FORESTRY FOR 4-H CLUBS 7 



Make a study of winter buds, with drawings of buds and the twig arrange- 

 ments. 



Collect blossoms from red and silver maples, willows, catalpa, American elm, 

 oak, flowering dogwood, yellowpoplar or tuliptree, American basswood or linden, 

 buckeye, and magnolia. 



Field study. ^ — 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-hand knowledge of the trees as individuals, 

 then as groups. The yellowpoplar writes its name plainly upon its square-cut 

 leaf, but the boxelder has a leaf somewhat resembling that of 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 sample leaves and either mount them or 

 place them in paper folders, and label with name, place where found, and date 



(fig. 4). 



If the foliage of the black tupelo is reddening, that of the sweetgum will soon 

 begin to change, and presently all the woods will be brilliantly colored. 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 baldcypress 

 are evergreen. Separate the conifers into the pines, spruces, cedars, or other cone 

 bearers of your woods, and divide into as may species as you find. Make a table, 

 and under the two heads — broadleaf trees and conifers — group the trees that you 

 identify, with a short description of each. 



Fruit: While gathering leaves, bring in any fruit or seed found — 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 horse- 

 chestnut to the long, sharp bud of the beech. Label them as you did the leaves. 



Bark: The American sycamore or plane tree 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 American beech with the rough-and-ready coat of the shagbark hickory, and 

 note the difference in barks of other kinds of trees. 



Branches: Each tree has its own way of branching, though its form is not always 

 so definite as the red cedar spire. What is typical of the white oak bough? The 

 leaves of the scarlet and 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 provide a "clock dial" for the advancing year. 

 As they bloom in succession, bring in the blossoms of the willow, the maple, the 

 American elm, and the eastern cottonwood, until you have gathered the last 

 flower of June and seed are on the wing. 



While you are getting acquainted with your trees, you will learn that they prefer 

 certain localities; you will find the willow by the stream, the yellowpoplar or tulip- 

 tree in the valley, the red oak on the higher ground, for one needs much moisture 

 in its soil while another will grow in a drier situation. You will discover that cer- 

 tain trees "hobnob" together because of similar requirements of soil, mositure, 

 and light. In this way you will learn to group your trees into forest typ^s when 

 you begin your practical work as the forester of your home woodland. 



^ The sections on field study in the sections on Forest Trees and Forest Types and Protective 

 Effects of Woods were contributed by Miss Lucy Kellerhouse, formerly of the U. S. Forest Service. 



