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chapter concerning "The Fate of a Tree Seed." 

 Each species of tree has its own way of scatter- 

 ing its seeds. Once upon the earth, they and the 

 seedlings that may spring from them have pe- 

 culiar limitations and special advantages. In 

 some cases — as, for instance, with most wil- 

 lows and poplars — these seeds must in an ex- 

 tremely short time find a place and germinate 

 or they perish ; the seeds of few trees will stand 

 exposure for two years and still be fertile. 



It is only a question of a few years until seeds 

 are carried to every treeless locality. They may 

 journey down-stream or across lakes on a log, 

 fly with birds across mountain-ranges, ride by 

 easy stages clinging to the fur of animals, or be 

 blown in storms across deserts; but these ad- 

 venturous seeds may find grass in possession of 

 the locality and so thickly sodded that for a 

 century or longer they may try in vain to es- 

 tablish a forest. 



Commonly wind-blown seeds are first upon 

 the ground and the most numerous. Though it 

 is of advantage to be the first upon the ground, 

 it is of immense importance that the seed which 



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