do they hold them in? What animals do the Chinese eat that we do not? How long do the rich people sit at table? What number of dishes do they have?

do the Chinese drink at dinner?

genteel conduct at table?

What

What is considered

A GOOD NAME.

1. Children, choose it;
Don't refuse it;

'Tis a precious diadem;
Highly prize it;

Don't despise it;

You will need it when you're men.

2. Love and cherish,

Keep and nourish,

'Tis more precious far than gold;
Watch and guard it,

ENGLISH TIMBER TREES.

1. Large trees which, when cut down, can be sawn into great planks of wood, are called timber trees. Many trees do not grow to a sufficient size to be of value for the sake of their timber, but are carefully grown on account of their beauty, or for the fruit which they yield.

2. A large number of the trees which are grown in England have been originally brought from other countries. A traveller to a distant land perhaps brings back with him a young tree, a few seeds, or a small branch. The tree is set, the seeds sown, or the branch planted. From this beginning, other trees are obtained, until at last they are spread over the country, and become common.

3. Some trees, flowers, and animals seem to belong to the countries in which they are found. They were not placed there by man, but live and grow there without his aid. Such trees, flowers, and animals are called indigenous or native. We have in England several trees which are considered to be native. The most valuable of these are the OAK, the ELM, the ASH, the BEECH, and the FIR. They are all timber trees.

No. I. THE OAK.

1. The oak is one of the largest and most useful of all our trees. When it has been allowed room to grow and has attained its full size, the thickness of its trunk covered with rough bark, its deep green

jagged leaves and wide-spreading branches, all give it an appearance of great beauty. The seed of the oak is the acorn. Acorns when hanging on the tree look very pretty, each placed in its little cup. Quantities of ripe acorns fall from the trees in the autumn. Droves of pigs are then sent into the oak woods to feed upon them, and the squirrel and the dormouse collect some for their winter food.

2. The oak tree grows very slowly and reaches a great age. It hardly

comes to its full size in less than a hundred It does not seem

years.

which are the remains of the old forest of Sherwood, in Nottinghamshire, there are some noble oaks of enormous size.

3. Some of them have become hollow from age, and are probably not less than four or five hundred years old. Inside one of these trees, five or six persons might take shelter during a heavy shower, and be well protected from the rain.

4. All parts of the oak are put to use by man. The bark is used by the tanner in tanning, or converting the skins of animals into leather. For this

purpose the bark is thrown into pits containing water, and the skins are allowed to soak in the liquid for many weeks.

5. The wood, which is hard and durable, is especially fitted for ship-building, and is much used for pulpits, pews, and carved ornaments in our places of worship. In some of the warmer countries, acorns form a part of the food of the poor people.

6. The gall-nut and the oak-apple, both of which grow on the smaller branches and leaves of the oak, are produced by the puncture of a little fly, in which it deposits an egg. They are used in making ink and in dyeing black. Even oak saw-dust is of great value to the dyer, being employed in the dyeing of fustian.

7. Oaks grow in many other countries besides England. That useful and well-known substance, cork, is the bark of a kind of oak which grows in Portugal, Spain, Italy, the southern parts of France, and the Barbary States in the north of Africa.

dye-ing

fus-ti-an

be-gin-ning quan-ti-ties pro-ba-bly in-di-gen-ous squir-rel li-quid val-u-a-ble suf-fi-cient es-pe-ci-al-ly sub-stance

What are timber trees? What are those trees, flowers, and animals called which belong to a country? Name

some native trees in England. Which is the largest of What is the seed of the oak called? What

our trees?

animals feed on acorns?

to come to its full size?

How long does it take the oak Where may some noble oaks be seen? How old are some of them? Of what use is the bark of the oak? What things are made of oak? Of what use is the gall-nut? What is cork?

No. II. THE ELM.

1. Next to the oak, the elm is the handsomest of our English timber trees.

It grows to a great height, and with its wide-spreading branches extending from its trunk all round, covers a large extent of ground with its shade. In the early spring, it is one of the first trees to put forth its leaves, which are of a brighter, lighter green than those of the oak.

2. Elm trees are not generally found in the woods, but are usually planted in rows by the

side of the roads leading to gentlemen's houses. When thus placed, they form very pleasant shady groves to walk under during the heat of summer.

3. The wood of the elm is well adapted for waterwheels, the bottoms of ships, and the large piles which are driven in to keep up the embankments of rivers.