86 The Tree and How it Lives 



than a small boy, so these standards need much 

 more food than ever before. Their roots go deeper 

 and deeper into the ground. They must have a 

 great deal of water. No one knows just how a 

 tree pumps water upward for a hundred feet and 

 more. It is one of Nature's secret wonders. 



It is hard for the big standards to get enough 

 air and food. But still they keep on growing, 

 though now more slowly than before. Soon they 

 are more than two feet thick, and have reached 

 the last age of their lives. They are the "vet- 

 erans" of the stand. Only the very best trees 

 can live to an old age, and those that are left at 

 the last have lived through many a hard-fought 

 battle in the woods. 



The veteran trees, some of them seventy-five, 

 some a hundred years old, bear the most seed. 

 Every one of them must have a great deal of 

 well-digested food. In the course of time these 

 old trees become almost unable to get enough 

 to keep them alive. The crowns are not large 

 enough to take care of all the food the trees 

 need. The trees are so tall that it is very hard to 

 give the leaves and branches in the top sufficient 

 water, and at last the veterans stop growing. 



