the usual custom and give in 

 full these scientific names for the sake of accuracy, 

 but the general reader is not urged to burden his 

 memory with them. 



Trees are the largest and oldest of living crea- 

 tures. They are in one way or another perhaps 

 more closely associated with our own daily lives 

 than is any other class of living things, yet most of 

 us know less about them and can hardly even tell 

 one of these friends from another. It is hoped that 

 this book will furnish information which will enable 

 even the child to know our common trees at sight, 

 and will stimulate so great an interest in the life 

 and habits of these denizens of our forests that all 

 North Carolinians may learn to appreciate, foster 

 and protect the great heritage of our trees. 



In using this book it should be borne in mind that 

 nearly two-thirds of the area of our State is still 

 classed as forest land ; that most of this has had the 

 greater part or all of the merchantable timber cut 

 from it; and that through destructive lumbering. 



