The record-union., 1899-10-01

posted about its roots. All the plat
eaus of California are we'll drained and
in consequence rotten sugar pine is
rarely found in these forests. Fully
50 per cent. of the sugar pine growth
Of this State is grouped in small clus-
te-s very seldom exceeding five or six
trees. On the Georgetown Divide in
Nevada County these clusters average
from three to seven trees and on one
exceptional acre there are fifty-four
trees averaging four feet in diameter.
The northern part of the State is
thickly timbered with forests of sugar
pine; in Kern County there are con-
siderable bodies Of sugar and yellow
pine, for the greater part accessible; +;
MADEIRA County contains small fringe
OF timber on its eastern boundary; Cal
averas, Tuolumne, San Joaquin, Ell
Dorado. Placer, Nevada, Sierra, Butte,
I.assen, Tehana, Shasta, Trinity, Sis
kiyou and Modoc are all sugar pine re-
gions in a greater or less degree.
The silver, or yellow pine Pinus
ponderosa), ranks second among the
pines of the Sierra as a lumber tree.
and almost rivals the sugar pine in
stature and symmetry. Because of it's
powers of enduring variations of eli
mate and soil, it has more extensive
range than any other confer growing
on the Sierra. On the western slore
it is first met at an elevation of about
2,0O0 feet, and extends nearly to the
upper limit of the timber line Thence.
crossing the range by the lowest
passes, it deScends to the eastern base
and pushes out for considerable dis
tance into the hot volcanic plains.
growing bravely upon well-watered
moraines, gravelly lake basins, arctic
ridges, and torrid lava beds.
The average size of full-grown trees
on the western slope, where it is asso-
ciated with the sugar pine, is little
less than 200 feet in hight and from
five to six feet in diameter. though
specimens may easily be found that are
considerably larger. Professor Mum
measured one, growing at an elevation
OF 4,O00 feet in the valley Of the Mer-
ced that is a few inches over EIGHT
feet in diameter and 220 feet high. The
species attains its noblest form in filed
UP lake basins. Ripe specimens favor
ably situated are almost always 2UU
feet or more in hight, and the branches
clothe the trunk nearly to the ground
These are the only species of pine
growing in the forests of California
best fitted for commercial purposes
The other varieties are ornamental. use
less or limited. After the pines the frs
are largely used for lumber. The red
fir, or Douglas spruce (Abies doug1assD,
is tree Of very large size, growing to
hight of 800 feet, with trunk diam
eter of ten feet The wood is strong,
but coarse and uneven in grain, the
layers of each years growth being soft
on one side and very hard on the other
The timber is much used for rough
work in houses and for ship building
The tree grows in dense forests On the
Sierra Nevada and Cascade Mountains,
from 80 to 40 degrees, and near the
coast north of 80 degrees
The yellow fir (Abies williamsoniD.
otherwise known as Williamson s
spruce, bears close resemblance to
the red fir, and the two trees are usu-
ally found in close proximity to each
other The Santa Lucia fir (Abies
bracheata) grows in the Santa Lucia
Mountains The hight is about 100
feet, the shape a perfect cone, the low
est branches resting on the ground.
The tree produces a resin used some
times for incense. The Western bal
sam fir (Picea grandis) or white fir,
attains a hight of 100 feet and di-
ameter of seven feet in the trunk. The