SOME SPECIALIZING FLOWERS 109 



that guide the higher man, is a power in its own 

 vicinity and always an influence for good. 



Just consider how the tree helps a hill in rainy 

 weather. You have noticed places where the rain 

 has pelted down on the slope, loosened the surface 

 soil and carried it off to the streams, leaving exposed 

 the rocky skeleton of the hillside. You remember 

 that this tragedy occurred in the unprotected 

 stretches and not where the trees stood guard over 

 the^ ground. You have seen the roots of some up- 

 turned tree, and know how many little, fine, hairy 

 ones there are. The duty of these hairs is to drink 

 up moisture for the tree's food; but, in doing this, 

 they hold together the loose particles of soil. Just 

 try to shake the soil from the finer roots, and you 

 will find that the hairs have so close a hold on the 

 particles that they break off with them. If you 

 have observed closely, you have seen that the little 

 drinkers occur on the outside of the spreading root- 

 lets, just beneath the circumference of the leafy 

 branches. If you will study how the roots of a 

 small plant grow, you will find out why they are so 

 distributed. 



Sometimes you have sought shelter under a tree 

 in a shower, because you have observed that the tree 

 has a habit of shedding the rain, not directly under 

 it, but at its circumference. The drip falls down 

 to the waiting little mouths of the outside rootlets, 



