214 



COMPETITION WITH FELLOWS 



364. The tell-tale pine. 



orchard can support no 

 more trees, weeds may grow 

 beneath. 



353. We have learned 

 (25, 26) that roots go far and 

 wide for food and moisture. 

 The plant that is first es- 

 tablished appropriates the 

 food to itself and new- 

 comers find difficulty in 

 gaining a foothold. Note 

 the bare area near the elm 

 tree in Fig. 359. Recall 

 how difficult it is to make 

 plants grow when planted 

 under trees. This is partly due to the intercepting of 

 the rain by the tree -top, partly to shade, and partly to 

 lack of available food and moisture in the soil. The 

 farmer knows that he can- 

 not hope to secure good 

 crops near large trees, even 

 beyond the point at which 

 the trees intercept the rain 

 and light. It is difficult to 

 establish new trees in the 

 vacancies in an old orchard. 

 354. In Chapter VIII 

 we studied the relation of 

 the plant and its parts to 

 sunlight. Plants also com- 

 pete with each other for 

 light. Plants climb to get 

 to the light (Chapter XVI) . 



Pin- r>a(\ QrmiP nlnn+<5 3G5. The forest renter. Looking from tho 



*lg. 300. home plants w00 ds, with the forest rim shown in 



have become adapted to Fig. 366 seen in the distance. 



