1 Sammy the squirrel was gathering food for winter. He stopped beside a tree trunk and peeked inside. His friend, Baxter the bear, ambled over to visit. "Hi, Sammy," said Baxter. "Look at all these dry, brown pinecones," said Baxter. "They are not good for anything. What a mess!"
2 "No, Baxter!" replied Sammy. "You couldn't be more wrong. These pinecones are one of the treasures of our forest. New pine trees could not grow without these cones."
3 "What do you mean, Sammy? Do these pinecones feed the trees?" asked Baxter.
4 "Not exactly," explained Sammy. "New pine trees come from pine seeds. The cones are made of leaf-like scales that fold over each other. Under the scales are tiny seeds."
5 "Really?" remarked Baxter. "I've never seen those seeds. How do you find them?"
6 "You have to find them in dry cones that have opened up, like this one," said Sammy. He bent over and picked up a brown pinecone. He held it in his hands carefully.
7 "The seeds will not come out of the cone until the cones are brown and dry. You know, Baxter, it takes at least four years for trees to grow large enough to be used for Christmas," continued Sammy.
8 "Is that what these trees are used for? I wondered why those men came and sawed them down," said Baxter.
9 "Those men were probably taking the trees to a sawmill to be made into paper. People use a lot of wrapping paper at Christmas time," answered Sammy. "Christmas trees are much smaller than most of the trees in our forest."
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