THE WAY OF THE WILD 



6l 



out above in the struggle upward, the lower ones are shaded 

 the same as those of the lower- growing trees, and ultimately for 

 the same reason die and drop off. In this way trees growing 

 in close proximity to each other 

 develop tall bare trunks valu- 

 able for timber, while those 

 growing in the open would not 

 be forced upward by competi- 

 tion nor would the lower limbs 

 be killed. Such trees develop 

 beautiful tops, being lighted on 

 all sides, but they never make 

 timber trees, however old or 

 mature. 1 



Competition most severe be- 

 tween individuals of the same 

 species. At first thought it would 

 seem that members of the same 

 race would live in peace and 

 harmony together, and that the 

 competition would be between 

 different species only. But that 

 is not so. In so far as compe- 

 tition exists at all between indi- 

 viduals of the same race it is 

 the most severe of all. 



In the competition for food, 

 whether plant or animal, the 

 needs of the same species are 

 identical, the methods of growth in plants and the hunting 

 habits among animals are the same, and the competition is 

 much more direct than where needs are not quite the same 

 and habits are somewhat different. 



1 It is suggested that the student verify the foregoing statements by visits, 

 to weedy fields and to young forests. 



Fig. 9. The best possible condition 

 for rapid growth, as it affords oppor- 

 tunity for maximum exposure of leaf 

 surface. This grapevine consumed 

 four years in covering the first ten 

 feet of the derrick, but with this 

 start it ascended the remaining forty 

 feet in one year 



