FORESTRY LESSONS ON HOME WOODLANDS 7 



Collect samples of winter buds from leading kinds of trees, label- 

 ing with name of tree, place of collection, and date. 



Study of winter buds, with drawings of buds and twig arrange- 

 ment. 



Collect tree blossoms from red and silver maples, willows, catalpa, 

 elm, oak, dogwood, tulip poplar, basswood, buckeye, and magnolia. 



Field study. 1 — Now to the woods, that you may come into personal 

 touch with the forest trees of your own neighborhood. 



Leaves : The leaf is the trade-mark of the trees. Gather the 

 leaves, study and compare them to gain a first knowledge of the trees 

 as individuals, then as groups. The tulip poplar writes its name 

 plainly upon its square-cut leaf, but the boxelder has a leaf some 

 what resembling the ash, though its seed is similar to the maple key. 

 (Fig. 3) Wherein does the ash leaf differ from that of the locust or 

 the hickory ? The oaks are divided into the red and the white oaks. 

 What is a typical leaf of each class? 



You will probably begin this study in the autumn, so before the 

 leaves fall and your memory of them fails press and either mount 

 them or place in paper folders, and label with name, place where 

 found, and date. 



If the foliage of the black gum is now reddening, that of the red 

 gum will also soon begin to color, and presently all the woods will 

 seem as if on fire. The autumn colors will help to identify your 

 trees and beautify your herbarium. A few of the broadleaf trees 

 and all the conifers except the larches and bald cypress are evergreen. 

 Separate the conifers into the pines, spruces, cedars, or other cone 

 bearers of your woods, and divide into as many species as you find. 

 Draw a diagram, and under the two heads, broadleaf trees and coni- 

 fers, group the trees that you identify, with a short description of 

 each. 



Fruit : While you are gathering leaves, bring in the fruit, or seed, 

 that you find — the pulpy fruit, nuts, berries, pods, winged seed, and 

 tufted seed of the broadleaf trees and the cones of the conifers, and 

 add to your herbarium. 



Buds : As the leaves fall, gather the bare branches and study the 

 winter buds that hold next year's leaves and flowers, from the big 

 bud that tips the horsechestnut to the long, sharp bud of the beech. 

 Label them as you did the leaves. 



Bark: The sycamore bark tells its own story, but do you know 

 the bark of the elm from that of the ash ? Contrast the glove-fitting 

 bark of the beech with the rough-and-ready coat of the shagbark 

 hickory. 



Branches: Each tree has its own way of branching, though its 

 form is not always so definite as the red cedar spire. What is typi- 

 cal of the white-oak bough? The leaves of the scarlet and the pin 

 oak are considerably alike, but what is the character of each tree? 

 Draw a leafless elm. 



Flowers: When spring comes and the buds are bursting, do not 

 forget the flowers of the forest trees. They form a clock dial for the 

 advancing year. So, as they bloom in succession, bring in the blos- 

 soms of the willow, the maple, the elm, and the cottonwood, until 

 you have gathered the last flower of June, and seed are on the wing. 



1 The sections on field study in Topics I and III were contributed by Miss Lucy Keller- 

 house, formerly of the Forest Service. 



