Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1901-10-14
GREAT VALUE OF TREES
4 FACTOR IN LIFE BEYOND THE
COMMERCIAL ONE.

t1On Ot 1He1r opecies.
Most people have formed the habit
of talking about shade trees, fruit
trees and lumber as If shade, fruit and
building materials were all for which
the trees were good. Or course the
artistic eye looks at them for beauty,
the entomologist as harbors for in
sects and the botanist for herbarium
specimens, but the true lover Of the
tree thinks of 1t in its wide value to
all living things in the universe.
Though trees lack the power Of voll.
tion and -have no nervous system in
the ordinary sense of the word, they
are highly organized forms Of life.
They accomplish a vast amount Of ac-
tual work in a day and earn their liv-
ing as surely as you and l do. Their
work is the worlds work of the unset
fish kind. They struggle for self-pres-
ervation and the perpetuation Of their
species; they return to the soil and to
the atmosphere materials loaned them
for food; they are altruistic in provid-
ing an abundance Of fruit for the use
of others, they furnish grateful shade
to man and beast, are the refuge Of
birds and insects and add to the
beauty of nature.
Think of the linden tree on the hill
side! In autumn 1t sets sail its winged
nuts upon the breeze. Blown down the
hillside, few are buried under the
dry leaves and the soft coverlet Of
winters SHOWS. In March the sun
shine seeks them out. Moisture has
softened the tough shell of the nut.
The tiny embryo within throbs at the
touch of warruth, turns, lifts hand,
and, creeping through a break in the
shell, buries itself In the ground. 1t is
the instructive baby hand grasping a
protecting mother, and the kindly step
mother of the infant tree is Mother
Earth. This first tiny hand is the
hold-fast root. Next comes one waved
aloft to greet the sunshine. This ten
der growth throws aside the out
grown nut shell and develops cell by
cell into trunk, branch, twig and leaf
of the linden tree. Sunshine, warmth
and moisture help 1t along, but the am
bilious little tree knows how to look
out LOT llSelI as Well.
Utilitarians consider the trunk the
important part of tree. The trunk
Is a wise makeshift of nature which
towers aloft and tries to lift the vital
organs of the tree-the leaves-out OF
harms way and into purer air and
brighter sunshine. Beneath the ground
the strong roots and rootlets have
hundreds Of eager, thirsty mouths
which take nourishment from the
earth. Water and mineral matter are
carried upward by the process Of ca
pillary attraction to the leaves in the
crown and the branches for digestion
and assimilation. A leafess tree
stands little chance of living. Trees
denuded of their leaves by caterpillars
and other mischievous things are de-
prived 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, any 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 tissue is tenderer and a network
of breathing pores. A section placed
under the objective of the microscope
reveals tiny cells filled with a greenish
liquid called chlorophyll, which plays
an important part in the domestic
economy of the tree. When undigested
food from the ground has been carried
to the leaves the chlerophyll seizes it,
and under the influence of sunlight
changes its nourishment. The chic
rophyll also breaks up the carbon
dioxide with which 1t comes into con-
tact, and, liberating the oxygen, sends
1t 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 man and animals transpire
through the skin. These tiny breath
ing holes are called lenticels and nay
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 oxy-
gen cast off from the carbon dioXide.
Tons and tons of moisture is evap-
GRATED from wooded areas. This is
another beneficial act. Water vapor
in the atmosphere is essential to agri-
culture. Trees transpire through
cracks and fissures in the bark, where
the lenticels are hidden from sight.
This is especially true in old trees.
From time to time scientists have COM
puted the leaf area Of trees and the
results have been astonishing. An
ordinary linden leaf has q surface Of
ten square inches. Multiply this by
the number Of leaves on a branch and
calculate the LEAKAGE area of the tree.
This entire surface is liberating oxy-
gen and water vapor day and night.
In tlp arid SpctiODs of tho Vast +ha