222 COMPETITION WITH FELLOWS 



380. We have learned that the plant may possess an ex- 

 tensive root-system (25, 26). The plant that is first estab- 

 lished appropriates the nutrients to itself, and newcomers 

 find difficulty in gaining a foothold. Note the bare area near 



On the top of an evergreen forest. 



the large tree in Fig. 386. 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, 

 and perhaps partly to unknown factors. The farmer knows 

 that he cannot hope to secure good crops near large trees, 



