Arizona silver belt., 1900-04-12
The Largest Pine Forest in the United States is in
 This Territory.
ESTIMATED AT 10, OOO, ,OOO. 900, FEET
Onr Own Trees and Shrubs Best For Ornamental and Shade Pur-
 poses Iiardier and Better
 Adapted to Our Climate.

our own people were cognizant, namely. that Arizona has the largest unbroken pine forest in the United states, covering an area of over 6,0O0 sauare miles. This timber is usually found at an altitude between 5,500 and LOO feet. The total quantity of pine timber fit for saving purposes within the boundaries of the territory amounts 10 10000. GOO, 00U feet, which can sup ply the needs of a populous state for more than a century. The principal forest area is in Cocouino county and borders the Grand canyon of the Col orado, although. Gila, Apache and Yavapai counties have considera ole timber. In the Mogollou mountains in Yavapai Coconino and Gila coun- ties there are large bodies of oak tim Der suitable for the manufacture of farm machinery. wagons, etc, and for finishing lumber, but at present it is too inaccessible to be of great com mercial value. The government has created some large forest reserves in northern Arizona and promulgated rules fur their regulation with view @ their preservation from spoliation and to prevent destruction by fire. The principal lumber mills of Arizona are situated at Flagstaff and Williams, in Coconino county. on the line of the santa Fe Pacific railway, and their equipment is modern in every way. The Arizona Lumber and Timber com pany at Flagstaff and the Saginaw Lumber company at Williams have as complete plants for the manufacture of lumber. boxes, etc, as can be found in the United States.
 The forests of Arizona are Sonorian in character and belong to the interior forest area, which covers all that re- gon embraced between the forests of the Pacific and the extreme western limit of the Atlantic region. The for ests of much of this area, when com pared with those of more humid re- gions, are more stunted in growth, fewer individuals to a given area, and with much less variation in their com position. II, wever, the forests of the southern portion of this area, which includes Arizona, are heavy, dense, and valuable. when compared with other portions of the interior region.
 In this territory the valuable for ests are confined to the higher DOT tions Of the Colorado plateau and to slopes and canyons of our numerous mountains. They attain their highest development in the high San Fran cisco mountains. and from here stretch away with more or less extended in terruptions to and beyond the Grand canyon of the Colorado to the north, 10 Bill Williams mountain in the west, and southward to the great rim where the Colorado plateau breaks down to the southern plains.
 To the southwest, with a number of interruptions, they become dense and heavy in the higher ranges of the White mountains, and from there ex. tend into western New Mexico. Long arms of forest area also extend into all the mountains immediately south of the Colorado plateau which reach an elevation of more than 1000 feet The isolated ranges farther south art also timbered above I.500 feet. The great forest area embraced in the Co conino and San Francisco region i' considered by our greatest authority on American forests as one of the larg est unbroken forests in the United States. It is almost entirely of vel low pine Pinns ponderoso) and it varietal forms. This species of pine il most widely disseminated and abund ant of the interior forest area and in Arizona, where it reaches its highest development, is practical. the only tree of commercial import ance in the manufacture of lumber.
 On the highest mountains of north ern Arizona, above the area of yelloy pine, are a number of trees usuall considered valuable for numbering pun poses, but their restricted area and ir accessibility render them as yet of li' tie commercial value.
 The people of Arizona do not prol erly appreciate the value of natnre' trees and shrubs to plant about thei homes for ornamental and shade pul poses. We cannot expect to brin trees and shrubs from regions wher they have been accustomed to humi atmosphere and grow them with an degree of success in Arizona.
 We are inclined to look to foreig
 countries and other states for our orn'
 mental trees and shrubs when, with
 little care in selection, we can find
 our own flora a variety of such plan
 that will grow with minimum amount of care and in few years su pass in appearance anything which W may bring in from outside. Gener tions of exposure to the conditions