Wisconsin School of the Air; Afield with Ranger Mac; 15

The Wisconsin School of the air invites you to go afield with Ranger Mac this morning boys and girls. Your imaginary hike down the rodeo trail will lead to when they're treated tacticians. Now here is your guide Ranger Mack. Hello boys and girls. This is your day so up I'm away. The trees are decorated with hoary frost this morning and the whole countryside is a wintry fairy scene. It is a thrilling sight and a special invitation to us to get out and study trees in their winter sleep. Maybe you have never thought about it but some of our trees those with Rod leaves. Our knowledge bare of leaves. Their limbs exposed and they are bad as many months of the year as they are clothed in garments of green. They are without leaves six months of the year from November to May.

Just about the same length of time the woodchuck sleeps the deep sleep of hibernation. The three sleep somewhat as the woodchuck is sleeping resting waiting for the sun to return and awaken them into activity again. But trees cannot crawl into the ground as the woodchuck does. They bare their limbs like athletes for the long struggle with the wintry wins. But like the woodchuck they make all the needed preparation for winter otherwise winter woods snuffed out their lives. There is as interesting a story about the preparation of trees for winter and as deep a mystery about their hibernation as there is about that of animals. I think we should learn to enjoy trees in winter as much as in summer since when Harry is with us so so for so long a time. First let us take a look at trees in general.

There are two main groups of trees. One group the other group. We are going to consider today is made up of those trees which lose their leaves each paw. These are called by three common names hardwoods broadleaf trees are deciduous trees DCI DUI us deciduous deciduous may not be a well-known name to you but if you look at up in the dictionary you will find that it means falling off at maturity. That's the word that we're going to use this morning deciduous a deer's antlers are deciduous part example. These are trees that store food within their bodies to supply the needed food to grow another set of leaves in the spring. The other group of tree use is what is generally known as evergreens pines spruces Cedars.

But the lumberman call them the soft woods. They have cones as a fruit and so they are known as conifers. That's the real name for them. Conifers that is one of these conifers However that is deciduous the leaves fall off. It is the Tamarac. It grows in permanently damp places and their bare limbs make our swamps look rather bleak in winter. I like the evergreens in winter because they ward off their winter blasts protection windbreaks and shelter about so against the winter cold winter wins. They provide shelter for birds and animals and their green needles thread a warm color connecting autumn to spring. I like the deciduous trees in winter because without our clothes on we can see the real architecture of the trees. The fine tracery of the branches and twigs. See how the trunks divide into limbs

limbs into branches and branches into twigs. It is in winter condition that deciduous trees display best their grander their paws and strength than sturdiness. Is it any wonder that the Druids selected trees as their altar. Some trees have their main trunk extending straight to the top right to the tip but there that's the hard maple is one of them. Our state tree the white ash is another pin oak password and many of the poplars such trees have round crowns. Then some trees like the elms silver maple willows and walnut have their trunks divided and which makes the crowns spread wide spreading like a feather duster. The elm is the outstanding piece of this kind. It is in

winter time that we can discover the strength and beauty of tree architecture which the foliage of summer time conceals at recess time today or on your way home or in your yard at home. Stand beside the trunk. Cover number of deciduous trees look up into their crowns and see for yourself that different kinds of tree architecture. Found there. Now is a good time to collect twigs for our indoor study. Even a twig is interesting. Collect twigs about eight inches long. Mount them on heavy cardboard or a piece of plywood. This would make a fine exhibit for your conservation corner. You can have an interesting time studying these tweens and learning to adapt to fire them. And even though you might not be able to

identify them all you will learn of the many different kinds and the different things to be found on a twig. Now there are five things to look for on twigs. One whether the twig is stout like that of the oak and the ash or splendor and principle alike. The birch and the willow. Some of us older folks you know can recall when Birch switches were used for punishment and remember that while the switches were slender They were tough and capable of being felt through heavy stockings. The second thing to look for on the twigs. The buds at the third the leaf scar the fourth the lender sells and the fear the pit. Th broads leave scars lettuce

and pits. These are the things on the twig. To look far in a dedication in winter time. First the buns. A very important part of the summer work of a tree is the forming of buds for the next spring. Even when the leaf is unfolding in the spring a bud is forming in the axle between the leaf and the twig. All summer long that Bud is the special charge of that particular leaf destroy the leaf and the body dies. The leaf is the buds nurse as a worker bee as a nurse to the larva in a wax cell. When you look closely at the BOD you will discover whether or not it has scales. The Elms Orks topples poplars Apple Hickory maples and many others have

scales the buds on the one nut butternut and ashes have no scales. These buds are called Naked buds. The bugs have next year's hue all wrapped up in a compact case. It is very small to be sure are. But if the scales are removed very carefully the tiny leaves can be spread open and their shape and even the veins can be seen. A hickory but it is best to use for this discovery because it is the largest in somebodies you will find flowers distinct in number and in parts. There is a common notion that the wax scales and wooly lining of the scales keep the buds warm. Open up a bug on a winter day and you will find

crystals of ice within the bud breezes split open a live tree trunk in winter and you will find it loaded with ice crystals. The tree trunk freezes. There is as much water in the a live tree in winter as in summer. Water expands upon praising and why doesn't a tree split open upon freezing and when tired. Can any trailer answer that question. You know a tree is like a cold blooded animal it takes on the temperature of the surrounding atmosphere. It is the rapid changes of temperature sudden preceding and sudden thawing that kills the bug that kills the bugs. Toads crawl into mud to prevent this. These rapid changes buttons have wrappings to prevent it

just beneath the butt on your twig. You will find leaf scar. This is the place the leaf of last year was attached in the center of this car are some small marks. These are the broken pipelines that carry the water from the roots to the leaf and the food manufactured in the leaf back to the tree for growth. This leaf scar is covered with a corky tissue. This Corky tissue grows all summer and finally shuts off the pipelines. It is then that we have the colorful effects in leaves in the autumn. Notice the different shapes of the leaf scars on the different kinds of trees on the walnut twig the leaf scar looks like the monkey face of a barn owl. Do trees actually breathe. Yes just as truly as we do

but not as actively Of course. Store in winter because the trees are not working. Just like the chipmunk breeze in hibernation in summer the leaves are the real lungs of the tree. But in winter the little raised dots that you find on the surface of the twig look for them there. These are the winter lungs. They are called Lenda cells. L e n t i c l s lambda cells or breathing powers and they correspond to the breathing spores in pores in our skin. These latter cells are located all over the trees even under the bark where you cannot see them. Yes the tree must breathe or suffocate. The last thing to look for on the twig is the pit. It is the central part of the twig. It is round in most trees but in Oaks test not an aspen. It is star shaped in the black walnut it is

browned and filled with Chambers. There is much to learn about a twig in winter. If you are interested in learning some of the trees most precious secrets bring some long twigs to school 18 inches long or longer from from Miller trees such as maple Apple plum Willow and Elm. Put them in jars of water. And place the jars in the sun. Do not crowd too many in a jar and give them plenty of water eat every few days. Cut the ends to ensure the passage of water are up the stems. The twig will awaken to life the food stored in the stems will feed the buds and the buds will unfold their leafy shoots. Then you will have a touch of spring. The powers spring arrives. And

so closes our trip to the sleeping tree. We'll be seeing you on the trail again next Monday morning. Till then may each day bring you added joy and may the Great Spirit put sunshine in your heart today and for evermore. Heap much the familiar Indian farewell brings us to the end of another triple filled with Ranger Mack. He'll be back next week boys and girls with an imaginary hike designed to tell you about water worries. This is the Wisconsin School of the air.