THE TRAINING OF A FORESTER 



The trees in a forest are all helped by 

 mutually protecting each other against high 

 winds, and by producing a richer and moister 

 soil than would be possible if the trees stood 

 singly and apart. They compete among 

 themselves by their roots for moisture in the 

 soil, and for light and space by the growth of 

 their crowns in height and breadth. Perhaps 

 the strongest weapon which trees have 

 against each other is growth in height. In 

 certain species intolerant of shade, the tree 

 which is overtopped has lost the race for 

 good. The number of young trees which de- 

 stroy each other in this fierce struggle for 

 existence is prodigious, so that often a few 

 score per acre are all that survive to middle 

 or old age out of many tens of thousands of 

 seedlings which entered the race of life on 

 approximately even terms. 



Not only has a forest a character of its 

 own, which arises from the fact that it is a 



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