. Annual report of the Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station, Ithaca, Cornell University. Agricultural Experiment Station; Agriculture -- New York (State). 1092 Rural School Leaflet. THE FOREST SOIL Herbert A. Smith In February we learned something about the battle of the trees. If we took our lesson in the leafless woods, we saw how the competition of the trees for space and light causes long, clean trunks—the form most useful to man—at the same time that it produces trees fitted to different natural conditions. But a forest is more than a group of trees contending with each
. Annual report of the Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station, Ithaca, Cornell University. Agricultural Experiment Station; Agriculture -- New York (State). 1092 Rural School Leaflet. THE FOREST SOIL Herbert A. Smith In February we learned something about the battle of the trees. If we took our lesson in the leafless woods, we saw how the competition of the trees for space and light causes long, clean trunks—the form most useful to man—at the same time that it produces trees fitted to different natural conditions. But a forest is more than a group of trees contending with each other which shall live to old age. It is a true community or plant society. Just as in any town there is both business competition among individuals and a joint contribution to what we may call the life of the town, from which in turn each individual profits, so there is a life of the forest, to which each tree con- tributes and by which each benefits. This is most strikingly evidenced in the conditions favorable to the develop- ment of the young forest which the tree community creates. Some kinds of tree seedlings can root them- selves and grow up in the open, if the climate is not too adverse, but the true home of the little tree is within the protection of the forest, where the ground is soft and rich, the full in- tensity of the sunlight is tempered, the force of the wind is broken, and the extremes of heat and cold are mitigated. These con- ditions favor the health of the old trees as well as the young. The mutual protection, for example, which the full-grown trees give against violent winds is of great importance. When the forester plans to cut a part of the forest crop he must give careful thought to the question. Fig. 107.—A forest is more than a group of trees contending with each other which shall live to old age. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearanc
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