LIFE-HISTORY OF A TREE 65 



has given wings to the seeds so that when they are ripe and 

 fall the winds will blow them away to other localities. In 

 some cases, as with the Aspens, Willows, and Birches, they 

 are borne miles from their native place, thus permitting 

 undesirable trees to spread themselves and crowd out more 

 valuable ones. With another class, the nut-bearing trees, 

 she calls in various animals squirrels, mice, birds, etc. 

 to spread the seeds. These, in their endeavor to store food, 

 drop the seeds on the way to their storehouses, or bury 

 them, and through loss of memory of the location, or by 

 some accident or fright, the seeds are left to germinate and 

 grow. Small fruit, cherries and the like, are eaten by the 

 birds and thus scattered, as the hard kernel in the shell of 

 the fruit can pass through their digestive apparatus unin- 

 jured and even seem to germinate the better for such 

 treatment. To add to the certainty of reproduction, Nature 

 supplies a vastly greater number of seeds than are needed. 

 If one in ten thousand grows she is satisfied. But man can 

 aid her by gathering them and planting as many as, and 

 no more than are required, thus subjecting reproduction to 

 comparative certainty while practicing economy, both of 

 which she seems to scorn. 



Germination. When the seed is fully ripened and lodged 

 in a fit place, and the demands for moisture, temperature, 

 and covering complied with, the germ the life-producing 

 feature, about which we know absolutely nothing except 

 its manifestation asserts its personality and begins the 

 development of the tree. This bursting into life is called 

 germination. At first a growth is thrown downward into 

 the ground to obtain the necessary mineral food and water, 

 and this movement is soon after succeeded by another up- 

 ward into the air, there to secure certain food from the at- 

 mosphere and to enjoy light. The first or downward growth 

 is called the root development, and the other the unfold- 

 ing of the stem or trunk, with its branches and leaves 

 the crown development. For a time the growth of both 

 root and stem is sustained by food that has been stored in 



