STRUGGLES FOR TERRITORY 245 
fields almost any day and you will see some sign of 
the warlare going on. A bryony creeper has covered 
several small bushes and is smothering and weighing 
them down. The grass has stopped growing under 
trees which branch and produce dense foliage near the 
ground. When the water is drained from a marshy 


F1G. 297. Shady tree with bare ground beneath. 
piece of ground, plants from the drier ground rush 1, 
and soon the character of the vegetation is changed. 
Did you ever observe how much quicker the grass or 
cultivated plants wither in dry weather near large 
trees? The tree takes water from the soil. It cuts off 
the water supply of other plants. It takes their food 
also. There is often a struggle among the branches 
