n cradles green,
Rocked by Mother Nature, fed by hands unseen,
Brown coats have the darlings, slips of milky white,
And wings, but that's a secret, they're folded out of sight.

TWIGS AND BUDS

The study of buds is a part of tree study and may be taken as
observation work in the class-room. This somewhat detailed study should
follow the general lessons on tree study.

The materials for the lessons may be collected by the pupils at the time
of the field lesson and kept fresh in a jar of water until required for
use.

LESSON ON TWIGS

~Materials.~--A twig of horse-chestnut about six inches long, for each
pupil.

A twig of the same tree with the leaves still on it.

~Observations.~--The twigs are distributed and the teacher asks the pupils
to examine them and to describe all marks and projections that can be
found on the twig.

Answers are required from the pupils separately. The pupil's answer in
each case should be sufficiently clear for all the class to recognize
the feature that the answer is intended to describe. A few brief
questions will guide the answerer in making his description more
definite, but the description should be the result of the pupil's
observation and expressed in his own words.

The meaning or use of each feature should be discussed, when possible,
immediately after it has been described.

The following features will be discovered and the problems suggested
will be solved:

The brown or greenish-brown bark.

The buds.

One bud (sometimes two) is at the end of the twig.

Some buds are along the side of the twig.

What caused the end bud to grow larger than the others?

There is a leaf scar under each bud.

Of what use is it to the bud to be between the twig and the leaf stalk?

The bands of rings, one or more on each twig.

The tiny oval pores, each surrounded by a little raised band.

The detailed study of the buds is left for a separate lesson.

FURTHER STUDY OF TWIGS

The study in detail of various features is illustrated in the following:

Look closely at the leaf scars and describe them fully, as to shape,
colour, and marks.

Do the scars look like fresh wounds, or are they healed over? Of what
use to the tree is the healing of the scar?

We will learn later that the part of the twig between each pair of bands
of rings represents one year's growth. How old is your twig? Who has the
oldest twig?

Do all twigs grow at the same rate?

Who has the