A STRIFE FOR SURVIVAL. 57 



protracted and severe, and the number of trees which 

 perish grows rapidly smaller. But so great is the pres- 

 sure when dense groups of young trees are evenly 

 matched in size and rate of growth that it is not very 

 unusual to find the progress of the young forest in its 



Fia. 55. Poles of Longleaf Pine. Southern Florida. 



early stages almost stopped, and the trees uniformly 

 sickly and undersized, on account of the crowding. 



The forest we have been following has now passed 

 through the small-sapling stage, and is composed chiefly, 

 but not exclusively, of large saplings. Among the over- 



