COMMERCIAL USES OF DOUGLAS FIR 



69 



tioiis. In western Washington, Oregon and British 

 Columbia large areas of young growth, composed almost 

 entirely of Douglas fir, are common. The peculiar abil- 

 ity of this tree to reproduce itself is illustrated by counts 

 of over 30,000 eleven-year-old trees, about three feet 

 high, on a single acre. In the virgin forest where Doug- 

 las fir is the principal species, the acre yield usually 

 runs from 2,000 to 8,000 feet B. M. in the mountains, and 

 from 35,000 to 60,000 board feet near the Coast. Occa- 

 sionally acres are found in the Coast region, where the 

 yield is over 100,000 feet B. M., one instance being 

 recorded of 500,000 feet B. M. per acre. The time 

 required to grow trees in a forest of this character has 

 been conservatively estimated at upward of 400 years ; 

 more than 700 annual rings have been counted on a 

 single Douglas fir stump. 



Forest fires cause the greatest damage to Douglas fir 

 forests ; this damages comprises not only the direct 

 destruction of the trees but also indirect damage by caus- 

 ing unfavorable soil conditions and burning fire scars at 

 the bases of the trees through which insects and fungi 

 may enter. The principal insect enemy of the tree is a 

 beetle which bores between the bark and the wood, fre- 

 quently causing the death of the tree. 



Douglas fir derives its name from David Douglas, a 

 Scotch botanist who obtained seed in the State of Wash- 

 ington and planted it in England in 1827. It grows more 

 rapidly than any of the native evergreen trees of Europe 

 and has been widely used in European plantations. The 

 Pacific Coast form is principally planted in Europe : in 

 the Eastern United States the Pacific Coast form does 



not thrive, and the Rocky Mountain form should be 

 planted. Douglas fir is a valuable ornamental tree of 

 graceful proportions, good color, rapid growth, and excep- 



AREA OF DOUGLAS FIR 



tional hardiness. It has been planted to a considerable 

 extent in the Northern Prairie regions for wind breaks 

 and shelter belts. Because of its exceptional commer- 

 cial value and the ease with which it is managed in forest 

 plantations, Douglas fir is likely to become one of our 

 most important evergreen trees. More than one-half 

 of the timber at present standing in western Washing- 

 ton and Oregon and southwestern British Columbia is 

 Douglas fir. Lumber of this species can be transported 

 cheaply through the Panama Canal to the markets of 

 the Atlantic Coast, and the public is already becoming 

 acquainted with this interesting wood. 



Commercial Uses of Douglas Fir 



By J. S. Williams 



SEVERAL hundred years before 

 Columbus discovered that there 

 was another world, there fell 

 on the warm, moist, western slope 

 of the Cascade Mountain Range in 

 Oregon and Washington seeds of 

 the Douglas fir. These seeds, find- 

 ing conditions favorable to their 

 growth, germinated and grew, and 

 have continued growing even to the 

 present day, though now their 

 height is measured in hundreds of 

 feet and their diameters twelve, 

 thirteen, fourteen, and some few of 

 even a greater number of feet. 

 While the average tree in mature 

 stands of Douglas fir will not, of 

 course, average these great diam- 

 eters, yet trees of this size are not 

 at all uncommon in that region. 



The first explorers to the north- 

 west region, upon returning to their 



XI'.N ICICR 



native habitations, told principally 

 of the thick stands of timber and 

 the great size of the individual trees 

 that they found there. Several 

 generations later, as settlements 

 grew up in that region and as ships 

 seeking their cargoes drifted to 

 those parts, they carried away with 

 them long, straight spars to be used 

 for masts in the construction of 

 other ships. And so it has hap- 

 pened that Douglas fir has been 

 Ijest known to the world because of 

 its gigantic size. But it is quite fit- 

 ting that its uses and qualities be 

 told, as well as its romance. 



tradk names 



In the lumber markets of the 

 world Douglas fir is known also, to 

 a greater or lesser degree, by the 

 following trade names : Oregon 



