Do they appear to radiate from the trunk?
How do they appear to radiate from the trunk?
How do the main branches compare in size with the trunk?
Are they crooked or straight?
The manner of branch growth must be studied carefully.
We see in our elm ([Fig. 211]) that the trunk divides at about a fourth of its height into several main branches, while in the case of the pepperidge ([Fig. 207]) the trunk extends to the very top of the tree, the branches being small in proportion to the trunk, not varying much in size, and taking an oblique downward direction. Notice the weird expression of these trees with their crookedly bent tops, one side of each trunk being almost devoid of branches.
The trunk of the sassafras ([Fig. 208]) continues nearly to the top of this tree, while the large branches, though unsymmetrical, give it a well-balanced appearance.
Again in our picture of the thorn-apple ([Fig. 209]), we are at once impressed with its irregular form, the branches on the left taking a more oblique direction than those of the other side, the trunk dividing a little short of half the height of the tree.
For an example, let our subject be an elm tree ([Fig. 211]); our drawing to be rendered in outline.