THE PERSONALITY OF TB 



the manner of life and death of the & prn 

 battling to the very last ! 



A beech seedling which takes root close to 

 bank of a stream has a good chance of Mirvivii. 

 since there will be no competitors on the w. 

 side and moisture and air will never fail. But 

 look at some ancient beech growing thus, whoc 

 smooth, whitened bole encloses a century of 

 growth rings. Offsetting its advantages, I 

 stream, little by little, has undermined the ma. 

 of roots and the force of annual freshets hi 

 trained them all in a down-stream direction. It 

 is an inverted reminder of the wind-mould.' 1 

 spruce. Although the stout beech props itself by 

 great roots thrown landward, yet, sooner or later, 

 the ripples will filter in beyond the centre of 

 gravity and the mighty tree will topple and mingle 

 with its shadow-double which for so many years 

 the stream has reflected. 



Thus we find that while without moisture no 

 tree could exist, yet the same element often brings 

 death. The amphibious mangroves which frinf 

 the coral islands of the southern seas hardly attain 

 to the dignity of trees, but in the m) 

 depths of our southern swamps we find the 

 strangely picturesque cypresses, which defy tl 

 waters about them. One cannot say whore trunk 

 ends and root begins, but up from the sti 'it 

 slime rise great arched buttre > that the tn 



seems to be supported on gian -oreight-1 d 



