CHAPTER III. 



THE LIFE OF A FOREST. 



The history of the life of a forest is a story of the 

 help and harm which the trees receive from one another. 

 On one side every tree is engaged in a relentless strug- 

 gle against its neighbors for light, water, and food, the 

 three things trees need most. On the other side, each 

 tree is constantly working with all its neighbors, even 

 those which stand at some distance, to bring about the 

 best condition of the soil and air for the growth and 

 fighting i^ower of every other tree. (See PI. XXIII.) 



A COMMUNITY OF TKEES. 



The life of a community of trees is an exceedingly 

 interesting one. A forest tree is in many ways as much 

 dependent upon its neighbors for safety and food as are 

 the inhabitants of a town upon one another. (See fig. 

 41.) The difference is that in a town each citizen has a 

 special calling or occupation in which he works for the 

 service of the commonwealth, while in the forest every 

 tree contributes to the general welfare in nearly all the 

 ways in which it is benefited by the community. A 

 forest tree helps to protect its neighbors against the 

 wind, which might overthrow them, and the sun, which 

 is ready to dry up the soil about their roots or to make 

 sun cracks in their bark by shining too hotly upon it. 

 It enriches the earth in which they stand by the fall of 

 44 



