It is only in recent years that the American people have begun to realize the necessity of the conservation of our forests, and in many sections much has been done to redeem the criminal thoughtlessness in destroying our forests and to restore those devastated by forest fires. Reforestation operations have accomplished a great deal, and the organization to prevent forest fires emphasizes the old adage that "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Also the people are being taught correct forestry practices, such as cutting only ripe trees and allowing the rest to grow, instead of clearing the land entirely, as was formerly done so universally.
BALD CYPRESS DRAPED WITH SPANISH "MOSS."
This tree is almost entirely hidden by this "moss," which is really a flowering plant of the Pineapple family. Range: In swamps and along rivers from Delaware to Florida, west to Texas, north to Missouri and southern Indiana. Photograph by G. Clyde Fisher.
The life history of every tree is interesting; how it breathes by means of its leaves, just as the animals do by means of gills or lungs; how it manufactures starch by means of the green matter in the leaves; how the starch is changed to sugar and other substances which are carried to other parts of the tree in the sap; how the sap flows upward in the vessels in the sap-wood and downward in the vessels of the inner bark; how the entire heart-wood of a tree is dead and the only living part is the sap-wood and the innermost bark.
One of the first things we shall want to know when we get out into the woods is the name of the tree that interests us. For this purpose the books given as references under "Trees" will be useful.
TIMBER WOLVES ON THE TRAIL
Closely related to foxes and dogs. Range: Formerly over most of North America. Habitat Group in American Museum of Natural History.
