The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-09-10
THE HUMAN SIDE
 OF A GREAT FOREST Trees Have a Social Life as Truly as Do the
 Men. HELP AND STRUGGLE Almost a Division of Labor Growth Limited to a
 Few Months.
HELP AND STRUGGLE

Tn all our dealings with the forest, and familiar as 1t is to Us from our childhood on, how often do we think Of if as a living, sentient thing, place full of life and activity? And yet that is precisely what it is. Not only IS each individual tree alive and growing, but the forest as whole has life of it's own.
 If is much more indeed than a mere collection of trees standing together 1t is a genuine tree society the hlgh- est development of plant life just as human society is the highest develop ment of animal life. And as in our hu- man society a close relation exists be- tween every member of the eommuni- W go in the forest each tree is con- stantly cooperating with and helping those about 1t, and at the same time is struggling with them to obtain the ne- cessities and good things. of life.
 Tn order to get as close as possible to the natural life of the trees, let us irl1- agine a virgin forest in which the dis turbing influence of man has not been felt. Undoubtedly such a forest will contain many different kinds of trees, and they will be of all ages and sizes, from the tiny seeding to the moss-cov- cred veteran. In short, all classes and conditions of trees will be present just as in any human society we shall find all classes and conditions of people.
 In such a forest as this there Is con- stant cooperation between the differ ent members of the community. Each tree helps to protect those about it from the fierce heat of the sun, from wind ana rain, from snow and ice and from many other similar dangers With its neighbors 1t forms a covering which helps to keep the soil cool and moist, and tempers the air, making conditions best for the growth of the whole forest. The young seedlings, when they first start in life, must be more or less sheltered and protected from the extremes of heat and cold, and this protection IS freely afforded by the older trees.
 Then, too, there are some kinds of trees which must have all the light they can possibly get and must have their crowns fully exposed in order to reach their best development or often even to live at all These are called in- tolerant trees, because they will not bear any shade. On the other hand, there are other kinds of trees which will do fully as well, or cen better, if they can have a little shade, and they are called tolerant trees.
 Between these two classes of trees a helpful cooperation exists. The intol- erant trees usually grow more rapidly than the tolerant, and so form an up- per story which protects them and gives them the necessary shelter, while the tolerant trees repay the debt by preserving the moisture and favorable composition of the soil. which would otherwise be apt to deteriorate under the light shade cast by the intolerant trees.
 But fin addition to this mutual help and assistance of general character there is a different kind of co-opera- tion in progress. We can almost detect division of labor, setting aside of certain trees for a particular kind of work different from that which the rest are doing. Take, for example, the trees on the edge of the forest Their very form indicates that they are dif- ferent from their neighbors in the in- terior. They have bigger crowns, more numerous and larger branches, and are usually more thick-set-have short CT trunks and withal are sturdier look ing tyees.
 These are the outposts of the forests, the guards. whose duty it is to protect their brethren and shelter them from winds and storms. To accomplish this purpose they must have strong roots and trunks, and these can only be ob- tained by Q sacrifice of that clean, straight stem which makes them most vaiuafbio for mans use
 But this very form which renders them unsuitable for timber gives them value for another purpose. In way they are the pioneers of the forest