(goc% QUoun^ain TJ^onbetCanb 



chapter concerning "The Fate of a Tree Seed." 

 Each species of tree has its own way of scatter- 

 ing its seeds. Once upon the earth, they and the 

 seedlings that may spring from them have pe- 

 culiar limitations and special advantages. In 

 some cases — as, for instance, with most wil- 

 lows and poplars — these seeds must in an ex- 

 tremely short time find a place and germinate 

 or they perish ; the seeds of few trees will stand 

 exposure for two years and still be fertile. 



It is only a question of a few years until seeds 

 are carried to every treeless locality. They may 

 journey down-stream or across lakes on a log, 

 fly with birds across mountain-ranges, ride by 

 easy stages clinging to the fur of animals, or be 

 blown in storms across deserts; but these ad- 

 venturous seeds may find grass in possession of 

 the locality and so thickly sodded that for a 

 century or longer they may try in vain to es- 

 tablish a forest. 



Commonly wind-blown seeds- are first upon 

 the ground and the most numerous. Though it 

 is of advantage to be the first upon the ground, 

 it is of immense importance that the seed which 



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