TREES THAT TRAVEL 125 



of leaves, twigs and miscellaneous dead things and 

 is quite ready to take on a new batch of ever- 

 greens. It would seem that this theory is at least 

 somewhat borne out. 



Just how do trees travel? It would be a mighty 

 and awe-inspiring spectacle to see some great for- 

 est striding across the country, but except in some 

 such cases as Macbeth's Birnam Wood, this has 

 never been recorded as taking place. The trees 

 have chosen a less sensational and more scientific 

 method of locomotion. They prefer to travel in 

 embryo and by means of tiny fruits and seeds light 

 enough to fly through the air or float on the water, 

 transport future forests half way around the globe. 



To-day it is possible for a man to travel on land, 

 on water, on ice, in the air and underground. It 

 has taken him many hundred centuries and much 

 cerebral effort to perfect these accomplishments. 

 The trees were making use of all these modes of 

 travel when man's long-tailed ancestors were just 

 beginning to swing in their branches. Flyingj, 

 which is man's weakest and latest art, is, strangely 

 enough, the trees' favourite transportation device. 

 They have invented many types of flying machines, 

 and though they depend on the wind for propul- 

 sion, they are often able to send their seeds to 



