74 The Tree and How it Dies 



night, It blew down a large, heavy tree which 

 fell on top of the little one near-by, and bent it 

 over. It was very small then, only a few feet 

 high, and not nearly strong enough to push the 

 older one from off it. So the little tree grew around 

 it instead. Finally the old tree decayed where it 

 had fallen. The picture shows plainly where the 

 big tree fell on the smaller one. 



In the course of forest storms, very tall trees and 

 those growing on the high hills are most often 

 struck by lightning. The same flash may strike 

 several trees standing together, having a differ- 

 ent effect on each of them. One may be scorched 

 and burned, and the trunk split in two or cut 

 down at the base; perhaps the bark is stripped 

 from another, and pieces of wood torn off; or, 

 again, the lightning may fill the tree's bark with 

 hundreds of small holes, withering part of the 

 crown, while on the other side the leaves escape 

 unharmed. These strange pranks kill many a 

 forest tree, and cause more than a few fires. 



