Aidan Walker
Anyone who likes to tramp through the woods, reads the Arbor Day Foundation newsletter, or shops at home-and-garden centers can probably identify a fair number of common trees: maples, oaks, pines, and the like. Some folks can even tell a red maple from a sugar maple, a black oak from a pin oak, and a southern yellow pine from a Norway pine. However, there's a tremendous difference between identifying a living tree and identifying a piece of wood. Living trees offer lots of helpful hints: bark color, bark texture, foliage, seedpods, height, and overall shape. Seasoned, board-cut pieces of wood offer none of these hints, and that's why this specialized identification guide is so useful. Thirty pages of introductory material, richly enhanced with outstanding maps, photos, and illustrations, explain tree anatomy, tree growth, wood grain, logging practices, conservation, and the various processes for seasoning and preservation of wood. This material is well written and beautifully...
