nited
States in recent years. The continually increasing demand for books of
this character indicates the growing public interest not only in the
trees that we pass in our daily walks, but also in the forest considered
as a community of trees, because of its aesthetic and protective value
and its usefulness as a source of important economic products.

As a nation, we are thinking more about trees and woods than we were
wont to do in the years gone by. We are growing to love the trees and
forests as we turn more and more to outdoor life for recreation and
sport. In our ramblings along shady streets, through grassy parks, over
wooded valleys, and in mountain wildernesses we find that much more than
formerly we are asking ourselves what are these trees, what are the
leaf, flower, twig, wood and habit characteristics which distinguish
them from other trees; how large do they grow; under what conditions of
soil and climate do they thrive best; what are their enemies and how can
they be overcome; what is their value for wood and other useful
products; what is their protective value; are they useful for planting
along streets and in parks and in regenerating forests; how can the
trees of our streets and lawns be preserved and repaired as they begin
to fail from old age or other causes? All these questions and many more
relating to the important native and exotic trees commonly found in the
states east of the Great Lakes and north of Maryland Mr. Levison has
briefly answered in this book. The author's training as a forester and
his experience as a professional arboriculturist has peculiarly fitted
him to speak in an authoritative and interesting way about trees and
woods.

The value of this book is not in new knowledge, but in the simple
statement of the most important facts relating to some of our common
trees, individually and collectively considered. A knowledge of trees
and forests adds vastly to the pleasures of outdoor life. The more we
study trees and the more intimate our knowledge of the forest as a unit
of vegetation in which each tree, each flower, each animal and insect
has its part to play in the complete structure, the greater will be our
admiration of the wonderful beauty and variety exhibited in the trees
and woods about us.

J.W. TOUMEY,
Director, Yale University Forest School.

NEW HAVEN, CONN.,
June, 1914.

STUDIES OF TREES

CHAPTER I

HOW TO IDENTIFY TREES

There are many ways in w