SUMMARY OF ECONOMIC USES. 55 



35 cm. (14 inches) ; branches beginning 3 meters (10 feet) above the base; 

 crown very wide, with a great number of long laterals drooping at an 

 angle of about 45°; bark reddish, close, thin, of a leathery consistency; 

 wood reddish, hard, fine grained, full of knots, but very readily fissile 

 between them, apparently capable of taking a bright polish; wood of 

 the trunk breaking with a short fracture, that of the limbs very flex- 

 ible; sapwood, f cm. (0.4 inch) thick, white; heartwood, 34 cm. (13.4 

 inches); annual rings, 185. In this region the tree is too rare, small, 

 and knotty to be of any commercial value. 



RED CEDAR. 



Juniperus virginiana Linn. 



A low tree rarely exceeding 6 meters in height (20 feet) and 20 cm. 

 (8 inches) in diameter. Its habitat is on rocky banks, principally 

 around lakes Cceur d'Alene and Pentl Oreille. Its altitudinal range 

 lies below 700 meters (2,300 feet). The wood is fragrant and reddish in 

 color, hence the popular name « red cedar." The tree is too small and 

 scarce to be of any commercial value. Mountain juniper (Juniperm 

 nana Willd.) is a mere shrub, prostrate or trailing over the rocks at 

 elevations of 1,800 meters (5,900 feet) and upward; of no value. 



A summary of the conifers as to their principal economic uses will 

 stand as follows: 



Lumber.— Yellow pine, white pine, Engelmann spruce, Tamarack, hemlock spruce, 

 cedar, Mertens's hemlock. 



Shingles. — White pine, cedar. 



Railroad cross- ties.— Tamarack, hemlock spruce. 



Telegraph poles. — Cedar. 



Fence posts and rails, fuel— Any and all of the species. 



The deciduous trees of the Cceur d'Alenes are as follows: 



Cottonwood, halm of Gilead {Popuhts I Cherry (Prunus demissu, Primus emar- 



ang tt si i folia), ginata). 



Aspen {Popuhts tremuloide*). Chittim wood (Rhamnus pitrshiana). 



Birch (Betula occidentalis. Betula papy- Thorn {Crataegus douglasii, Crataegus 



r if er(t ). tomentosa). 



Service herry (Amelanchier alnifolia). 

 Mountain-ash (Sorbus sambucifolia, Sor- 

 bus occidentalis). 



Mountain maple {.leer glabrum). 



Alder {.Units rhombifolia, Abuts viridis, 



Jlnus tenuifolia). 

 Willow {Salix lasiatidra). 



With three exceptions, all these species occur throughout every por- 

 tion of the Cceur d'Alenes. Those of local distribution are: Alnus 

 rhombifolia, Cratwgus tomentosa, and Sorbus occidentalis. Such of them 

 as reach high elevations often become mere shrubs. None are of any 

 economic importance. It has been stated that the wood of the poplar 

 works up well into a fair article of paper stock, and that it can not be 

 excelled for purposes of match making. None of the native trees are 

 transplanted or cultivated. 



