Ginny Huddleston, age 12, of Macungie, Penn., for her question:
How can a tree draw out of a rock?
We all know a tree needs to have its roots deep down in the soil which gives it nourishment. So it is always ,a surprise to see a tree growing out from the middle of a solid boulder. This is not a trick of the eye, but when we examine morn closely we find that things are not quite as they seem to be. X11 trees need soil to nourish them and this little tree is no exception.
Chances are, the tree which seems to be growing out of the rock is not large or old. It is most likely a sapling or half grown tree. The slender trunk comes up from a crack either in the boulder or between tightly packed rocks. We cannot see far down this crack because most of it is occupied by the tree trunk, but we can see a, few crumbs of soil, Down below there is more soil and without doubt the crack is wider, for the base of the tree trunk fans out into the root system. In any case, there is enough soil and water in the cracks and crevices to support the tree.
All this makes us wonder why the tree decided to grow in such an unfriendly place. The answer is that it had no choice. The seed from which it grew either fell into a small crack in the rock or was blown there by the wind, It had no way to got out so it bravely decided to make the best of a bad job. It sent down roots into the few crumbs of soil and started to sprout. From there in, Mother Nature did her best to help the brave little tree. Growing plants exert tremendous pressure, A root the size of your little finger can move a 400 pound object out of its path ‑ slowly but surely,
As the roots of the tree grow they widened the crack and made now ones. The dust blew and filled in the new cracks.
Old leaves drifted into diem and insects crept down there to die. All this debris is the very stuff from which soil is made. Mother Nature sent this soil for the little tree and the little tree grew, pushing wider cracks in the boulder to catch more soil‑making ingredients. Meantime rain trickled down to keep the new soil moist.
If all goes wall, our little tree will some day crack open its prison walls. The boulder will give up the struggle and break apart into a pile of stones. The tree will, we hope, then be rooted firmly in the ground.
Every year' countless rocks and boulders are broken up by growing trees. The rocky fragments are broken still further by wind, weather and perhaps other growing plants. Finally each stern old boulder is reduced to a pile of powdered rock. Meantime, dry leaves and animal wastes have become mixed with the powdered rock and the entire mash becomes a bed of soil. This does not moan that all the boulders in the world will soon be gone, For while this is going on, Mother Nature is busy building now boulders elsewhere ‑ new boulders for little trees to challenge thousands of years in the future,