The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-04-13

The Blossom of the DOgwOod.
 1 Winter is an excellent time to study trees Then they are bare of leaves, and the Individuality of each tree is apparent. In summer a dense curtain of foliage conceals the complex system of branch and twig and all trees are seen as solid masses of green, which | only in exceptional cases show any great variety. Only when the leaves have fallen and the tree stands forth with it's branches outlined against the sky can one see it's structure and note how each separate part of trunk, branch and twig gives to the tree a certain characteristic form. By little study it is as easy to recognize the trees when leafess as when in full fo- liage. To aid in identifying each tree, we have the tree as whole, including its habits of growth, the arrangement and structure of it's branches, and the character of the bark.
 The falling of the leaves in autumn is token of life; for the operation re- veals small bud near the place where the leaf was fastened to the parent stem. These buds contain the leaves for the following year. They are close ly packed away and protected by an outer coat of hard scales from frost
 Throughout the winter they remain in this state, but when the spring arrives and the sap begins to run they swell and open. Tn the various species these buds are different and through them there is afforded a certain clue to the identity of each.
 With these facts in mind, walk through the woods or in one of the parks will be full of interest No tree is more graceful than the elm. A straight trunk rises high and forks into several branches. These spread gradu- ally and divide into smaller branches and twigs till we have the lines which
 sweep from ground to summit in long
 outward curves, and give the parasol-
 like canopy that in summer rises in
 the midst of a meadow or spreads it's
 shade over some village street. The
 maple is another shade tree which Is
 very common in and near New York.
 The species most in use are the hard
 or sugar maple, the soft red or swamp
 maple, and Norway maple. The first
 two are native trees. By examining
 the buds ont can readily tell them
 apart. The sugar maple has small,
 sharply pointed bud, the swamp maple
 rounded red buds in clusters, and the , Norway a larger, oval bud.
 In mentioning the shade trees, the
 horse-chestnut should not be over
 looked. In winter every branch termi- mates in large brown bud, more than an inch long and half an inch thick A coating of sticky yarnsh-like resin
 covers 1t and affords an additional pro-
 tection against the weather. If the bud is cut from tip to base, both leaves and flowers for the coming spring are
 found, packed carefully away in a mass of soft down. The marking
 where the old leaves have been de- tached from the twlgs bears curious resemblance to the footprint of a
 horses hoof, even t the marks the
 nails.
 The twigs of the whte-ash have sim liar markings, but they are semi-circu- lar. The buds are mediun-sized club shaped, brown to almost a black in col. or. The tree is very shapely; 8
 straight gray furrowed trunk spreads . into well-rounded symmetrical head ' A search on the ground beneath tho tree will usually result in finding some of the paddle-shaped winged seeds which ripened in the fall
 The buds of the beech are in marked
 contrast to those of the ash being
 long and slender and very shapelS ! pointed. It seems as if one could ust = them like an awl, and easily bore 2 l hole. The beech is a joy to the cyl r wherever one sees 1t. Its smooth light e gray trunk and wide-spreading branch
 es shine out in the woods Unfortu , nately, this beauty of trunk attracts . the jacknife fien1, and we have man,
 a hacked and marred tree as a test /. monial to a vandalism that canno ' keep it's hands off anything beautiful
 It is the same minimizing insensibl, mental state as that which strips tn,
 outer bark from the white birch an( leaves it disfigured with an ugly scar
 If we look up into tht bare branches O
 the white birch we shall see many lit 2 tie brown, dry catkins hanging iron
 the slender twigs. They are the see.
 cones and often remain through thu
 winter, As long as they are intact tht seeds keep keyed together, but let thu l tip of the cone be broken and it speed
 fly falls to pieces. Each seed is bor J dered by thin membrane which acti
 like wing and allows the wind to car l ry the seed to a distance. The scale: l which He between the seeds have a GU
 rious resemblance to the outline of z . bird with outspread wings. At the enC 7 the twigs are the hard slender cat 7 kins, which, in early spring, before tht g leaves appear, decorate the tree witt a fringe of dropping green tassels.
 Every one is familiar with the largt ' white blossoms of the dogwood N , tree is more beautiful than this, wher l in early May it is covered with mas ] of bloom. Only the initiated, however 5 know that the seeming white petals art ; the bud scales, which, instead of fall : ing, grow into a flower-like shape, anC that the true flowers are clustered to- 3 gether in the little group in the center . These flowers are long in preparation r Even before the berries on the treeI . turn red in the fall small flat butto1 l with little point in the center appears l at the end of the twig. This is tht g flower bud, and until the arrival O
 spring does not change. Then the GOV ( ering scales open out and grow int
 their petal-Iike form. On examining ] the dark mark at the end of thes