LII 
FIRE INSURANCE FOR TREES 
I SN’T IT ODD that trees carry fire insurance, that they 
really do prepare to meet such emergencies as the loss 
of all their leaves by fire or otherwise! 
Trees, of course, cannot live very long without leaves. 
A fire through the woods might sear all their leaves but 
might not be severe enough to kill their trunks or limbs. 
Caterpillars might devour the leaves but might not in¬ 
jure the branches. 
The trees have buds which they hold in reserve for 
years awaiting just such times as these. When this sort 
of thing happens, these buds rush new leaves quickly to 
the rescue. 
When a new twig grows on a tree, it has leaves arranged 
along it at regular spaces, depending on what sort of twig 
it is. When these leaves fall off, there are scars on the 
twigs to show where they grew. 
Just above every one of these leaf scars is a bud for 
other leaves or another twig that may come later. As a 
twig grows older and branches out, every branch comes 
from an old leaf scar. One can tell from these scars just 
where the new twigs will grow. 
But twigs do not spring from every leaf scar. The 
buds lie ready beneath the bark but they do not develop. 
They are held in reserve. They are the insurance policy 
of the tree. 
It is the nature of trees to get their leaves in the spring. 
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