THE WILDWOODS 



11 



Let us dig up a little soil and see what it is like. 

 Beneath the cover of dry leaves we find leaves in all 

 stages of decay ; below this, a dark soil, a leaf mold ; and 

 below this, earth. If 

 we rub a little of this 

 earth in our hand, we 

 see at once that it is 

 not a clear sand, but 

 that it is a loam which, 

 if moistened, would be- 

 come sticky. Would 

 these fine hardwood 

 trees have grown here 

 if it were a clean sandy 

 soil? 



We have now learned 

 several things on our 

 stroll ; but there is still 

 something which seems 

 to have escaped our 

 notice, though we have 

 climbed and stumbled 

 over fallen timber at 

 almost every step. It is the great waste of material 

 in our uncared-for wildwoods. Here are some fine, large 

 trunks of beech and maple half decayed ; there is an old 

 elm log completely changed to a brown, powdery mass 



Oute 

 Bark _ , f , 



25 17 20 25 



FIG. 7. The " Blaze " partly healed over, 

 as it appeared seven years ago 



