cedar]

{128}

There are many different kinds of pines. They are best distinguished
by their cones.

Hemlock (_Tsuga Canadensis_)

Evergreen. Sixty to seventy feet high. Wood pale, soft, coarse,
splintery, not durable. Bark full of tannin. Leaves 1/2 to 3/4 inches
long; cones about the same. Its knots are so hard that they quickly
turn the edge of an axe or gap it as a stone might; these are probably
the hardest vegetable growth in our woods. Its topmost twig usually
points easterly. Nova Scotia to Minnesota, south to Delaware and
Michigan.

[Illustration: Cottonwood]

[Illustration: Shagbark]

[Illustration: Walnut]

Red Cedar (_Juniperus Virginiana_)

Evergreen. Any height up to 100 feet. Wood, heart a beautiful bright
red; sap wood nearly white; soft, weak, but extremely durable as
posts, etc. Makes a good bow. The tiny scale-like leaves are 3 to 6 to
the inch; the berry-like cones are light blue and 1/4 of an inch in
diameter. It is found in dry places from Nova Scotia to Florida and
west to British Columbia.

Cottonwood (_Populus deltoides_)

Small and rare in the Northeast, but abundant and large {129} in West;
even 150 feet high. Leaves 3 to 6 inches long. Found from Quebec to
Florida and west to the mountains.

Shagbark or White Hickory (_Hicoria ovata_)

A tall forest tree up to 120 feet high. Known at once by the great
angular slabs of bark hanging partly detached from its main trunk,
forced off by the growth of wood, but too tough to fall. Its leaves
are 8 to 14 inches long, with 5 to 7 broad leaflets.

Black Walnut (_Juglans nigra_)

A magnificent forest tree up to 150 feet high. Wood, a dark
purplish-brown or gray; hard, close-grained, strong, very durable in
weather or ground work, and heavy; fruit round, 1-3/4 inches through.
Leaflets 13 to 23, and 3 to 5 inches long. Found from Canada to the
Gulf.

White Walnut or Butternut (_Juglans cinerea_)

A much smaller tree than the last, rarely 100 feet high, with much
smoother bark, leaves similar but larger and coarser, compound of
fewer leaflets, but the leaflet stalks and the new twigs are covered
with sticky down. Leaves 15 to 30 inches long, leaflets 11 to 19 in
number and 3 to 5 inches long; fruit oblong, 2 to 3 inches long. New
Brunswick and Dakota and south to Mississippi.

Common Birch or Aspen-leaved Birch (_Betula populifolia_)

A small tree on dry and poor soil, rarely 50 feet high. Wood soft,