Beatrice Lovetts, age 16, of Jackson, Miss., for her question:

 How can you tell the age of a tree?

If you know trees well you can tell when a pine is full grown. It may be 20 years old before its branches have taken on their neat, adult shape. Before this, the tree is a gangling teen‑alter and its age may only be guessed.

There is, of course, a more exact way to tell the age of a tree. This is by its tree rings. Every year a tree adds a circle of new woody growth around its trunk. The rings are clearly defined and can be counted. A hewn tree trunk dives a flat, birds eye view of these tree rings. Start with the smallest one in the center and count outwards towards the bark. The number of rings dive the age of the tree.

Woodsmen have an instrument for telling the age of a tree without cutting it down. It cuts a core from the bark to the center of the trunk. This wood sample gives a slid of the tree rims from which the ado of the tree is calculated. The tree is not harmed rind lives to add snore rims to its trunk, more years to its age.