the needle
causes it to seem to grow merely in the straight, outstanding row on
each side of the stem; look closely and you will see the twist.

The needles are flat and short, hardly one inch in length; they are
grooved along the top and the ends are decidedly blunt; in color they
are dark bluish-green on the upper side and silvery-white underneath.
The bark is gray, and you will find little gummy blisters on the
tree-trunk. From these the healing Canada balsam is obtained. The short
cones, often not over two inches in length, the longest seldom more than
four inches, stand erect on top of the small branches, and when young
are of a purplish color.

From Maine to Minnesota the balsam-fir grows in damp woods and mountain
bogs, and you will find it southward along the Alleghany Mountains from
Pennsylvania to North Carolina.

=Spruce=

The spruce, red, black, and white, differs in many respects from the
balsam-fir: the needles are sharp-pointed, not blunt, and instead of
being flat like the balsam-fir, they are four-sided and cover the
branchlet on all sides, causing it to appear rounded or bushy and not
flat. The spruce-gum sought by many is found in the seams of the bark,
which, unlike the smooth balsam-fir, is scaly and of a brown color.
Early spring is the time to look for spruce-gum. Spruce is a soft wood,
splits readily and is good for the frames and ribs of boats, also for
paddles and oars, and the bark makes a covering for temporary shelters.

=Hemlock=

This tree is good for thatching a lean-to when balsam-fir is not to be
found, and its bark can be used in the way of shingles.

The cones are small and hang down from the branches; they do not stand
up alert like those of the balsam-fir, nor are they purple in color,
being rather of a bright red-brown, and when very young, tan color. The
wood is not easy to split--don't try it, or your hatchet will suffer in
consequence and the pieces will be twisted as a usual thing. The
southern variety, however, often splits straight.

[Illustration: Horse-chestnut.

Sugar-maple.

Alder.

Ink impressions of leaves.]

[Illustration: Balsam-Fir.

Spruce.

Hemlock.]

[Illustration: White oak.

Linden.

Ink impressions of leaves.]

[Illustration: Pitch-pine and cone.

Sycamore leaf and fruit of sycamore.

(The buttonball.)]

=Pine=

The pine-tree accommodates itself to almost any kind of soil, high, low,
moist, or dry, often growing along the