PART I 
CHAPTER I 
TREES AND SHRUBS 
Just as a farm community is made up of cattle, 
sheep, and chickens, as well as men and women, 80 
must herbs and shrubs be considered a part of the 
forest. It is all the life found in and upon the soil of 
a given location that composes the forest; trees, shrubs, 
herbs and grasses are all parts of the forest community. 
To recognize all the members of a forest community 
is quite difficult and as a rule only the most expert 
botanists and dendrologists can call all the shrubs and 
trees by name. To know the most important citizens, 
however, gives much additional interest to walks in the 
woods, for it is like recognizing an old friend when a 
familiar pine or oak is seen. Not to know the more 
common trees and shrubs makes a nutting trip or scout 
hike like a stroll in an absolutely strange town where 
no familiar faces are noticed. 
The total number of tree species in the United States 
is over five hundred of which about one hundred and 
fifty are used to some degree as lumber. Each forest 
region has its dozen or score of important trees which 
may be easily recognized and if these are known the 
remainder can be easily learned later. * 
The usual method of identifying our trees is by means 
of leaf, bark and general form while in the winter time 
1On account’ of the large number of trees and shrubs in the 
United States, it is impossible to cover all of them in a book of 
this kind. A few of the most important have been selected from 
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