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Who was Johnny Appleseed?
A man named John Chapman, who purchased any animal he saw ill-treated and found homes for worn-out horses turned away to starve.  Those that recovered he lent or gave away for a promise of kind treatment.  He would journey thirty miles through the forest to get help for a neighbor, and give up a night�s shelter in a hollow log rather than disturb a squirrel family that inhabited it.

Apple on branch
Johnny Appleseed established his first apple nursery at Lagrange, Ohio, and from 1806 to 1830 went from county to county, preceding the original settlers, planting apple trees so that they could have fruit when they arrived.  He brought the seeds for his nurseries form fine bearing trees in Pennsylvania.  He sought fertile soil and planted near streams, giving his tender shoots protection with brush fences.  Later he returned, traveling hundreds of miles, to prune and care for his trees. 

 

Is there any tree that can be grown from coast to coast?

Trembling aspen tree

Yes, the trembling (quaking) aspen.  No other tree grows naturally from Maine to California.

 
Woodpecker

Does the woodpecker injure the tree he pecks on?

 This is possible if an opening through through the bark is created and fungus spores which cause trees to rot enter.  However, the good this bird does outweighs the bad.  The woodpecker likes wood borers, May beetles, weevils, and other insects and larvae which damage trees. Many good, old apple trees, for example, are full of beetles and a great attraction to the woodpecker.

 

What is the bark source of cinnamon?

A tree of the laurel family (Cinnamomum Zeylanicum), native to the Ceylon.  The spicy flavor is due to an essential oil in young bark.  The bark is peeled, tightly rolled and dried to form a cinnamon stick.  Or the young bark may be ground up for shaking out of a tin.  At first slender young twigs were taken off big old cinnamon trees in the jungle, but now cinnamon is cultivated by raising it in orchards. The main trunk of the tree is cut off and the stump sends up suckers, or shoots.  They grow fast and their bark is rich with cinnamon.   

Cinnamon sticks 

 

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