Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1883-11-09

H0W FORESTS CHANGE.
II is only in what novel.writers cal
"the depths Of the primeval forest
that fair opportunity is afforded OF
studying the mixed growth of our
woodlands. and of observing the
changes which take place as one
generation of forest trees succeeds
another. Such opportunities are
comparatively rare in the Eastern
States at present Much of the most
valuable standing timber in New
England today is to be found upon
land that has one or more times
been cleared or cut over. II is there
fore generally of few varieties and
nearly uniform age. But if we pen
citrate virgin forest beyond the
devastations of the woodman's ak
and the fire which follows his track,
we shall find it made up of trees in
every stage Of growth and OF every
variety indigenous to that section of
the country. Wewill find hemlocks
and spruces centuries old, their
branches veiled with pendants of
gray moss, towering high above the
hazel and moosewood. Rarely is
there the monotony of single
growth. Evergreen trees mingle with
deciduous. Sunshine and shadow al
ternate. Now we are in compare
lively clear spot, where the leaves
overhead are only thick enough to
tieck the ground beneath with shad-
ow; a moment later and hardly ray
of light can penetrate the curtain
overhead. Alike on the dry, stony
ridges and in the soft, moist earth of
the valleys the growth is mixed.
Hemlock, spruce. pine, birch, will
low, maple, poplar, oak and many
other varieties are intermingled with
a seeming irregularity that leads us
to wonder how all these varieties,
with 50 widely diverse requirements
as to soil and other conditions, can
flourish in so close proximity. Yet
all is easily explainable if we but
understand the unfailing care with
which nature provides for the wants
of all her children.
All through such forest we will
find at intervals the PROSTATE wrecks
| of what were once mOnarchs of the
forest Sometimes these have abdi-
Gated their sway by reason of their
own weight and the decay of old
age, sometimes their lofty heads have
been laid low before the power of
the nihilist wind. The latter catas-
trophe occurs most frequently where
a thin layer-twO or three feet-of
rich vegetable mould overlays
coarse, loose gravel. The roots of
the trees which spring up upon the
rich soil above are repelled by the
cold moisture of the gravel beneath
and spread out for some distance
around without striking deeply in.
Then comes tremendous storm and
the tall hemlock or pine is over
Internationally torn up by the
roots, bringing with them several
square rods of the dark, rich earth
with they were covered. The grav-
ely subsoil is thus left exposed, and
there the seeds of birch, willow and
maple, carried by wind, bird, or
squirrel, will flourish. The dirt car
ried by the roots will sink down as
the tree decays, into knoll that will
mark the death of the monarch for
ages, and on it will spring up cherry,
poplar and sumach. Tins side by
side, will be marked variation in
types. Not only this, but where the
tree fell it swept down smaller trees
and underbrush along with it, admit
ting warmth and light to soil which
the sunbeams had not, perhaps,
touched for centuries. In this man
ner the climate of that particular
spot would be as much altered as the |
soil, and the final result might be an
almost complete alteration OF the |
character of the forest at that point.
All this, too. would be accomplished
by the orderly working of natural
laws.
Again, on sandy plains, where the
fire that destroyed the forest growth
at the same time consumed the veg
etable mould that gave the soil its
fertility, it is curious to note natures
method of recuperating from the in
jury. The first step toward re-estab-
fishing forest is made by the pitch
pine or similar trees which require
but little moisture These send down
their long roots, ten, twenty, or
thirty feet, through the loose, barren
gravel, to find and bring to the sur
face the potash and other soluble
salts that are required. These ele-
ments are taken up by the tree for
its own nutrition and then returned
to the surface soil by the falling
leaves. Thus the earth is gradually
enriched and in the course OF time
becomes capable of supporting beech,
poplar and oak again, and thus ma
ture herself repairs the damage that
the ignorance or carelessness OF man
inflicts upon her.
On the other hand equal provision
| is made for those trees which do not
love the black, loamy soil, but pros
per upon poor and sandy home.
Just as the surface of the plains are
gradually enriched bv the elements
brought up from depth, so is siiicl-
| Gus sand from some distance below
deposited upon the surface OF bogs
and swamps, and enables trees to
| strive there which could not other
wise find q home. Everyone who
has noticed with care and cultivated
lands Of New England..has observed
that where hemlock trees have fallen
and decayed the soil Is exceptionally
poor-so much so that often. after
several ploughings, the outline OF the
tree can be traced by the poorer
growth of the grass or grain. and the
sorrel and coreopsis, which abhor .
fertile soil, thrive there. If the de-
caying wood be pulverised it will be
gritty, and grains of sand can be de-
with the naked eye. There are crys-
tails OF slick taken up in solution into
the circul ton of Il tree, and on its
death reverting to their crystalline
form. They are evident TO workers
| of wood because they duh the edge
Of their tools. Now just this silici-
| o,,s u,ottar Ia what is wanted by var