Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1905-05-03

IN this territory. supported mainly by
Denver trade and capital. A great part
of the product of these mills is consumed
in Colorado. The Denver & Rio Grande
railroad affords the principal means Of
transportation. and is one of the largest
users of the timber for ties, bridges and
general construction work.
Tho second region is in west central
New Mexico, in the Zuni mountains.
This timber area is smaller than the
former-only so miles in length by IS
miles wide. The stand Of pine is more
uniform than that of the Colorado for
est, however, and over large part of
the area it is of better development.
The Colorado timber is estimated to
yield from 5000 to 900 board feet per
acre; the Zuni timber will average from
1000 to 5000 board feet per acre.
Stands of from 10000 to $4,000 feet per
acre occur quite frequently in the Zuni
mountains, but are rare in Colorado.
LAUNDERING has just commenced in the
Zuni mountains. and only one mill of
consequence is working at present. The
logs are hauled by rail over 100 miles
20 the mill. The output will be largely
finished material, which will be con-
sumed locally, or shipped to nearby
states and into Mexico.
The third and largest region occupies
a strip from 20 to so miles wide and over
900 miles long, extending from central
Arizona southeast into New Mexico.
The greater part of this tract is includ-
ed within federal forest reserves. The
timber is practically continuous over
the whole section, and is pure yellow
pine, if canyons, mountain tops, and
some dry slopes, where spruce, fir and
juniper occur, are excepted. This is the
:argest area of pure pine forest in the
southwest Owing to the varied to-
geography and to local conditions, the
stand of timber is not uniform, but at
it's best it approaches or equals that Of
The Zuni mountains.
There are two large mills in Arizona
cutting the pine from private lands
within the boundaries of the forest re-
serve.
Fire, overgrazing and drought are the
principal evils with which the pine for7
ests of the southwest have to contend.
Fires have been universal, though Of
late they usually have been confined to
restricted areas. One fire rarely does
serious damage to mature timber, but
many Of the old trees now standing are
more or less injured by repeated burn
ings. and where conditions have been
favorable. as in dense stands with much
undergrowth and litter, mature timber
has occasionally been killed outright.
The greatest fire loss has been through
the destruction of young pines from a
few inches in height to trees under six
inches in diameter.
Overgrazing is a serious hiairance to
tree reproduction. It is an>evil of com
paratively recent development, and its
effects are most frequently seen in the
forest of the lower elevations, where
there is less moisture than Is found
further up in the mountains. Lara.
bands of sheep passing and repassing
over restricted areas destroy young pine
seedlings in great plumber by trampling
them, and, during years Of drought,
when the growth Of forage is scant, the
sheep are forced by hunger to eat many
plants they would otherwise neglect
Under these circumstances young pines
are stripped of their buds and foliage,
and are either killed or badly stunted
in growth. ii %<>" T<- Il +
Drought is perhaps the principal fac
tor in determining the distribution OF
& this pine on the lower elevations. Ordi-
narily yellow pine produces seed plenti-
fully every second or third year. but