Only the growing and open season is thought to be attractive in the country. The winter is bare and cheerless. The trees are naked. The flowers are under the snow. The birds have flown. The only bright and cheery spot is the winter fireside. But even there the farmer has so much time that he does not know what to do with it. Only those who have little time, appreciate its value.
But the winter is not lifeless and charmless. It is only dormant. The external world fails to interest us because we have not been trained to see and know it; and also because the rigorous weather and the snow prevent us from going afield. In the spring, summer, and fall, the hours are full to overflowing with life and interest. On every hand we are in contact with nature. If the farmer's winter is to be more enjoyable the farmer must have more points of contact with the winter world. One of the best and most direct of these points of sympathy is an interest in the winter aspects of trees.
Fig. 203. Small-fruited Shagbark Hickory.
Fig. 204. Pignut Hickory. This and [Fig. 203] are from "Lessons with Plants."
a. The Structure of the Tree-top.
In the summer time we distinguish the kinds of trees chiefly by means of the shape and the foliage. In winter the foliage is gone; but the shape remains, and the framework of the tree is also conspicuous. Trees are as distinct in winter as in summer; and in some respects their characters are more apparent and pronounced.
Observe the outline of a tree against the dull winter sky. It does not matter what kind of tree it is. Note its height, shape, and size of top, how many branches there are, how the branches are arranged on the main trunk, the direction of the branches, whether the twigs are few or many, crooked or straight.
