72 The Tree and How it Dies 



squirrels and chipmunks nest in it, and at last 

 it falls apart. Other and younger trees spring up 

 to take its place, and the old veteran is not even 

 missed in the forest where it once grew. 



The forest has many foes. To-day few trees 

 die of old age, for the trees are not only cut down 

 and killed, but every year many thousands of 

 them are destroyed by forest fires. Sometimes 

 in great storms lightning strikes the trees, often 

 setting them on fire at the same time. Wind and 

 snow also break down the trees. Trees have their 

 diseases, too. These diseases weaken them, and 

 many of them die. 



There are so many trees in the forest that there 

 is not room for all, and some cannot get the food 

 they need in order to live and grow. Insects 

 prey upon and kill them; birds and squirrels 

 eat many of their seeds. Mice, hedgehogs, and 

 beavers gnaw off strips of their bark, "girdling" 

 the trunks. The food supply from the roots is 

 cut off, and the trees are soon killed. Just as 

 trees are planted in many ways, so, too, in many 

 ways they die. 



