SEEDLINGS AND SHOOTS 75 



twigs above them. Surely it was a cruel Fate 

 which placed that poor little juniper between 

 the towering cottonwood and the lordly hick- 

 ory! What a contiaual record of blasted 

 hopes and cruel disappointments its life must 

 be! 



Let us look about on the forest carpet for 

 seedlings. Here, half-hidden in a clump of 

 rank weeds, are a few baby maples and elms. 

 Unless something intervenes they stand every 

 chance of being choked to death. Over yon- 

 der is a thrifty young tWo-y ear-old sycamore; 

 here is a slender birch sapling of four sea- 

 sons ; and close at hand is a scrubby post oak, 

 grown no doubt from an acorn planted by a 

 squirrel or a jaybird, as there is no parent 

 stock in sight. Here, too, is a thrifty honey 

 locust shoot and a sassafras sapling. What 

 has become of all the hosts of seed which the 

 trees in this little clump must have sown in 

 times past? What will be the fate of these 

 striplings which have gained a fair foothold? 



We noted the tender skin of the little maple 

 seedling, and the gradual thickening of the 

 stem into woody fiber, but no mention was 

 made of the well-fitting suit of cork, which it 

 donned early in the summer, as a protection 

 against heat, so that the soil-water might be 



