Children's Department 



DcTOtrd to iiiipartiiKj information about trees, woods and forests to bo\'s and (jirls so that they may groiv to knozv 

 Jioiv ueeessary trees are to the health, zceajth and future of their eoiintry. 



]',y I'.RisTow Adams 



WE have seen how the individual trees grow 

 either from seeds or by means of sprouts ; 

 we have taken up the different steps in that 

 growth, and the manufacture of the food of the tree into 

 living tissue which is converted into wood. In the first 

 article something was said of the differences between 

 tree growth in the forest and in the open ; and in the 

 little Christmas story with the three trees personified, 

 some further facts were set forth about the growth of 

 trees in a community. 



The difference between the study of forestry and tree 

 study is that the forester devotes practically all (.>f his 

 attention to the behavior of trees in the larger groups. 

 Here they cannot act independently, but act and react 

 upon one another, helping sometimes, and hindering at 

 other times. In the long run, however, the forest com- 

 nuuiity is of benefit to the members which are able to win 

 out in the first struggles, and can hold their own until 

 they have reached full growth. 



This has been called by Charles Darwin "the survi\al 

 of the fittest." or in other words, those forms of life 

 which are able to fit themselves into their surroundings 

 are the ones which keep on growing. They have won 

 out in what Darwin also characterized as "the struggle 

 for existence." 



In no place is this struggle for existence more severe 

 and more exacting than in the forest. Exen before 

 Darwin announced his discovery of these principles, 

 which changed the whole trend of science, a man who 

 was partly a forester had the same thought that Darwin 

 later gave to the world. Darwin himself gave this 

 forester full credit. 



The man's name was Matthews. He was a designer of 

 ships, and in those days ships were all built of wood. In 

 his study of the kinds of trees which were best suited for 

 masts, he found that the straight, and tall, and slender 

 trees without branches except at the top were the ones 

 to be used. From that point he studied the conditions 

 which produced such trees, and found that the cnnditioiis 

 could be had only in a closely grown forest where the 

 trees had to continually reach up for light, and where 

 the lower branches were shaded out and died, the trees 

 in this way becoming self -pruned, as the foresters say. 

 The small twigs that dropped os fell to the ground, and 

 with the leaves which were shed by the trees each year, 

 went to form the forest soil or forest floor. 



THE forest, then, is a great room, or nursery, made 

 u]) of families, with parents and children. On 

 the ground is this forest floor, and at the top, or 

 ceiling, next to the sky is the forest canopy of green 



46 



branches. Each of these has its use. Many writers 

 have noted this roomlike character of the forests. Some 

 have spoken of the aisles made by the forest trees ; our 

 American poet Bryant says "The groves were God's first 

 temples ;" and architects have found inspiration in the 

 trunk and branch forms of the trees for some of their 

 most wonderful buildings. For our purposes, howexer. 

 the forests are tree homes. 



NATURE is always wasteful. She spreads her 

 gifts like a spendthrift. If a forest is to be 

 grown, nature produces thousands, even mil- 

 lions of seeds, yet only a small part of these grow to be 

 trees. Xature thus provides for those that may be eaten 

 liy beasts and birds or those that may be destroyed by 

 other means. Then, after the seeds have been sown by 

 the wind and have found resting places in the forest soil, 

 and the little seedlings peek above the ground, the fierce 

 struggle begins. Each one crowds its neighbor, trying to 

 get all that it can use of the light, and warmth, and mois- 

 ture. For one reason or another, certain individuals 

 become stronger than their fellows, and are therefore 

 able to get more of the good things of life. It is very 

 strongly a case of "To him that hath shall be given.'' 

 The smaller trees thus get crowded out. The battle goes 

 on during the whole life of the tree, and "the battle is to 

 the strong." 



Tins is the time of year to see how this battle 

 goes forward, to see how the trees ha\e to set 

 themselves one against another. If you go out 

 into the thick high woods now and look up, you will see 

 that the crowns of the trees nearl\- fill all of the over- 

 head space. Each tree has reached up, struggling to get 

 ahead of the others, looking for its place in the sun, 

 because without this place, the leaves can not digest the 

 food which makes the tree grow. 



IX y(iur walk through the woods you will find some 

 open spaces. Possibly an older tree has decayed and 

 fallen, or man has cut out for his own use one or 

 more trees, and has left an opening in the canopy, or 

 crown cover. ( )n the ground you will see the stumps, 

 and you may be sure that there was no vacant space 

 overhead when the trees were standing. Unlike the 

 ground where the trees are thick, this space will be 

 covered with brush which may not look like a forest 

 growth, but at least is the beginning of one. Here are 

 the young trees — the children of the forest — struggling 

 against one another for light and place. Spreading 

 bushes may seem to I)e trying to check the tall, slender 



