A THOUSAND-YEAR PINE 



good soil. This rapid growth also 

 shows that there could not have been 

 any crowding neighbors to share the 

 sun and the soil. The tree had grown 

 evenly in all quarters, and the pith of 

 the tree was in the center. But had 

 one tree grown close, on that quarter 

 the old pine would have grown slower 

 than on the others and have been 

 thinner, and the pith would thus have 

 been away from the tree's center. 



When the old pine was just com- 

 pleting his one hundred and thirty- 

 fifth ring of growth, he met with an ac- 

 cident which I can account for only by 

 assuming that a large tree that grew 

 several yards away blew over, and in 

 falling, stabbed him in the side with 

 two dead limbs. His bark was broken 

 and torn, but this healed in due time. 



18 



