The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-11-29
SOME USES OF TREES.
Their Value to Humanity Before
 Touched by the Woodmans Axe

Touched by the Woodman's Axe. Utilitarians consider the trunk the important part of the tree The trunk
 is wise makeshft of nature which
 towers aloft, and tries to lift the vital
 organs of the trees-the leaves-out of
 harms way and into purer air and | brighter sunshine. Beneath the ground the strong roots and rotlets have hun dreds of eager thirsty mouths which take nourishment from the earth. Wa ter and mineral matter are carried up- ward by the process of capillary attrac- tion to the leaves in the crown and
 the branches for digestion and assim-
 ilation. A leafess tree stands little
 chance of living. Trees denuded of
 mischevous things are deprived of
 their stomachs and lungs at once. Every leaf on a tree is increasingly
 industrious day and night. Examine
 the linden leaf, Or, in fact, and leaf
 will do-the truth applies to all-and
 notice how its surface is spread to
 catch the sunshine. The under side of
 the leaf has a different appearance.
 The tsse is rendered and a network of
 breathing pores. A section placed un-
 der the objective of the microscope re-
 veals tiny cells filled with a greenish
 liquid called chlorophyl, which plays an important part in the domestic econ omy of the tree. When undigested food
 from the ground has been carried to the leaves the chlorophyl seizes it, and ,a it,t3 ,,f iuhf ol, it to nourishment. The chlorophyl also breaks up the carbon diox- idle with which it comes into con tact, and liberating the oxygen, sends it out into the atmosphere.
 Digested food materials are carried from the leaves to all parts of the tree and aid in its growth. Leaves, as the lungs, are necessary in the process of breathing. Like animals the tree needs oxygen and breathes much after the manner of human being. Not only is the life giving air taken into the lungs, or leaves but it is inhaled through tiny openings in the bark, just as men and animals transpire through the skin. These tiny breathing holes are called lenticels, and may be seen plainly on the bark of cherry and many other kinds of trees. As the tree drinks water it sweats and exhales water vapor along with the oxygen cast off from the carbon dioxide.
 Tons and tons of moisture are evap- orated from wooded areas. This is an other beneficial acs. Water vapor in the atmosphere is essential to agricul- ture. Trees transpire through cracks and Assures in the bark where the lem ticels are hidden from sight This is true in old trees. From time to time scientists have computed the leaf area of trees and the results have been astonishing. An ordinary linden leaf has a surface of 10 square inches. | this by the number of leaves on ab ranch and calculate the leafage area of the tree. This entire surface Is iberating oxygen and water vapor day and night.
 In the arid sections of the west the | people are beginning to see that for estry and irrigation are the factors which will count for their prosperity. About one million square miles, or more than one third of the United States, is forest land. The destruction of for tSlS IlaS beeI SO ekJIdNdSdHC tnaC the government has taken the matter in ,and and decided on 3S reservations ! where the forests will be under inteli- i, gent supervision. There has been ome misunderstanding in regard to hese reserves, although the intention s to preserve the forests and encourage he growth of young trees while at the ame time the land available for settle nent will be increased. As forests con- erve the rainfall and influence the hu- nidity of the atmosphere, newly plant d forests will wedge in between farms n the reservations and farms pene- rate the clearings in old forests. Sheep lerders and settlers must be taught in- elligent forestry and tree wisdom n;,st 'e spread broadcast over the land be-