CHAPTER V 



THE WOODS, THE RIVER, AND THE RAIN 



TN the wild forest, under the large trees, there 

 -*■ is generally an undergrowth of young trees 

 and of shade-loving bushes. Beneath these are 

 tender herbs, ferns, and vines. Under these again 

 in deep woods is a mat of moss, ankle deep, rooted 

 among the moldering leaves of bygone summers, 

 and beneath all is soft, black leaf mold. In the 

 wild forest this layer of mold, mixed with decay- 

 ing leaves, may be two feet deep. 



A forest floor like this is a great sponge. Winter 

 snows, in such a wood, melt slowly, because the 

 branches above screen them from the sun. The 

 sponge of moss and leaf-mold can soak up more 

 than twice its own weight of water, and so it can 

 generally absorb all that runs from the snow dur- 

 ing a day's thawing. Then all through the night 

 the mineral layers of soil, deeper down, slowly 

 drain the leaf mold, so that it becomes like a 

 squeezed-out sponge, ready to absorb once more. 



The many roots which penetrate the soil help 

 to drain the land by opening up cracks in it. So in 

 a forest the heaviest rainfall will not cause a flood. 



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