The following brief description of a few kinds of common trees and woods, with the different American and Latin names, may be of interest and help to teachers and students of Elementary Sloyd and Whittling:

White Pine, Weymouth Pine, Pinus strobus, is one of the tallest and most stately of our evergreen trees. It sometimes reaches a height of one hundred and twenty feet, with a diameter of three to four feet. Found from Newfoundland to Manitoba and along the Alleghany Mountains to Georgia. Bark of the trunk is lighter and smoother than in the other pines. Leaves or needles, from three to five inches long and grow in clusters of five. Cones, from four to six inches long and about one inch in diameter; cylinder-shaped and slightly curved. Wood is valuable timber, and when freshly cut is of a creamy-white appearance, but becomes light brown on exposure. The wood is free from knots, straight-grained, and soft; not liable to warp and twist, and gives a clean, aromatic smell.

White Pine is excellent for sloyd work, but is expensive. White Wood and Bass Wood are less expensive, and may be used to some extent instead of Pine.

White Wood, Tulip Tree, Liriodendron tulipifera. The Tulip Tree reaches a height of one hundred and ninety feet, with a trunk ten feet in diameter. Found mostly as far south as Alabama and Georgia Common in New England States, but not abundant. Bark, dark ash-color, furrowed. Leaves, alternate, simple, three to five inches long and wide. Wood, light, soft, straight-grained; heartwood light yellow or brown, and the thin sapwood nearly white.

Bass Wood, American Linden, Lime Tree, Bee Tree, Tilia americana. A straight - trunked tree, sixty to eighty feet high and two to four feet in diameter. Found from British America southwest to Virginia. Bark, very thick, dark brown. Inner bark very tough. Is used for mats and coarse rope. Leaves, about four to five inches long and from three to four inches wide. Wood, white, soft, and clear of knots, less valuable than White Wood, owing to its liability to crack in bending.

Sugar Maple, Hard Maple, Rock Maple, Acer saccharinum. A tree fifty to eighty feet high or more. Found from southern Canada through the Northern States. It grows in rich woods, often forming 'groves.' From its sap we get 'maple sugar,'about five to ten pounds from the average tree each season. Bark, light gray and smooth. Leaves, simple, opposite. Wood is white, uniform in texture, hard, strong, tough, and difficult to split. Accidental variations furnish the handsome Bird's - Eye Maple and Curled Maple.

Beech, Fagus ferruginea. A stately tree, about fifty to eighty feet high. Found in rich woods from Nova Scotia to Florida and westward to lower Mississippi basin. Bark, light gray and smooth. Leaves, egg-shaped, three to six inches long and about half as wide. Fruit, a small prickly burr, splitting half-way to the base when ripe. Wood, hard, close-grained, light brown, uniform in color. Medullary rays, large, glossy, and dark brown.

Sweet Gum, Bilsted, Liquidambar styraciflua. Sweet Gum comes from the Witch-hazel family, and is a tree sixty to one hundred feet high, with a trunk two to five feet in diameter. Found from Connecticut to Illinois and southward. Bark, light brown. In the South a spicy gum comes from the bark and is used medicinally. Leaves, simple, alternate, five-pointed, star-shaped, from three to five inches long and three to seven inches broad. Wood, bright reddish-brown, sapwood nearly white, close-grained, not strong, liable to warp in drying, easy to work, takes good polish.

Red Cedar, Juniperus virginiana. An evergreen tree, fifteen to thirty feet high. Found in southern Canada and distributed throughout the United States. Bark, reddish brown. Leaves, needle-shaped, about one-fourth of an inch long and placed in pairs, sometimes in threes. Fruit or berries, about the size of a small pea, bluish and covered with a white powder. Wood, valuable, light, durable, fragrant. Heartwood dull red, sapwood white. Used almost exclusively in the making of lead pencils.

Butternut, White Walnut, Juglans cinerea. Common. Usually fifty to seventy feet high. Bark, light grayish-brown. Leaves, alternate, compound, fifteen to thirty inches long, with eleven to seventeen leaflets. Fruit, nut, rough, nearly cylindrical; one-half to two and a half inches long. Kernel sweet, but oily. Wood, light brown, light, soft. Coarsegrained and not strong. Takes good polish.

Black Walnut, Juglans nigra. This is one of the grandest and most massive trees. It reaches a height of sixty to seventy feet. Generally distributed, abundant in the middle of the Mississippi Valley. Bark, dark brown. Leaves, alternate, compound, from one to two feet long. Fifteen to twenty - three leaflets. Fruit, nut, oval. About one and one-half inches in length. Kernel sweet and edible. Wood, dark purplish - brown, heavy, hard, close-grained, and strong. Takes a beautiful polish.

The Redwood, Sequoia sempervirens. The Redwood of California is a coniferous tree and belongs to a genus of which the Big Tree is the only other species now alive. Redwood forms dense forests on the west slopes of the Coast Range. It grows to a greater height than any other American tree. It reaches a height of from two hundred and twenty-five to three hundred and fifty feet, with a diameter of from ten to twenty feet. Most of the Redwood cut are from four hundred to eight hundred years old. The oldest Redwood found began life one thousand three hundred and seventy-three years ago. Bark is of a reddish-gray color. Wood is of color that shades from light cherry to dark mahogany. It is used for all kinds of finishing and construction lumber. Usually straight - grained, light, firm, yet soft. The wood is durable, easy to work, and takes a good polish. This wood is not much used in the Eastern market, owing largely to the high freight-rates in shipping.