VOL. Iv. ] Trees of Southern California. 337 
percentage of clear lumber; the other, marked by a closer- 
checked bark, has more sap-wood, is cross-grained, readily 
decays, and is fit only for rough lumber. The difference of 
quality is said to be one of variety in the trees, and not to be 
due to age or place of growth. I have not been able to detect 
any botanical differences, except in the character of the bark, 
as above indicated. Black and Big-cone Pine, when sawn, is 
put in with the lower grade of yellow pine. The lumber from 
the sugar pine is most esteemed of all, most of it being clear. 
Post Cedar is sawn into dimension stuff, and is highly valued 
for its durability. It is rendered unfit for finer uses by the 
ravages of a dry-rot (Dedalia vorax Harkness) by which it is 
infested. The fir furnishes a light and strong lumber, but one 
difficult to season without warping; it is used to a small extent 
for scantling and bridge-flooring. None of the other trees are 
sawn. ew posts are made, but the destructive industry of 
the shingle and shake maker is a thing of the past, the market 
being supplied with redwood. In the San Jacinto forest there 
are two saw mills, their product, the amount of which I am 
not able to state, finding a market in the San Jacinto Valley. 
The real economic value of these forests is as conservators 
and regulators of the water supply, a matter of most vital impor- 
tance in a region dependent upon irrigation for its fertility. Fuel 
and lumber may be brought. from afar, but water must be 
obtained near at hand. Fortunately public attention has been 
awakened to the importance of forests from this point of view, 
and in pursuance of the wise forestry policy of the Harrison 
administration, three forest reserves were set apart in Southern 
California, the San Bernardino Reserve of 737,280 acres, the San 
Gabriel Reserve, 555,520 acres, and the ‘Trabuco Cafion Reserve, 
in Orange County, containing 49,920 acres. A proper supervision 
of these reservations will not only preserve them, but will also 
greatly restrict the destruction by fire and by the ravages of 
sheep in those portions of the forest that have passed into private 
ownership. Where the original forest has been removed an 
abundant growth of seedlings springs up, including all the 
species of the former growth in about their original proportions; 
so that if the destruction of them is prevented nature herself will 
in time reforest the denuded mountains. 
