GROWING GOLD, 41 



Perhaps the most conclusive evidence that 

 can be offered, is to be found in the second 

 part of the work of that distinguished writer, 

 Humbolt, (p. 418) — "it is difficult to form an 

 idea of the frightful noise made by thousands 

 of these birds in the dark part of the cavern : 

 it can be compared only to that of our crows, 

 which, in the fir forests of the north, live in 

 society and build their nests in trees which 

 meet at the top'' It therefore appears that al- 

 though nurserymen and others have intro- 

 duced the species of trees, they have not 

 advised an adherence to the manner in which 

 they grow in their native forests. The few 

 words of the excellent Baron, " trees which 

 meet at the top,'' are invaluable evidence, and 

 clearly prove what the law of nature is on this 

 point, and that the disregard of it by the 

 modern planters and managers of woods and 

 plantations, occasions all the mischief com- 

 plained of. Where the tops of the trees press 

 against each other throughout each wood or 

 plantation, individual trees receive but a 

 trifling share of wind, and the outside trees 



