THE LIFE PROCESSES OF TREES 23 



Squirrels and birds help to scatter the seeds of trees. Squir- 

 rels will carry nuts long distances from the trees that pro- 

 duce them and hide them in the grass or ground for winter use. 

 Such seeds are often forgotten and germinate and grow into 

 trees. 



Usually hardwood trees reproduce themselves by sprouts 

 as well as by seeds. When a hardwood tree is cut down 

 sprouts start from the stump which in time grow into trees. 

 Some trees like the chestnut will produce hundreds of sprouts 

 from the same stump, while many other trees will produce but 

 a few. Trees from sprouts grow faster than those from seeds 

 during their early life, because they make use of the roots of 

 the old tree which are stored with food. Sprout trees are not 

 so long lived as trees from seeds and do not grow to so large 

 a size. They are also apt to become rotten at the base because 

 of disease communicated to them from the old rotting stumps. 

 Trees grown from seed, while they are of slower growth than 

 sprout trees for thirty to forty years, will finally overtake the 

 sprout trees and outgrow them. Trees sprout best in early 

 life. Old trees are apt to lose this sprouting ability. Trees 

 will sprout if cut at any time of the year. If cut in summer, 

 however, the sprouts produced will be winter killed, for the 

 wood will not have had time to harden before the early frosts 

 come. The time to cut trees for sprout reproduction is in 

 winter when they are at rest. Trees growing along fences can 

 often be killed by cutting them in summer. The sprouts pro- 

 duced will be frozen back the next winter. Sprouts will be sent 

 forth the following spring but they will not be vigorous. They 

 should be cut in summer and new sprouts obtained which in 

 turn will be killed in winter. In this way a stump can generally 

 be exhausted of its food and killed. 



Some trees like the beech and wild plum reproduce them- 

 selves by suckers as well as by seeds and sprouts. These are 

 shoots that start from the roots. Still another method of 

 reproduction known as the vegetative method takes place in 



