"Isn't this a tiny tree?" said Susie. "I wonder what it is."

"That's an oak," said Frank. "The leaves tell that."

"Oaks grow from acorns," said Donald. "I'm going to dig this up and see
if it grows like the seeds in the garden."

"What a long root it has!" said Susie as Donald dug about it. "Don't
take it out, Don. Put the dirt back and let it grow to be a tree."

[Illustration: Oak sprout.]

"How long will it be before it gets as big as these trees, uncle?" asked
Frank.

"A great many years. Perhaps your father can tell about how old some of
these trees are."

"I have cut some," said Mr. Leonard, "that were about a hundred years
old."

"Why, father," exclaimed Susie, "how could you tell?"

"Do you know how the end of a log looks when it is sawed off straight?"

"I do," said Frank. "There are light and dark rings in it."

"Well," was the reply, "one of these rings grows every year."