/>’)' THE WAY EWE 
60 
3 V TI I 3 WAYS I U K 
Published on the tenth of each month 
and August. 
The official organ of the Wisconsin 
Audubon Societies. 
except July 
» 
and Illinois 
Twenty-five cents per year. Single Copies 3 cts. 
All communications should be sent to Miss Ruth 
Marshall, Appleton, Wis. 
NATURE STUDY IN SCHOOL. 
VIII.. The Trees in Winter. 
To many the idea of studying trees or any 
plants in winter is incongruous; even high 
schools until a short time ago gave courses 
in botany only in the spring and 
fall. That plants can be alive, even 
210 winn’, in winter is hard to be- 
lieve until one investigates the matter. 0t 
course we soon learn that many plants in this 
' region simply cease their acti\ ities and go 
into a dormant or resting state on the ap¬ 
proach of cold weather. W hy do buds be¬ 
gin to open so quickly in the first warm days 
of spring and why does the sap begin to run 
before the snow is gone if trees are not 
really alive all winter? Large numbers of 
plants, among them most of our trees, form 
their buds in the late summer and fall, make 
all things ready, then conserve their energies, 
lop of all superfluities like leaves and go in¬ 
fo a resting state for the winter months. 
Cut some twigs from various trees and 
keep their ends in water in a warm room. You 
may get a little foretaste of spring in the 
opening of the buds. You may even get the 
blossoms of the apple and plum long before 
their time. Any home and any school can do 
this. The children may be asked this ques¬ 
tion, Is light or heat the more important in 
causing the unfolding of the buds. 
So far frOm its being q very un¬ 
favorable time to study trees, winter 
is really the best time to begin. For 
when their activities commence we see lit¬ 
tle but the foliage; in winter we see best 
their other characters. The general form of 
the tree is a character we must learn be¬ 
fore we can become familiar with it. It will 
enable us to recognize a tree at a distance. 
How much of the beauty of a landscape is 
due to the froms of the trees in it. And at 
no time do trees show their characteristic 
forms so well as in winter. Look at an elm. 
Its wide triangular top. drooping limbs end¬ 
ing in a tracery of fine branches against a 
background of winter sky. Now contrast the 
maples, and notice the difference in shape 
of the top, in branching, in position of twigs. 
You can understand why winter is the best 
of times to learn the forms of trees. Point 
out these things to the children; they may ob; 
serve them on their way to school oi eten 
from the windows. 
Then there is the fascinating study of buds, 
each tree having its charactenstic kind. 
What is a bud, anyway? A little branch, 
stem, leaves, even flowers, lolded and packed 
with the greatest skill. Are flowers and leaves 
in the same buds? Which open first? Notice 
what protection is given these tiny structures. 
What wrapping of hardy scales and packing 
and waterproofing of wax. 
The arrangement of buds will help greatly 
in identifying trees. Notice that nearly all, 
trees have either the opposite or the al¬ 
ternate arrangement of buds; that is, two 
buds come out opposite each other from the 
same point (node) on the stem, or only one. 
Follow the twig up and see how the buds 
on the upper nodes lie with respect to the 
lower, and think of the reason for^iis. Which 
method of arrangement does thA elm follow? 
the maple? Children may be interested in 
these points by asking them to bring to school 
as many kinds of twigs as they can. (Don’t 
let them injure or disfigure the trees in doing 
this; branches should be cut, not broken off.) 
Then let them sort the twigs into two piles 
according o the arrangement of buds. the 
next step, to identify all kinds is made easier. 
The maples and elms are perhaps best to start 
with; teach a few kinds thoroughly, and the 
others will come easily. 
Then there is the bark of the tree to study, 
the maple? Children may be interested in 
rough or smooth? What do the cracks in 
the bark mean and is there any pecularity 
about them? Sometimes the bark is the part 
which reveals most quickly the identity of 
the tree, and what time so good as winter 
to learn this? 
Of the “evergreen” or cone-bearing trees 
there is much to be said. Their leaves are 
peculiar and their fruit is the cone. Their 
appearance is much the same to us at ah 
times. To start with, notice the arrange¬ 
ment of the needle leaves of the pines and 
the spruces. You will soon learn them as 
classes. Then, this well known, knowledge 
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