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 [Dcedalia 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. A few 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 Canon 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. 



