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HOW TO IDENTIFY TREES The Pines The Spruce and Hemlock The Red Cedar and Arbor-vitae

HOW TO IDENTIFY TREES The Larch and Cypress The Horsechestnut, Ash, and Maple Trees Told by their Form Trees Told by their Bark or Trunk The Oaks and Chestnut

HOW TO IDENTIFY TREES The Hickories, Walnut, and Butternut Tulip Tree, Sweet Gum, Linden, Magnolia, Locust, Catalpa, Dogwood, Mulberry, and Osage Orange

THE STRUCTURE AND REQUIREMENTS OF TREES

WHAT TREES TO PLANT AND HOW Trees for the Lawn Trees for the Street Trees for Woodland Trees for Screening

THE CARE OF TREES Insects Injurious to Trees and How to Combat Them Important Insects Tree Diseases Pruning Trees Tree Repair

FORESTRY What Forestry Is and What It Does Care of the Woodland

OUR COMMON WOODS: THEIR IDENTIFICATION, PROPERTIES AND USES Woods Without Pores Woods with Pores

AN OUTDOOR LESSON ON TREES

INTRODUCTION

A good many popular books on trees have been published in the United States in recent years. The continually increasing demand for books of this character indicates the growing public interest not only in the trees that we pass in our daily walks, but also in the forest considered as a community of trees, because of its aesthetic and protective value and its usefulness as a source of important economic products.

As a nation, we are thinking more about trees and woods than we were wont to do in the years gone by. We are growing to love the trees and forests as we turn more and more to outdoor life for recreation and sport. In our ramblings along shady streets, through grassy parks, over wooded valleys, and in mountain wildernesses we find that much more than formerly we are asking ourselves what are these trees, what are the leaf, flower, twig, wood and habit characteristics which distinguish them from other trees; how large do they grow; under what conditions of soil and climate do they thrive best; what are their enemies and how can they be overcome; what is their value for wood and other useful products; what is their protective value; are they useful for planting along streets and in parks and in regenerating forests; how can the trees of our streets and lawns be preserved and repaired as they begin to fail from old age or other causes? All these questions and many more relating to the important native and exotic trees commonly found in the states east of the Great Lakes and north of Maryland Mr. Levison has briefly answered in this book. The author's training as a forester and his experience as a professional arboriculturist has peculiarly fitted him to speak in an authoritative and interesting way about trees and woods.

The value of this book is not in new knowledge, but in the simple statement of the most important facts relating to some of our common trees, individually and collectively considered. A knowledge of trees and forests adds vastly to the pleasures of outdoor life. The more we study trees and the more intimate our knowledge of the forest as a unit of vegetation in which each tree, each flower, each animal and insect has its part to play in the complete structure, the greater will be our admiration of the wonderful beauty and variety exhibited in the trees and woods about us.

J.W. TOUMEY, Director, Yale University Forest School.

NEW HAVEN, CONN., June, 1914.

STUDIES OF TREES

HOW TO IDENTIFY TREES

There are many ways in which the problem of identifying trees may be approached. The majority attempt to recognize trees by their leaf characters. Leaf characters, however, do not differentiate the trees during the other half of the year when they are bare. In this chapter the characterizations are based, as far as possible, on peculiarities that are evident all year round. In almost every tree there is some one trait that marks its individuality and separates it, at a glance, from all other trees. It may be the general form of the tree, its mode of branching, bark, bud or fruit. It may be some variation in color, or, in case of the evergreen trees, it may be the number and position of the needles or leaves. The species included in the following pages have thus been arranged in groups based on these permanent characters. The individual species are further described by a distinguishing paragraph in which the main character of the tree is emphasized in heavy type.

The last paragraph under each species is also important because it classifies all related species and distinguishes those that are liable to be confused with the particular tree under consideration.

The pines are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, and include about 80 distinct species with over 600 varieties. The species enumerated here are especially common in the eastern part of the United states, growing either native in the forest or under cultivation in the parks. The pines form a very important class of timber trees, and produce beautiful effects when planted in groups in the parks.

THE WHITE PINE

Form and size: A tall tree, the stateliest of the evergreens.

Range: Eastern North America.

Soil and location: Prefers a deep, sandy soil, but will grow in almost any soil.

Value for planting: Aside from its value as an ornamental tree, the white pine is an excellent tree to plant on abandoned farms and for woodlands and windbreaks throughout the New England States, New York, Pennsylvania, and the Lake States.

Commercial value: The wood is easily worked, light, durable, and will not warp. It is used for naval construction, lumber, shingles, laths, interior finish, wooden ware, etc.

THE PITCH PINE

Form and size: It is a low tree of uncertain habit and extremely rough looking at every stage of its life. It is constantly full of dead branches and old cones which persist on the tree throughout the year.

Range: Eastern United States.

Soil and location: Grows in the poorest and sandiest soils where few other trees will grow. In New Jersey and on Long Island where it is native, it proves so hardy and persistent that it often forms pure stands excluding other trees.

Enemies: None of importance.

Value for planting: Well adapted for the sea coast and other exposed places. It is of extremely uncertain habit and is subject to the loss of the lower limbs. It frequently presents a certain picturesqueness of outline, but it could not be used as a specimen tree on the lawn.

Commercial value: The wood is coarse grained and is used for rough lumber, fuel, and charcoal.

THE SCOTCH PINE

Form and size: A medium-sized tree with a short crown.

Range: Europe, Asia, and eastern United States.

Soil and location: Will do best on a deep, rich, sandy soil, but will also grow on a dry, porous soil.

Enemies: In Europe the Scotch pine has several insect enemies, but in America it appears to be free from injury.

Value for planting: Suitable for windbreaks and woodland planting. Many excellent specimens may also be found in our parks.

Commercial value: In the United States, the wood is chiefly used for fuel, though slightly used for barrels, boxes, and carpentry. In Europe, the Scotch pine is an important timber tree.

The spruces are pyramidal-shaped trees, with tall and tapering trunks, thickly covered with branches, forming a compact crown. They are widely distributed throughout the cold and temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, where they often form thick forests over extended areas.

There are eighteen recognized species of spruce. The Norway spruce has been chosen as a type for this group because it is so commonly planted in the northeastern part of the United States.

The hemlock is represented by seven species, confined to temperate North America, Japan, and Central and Western China.

THE NORWAY SPRUCE

Form and size: A large tree with a straight, undivided trunk and a well-shaped, conical crown .

Range: Northern Europe, Asia, northern North America.

Soil and location: Grows in cool, moist situations.

Value for planting: Commonly planted as an ornamental tree and for hedges. It does well for this purpose in a cool northern climate, but in the vicinity of New York City and further south it does not do as well, losing its lower branches at an early age, and becoming generally scraggly in appearance.

Commercial value: The wood is light and soft and is used for construction timber, paper pulp, and fuel.

It is essentially a northern tree growing in all sorts of locations along the streams and on rocky mountain slopes as far north as the Arctic Sea and Alaska. It often appears as an ornamental tree as far south as New York and Pennsylvania.

It covers large areas in various parts of northern North America and grows to its largest size in Manitoba. The black spruce has little value as an ornamental tree.

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