HOW BIG TREES GROW 47 
plentiful supply of seed was scattered upon these open 
fields year after year. Of course countless thousands 
of the seeds never produced any seedlings. They may 
have been eaten by squirrels or field mice or they may 
have been parched by the sun or like the seed in the 
Biblical parable they may have fallen upon stony 
ground which the little roots could not penetrate. 
After the course of four or five years numerous seed- 
lings could be seen scattered about the open field, nest- 
ling in among the grass and weeds. They were rather 
far apart but these gaps were soon filled in during later 
bountiful seed years. At first each seedling had plenty 
of ‘‘elbow room,’’ for growth above ground is not rapid 
during the first three or four years. 'The sensible little 
trees are developing a mass of fibrous roots under- 
ground, wisely preparing for future drought and lean 
years. After four or five years the seedlings seem to 
strike their gait, and commence to grow. The leader, 
as the terminal shoot is called, may be eight to ten inches 
high at the end of the growing season, while in favor- 
able years white pines on good soil may grow thirty 
to thirty-five inches. 
The side branches have also been growing and grad- 
ually the crowns of the little trees meet, the side 
branches interlace and the forest canopy is formed. 
From that time on the competition is extremely sharp 
and the race is assuredly very keen, for a tree that is 
once overtopped and deprived of sunlight is almost 
hopelessly outclassed. There is no handicap but each 
tree must run the race on its own merits. 
When the lower branches become intwined they 
naturally receive little light. They shed their leaves 
which fall to form the carpet of needles upon the forest 
floor and later make the humus. The lower branches 
