38 THE WESTERN HEMLOCK. 



The laws of Washington prohibit the sale of an} T State lands for less 

 than $10 an acre; therefore the large and increasing area of abandoned 

 lands, except the small portion which may become valuable for farm- 

 ing, must continue to be State property until it can find a purchaser at 

 $10 who is willing to take up the tax burden which could not be borne 

 even when the land was ottered for $1. This area must therefore 

 remain absolutely unproductive, nontaxpaying, and, on account of 

 fire, a menace to adjacent standing timber. 



So deplorable a state of affairs entails far more than financial loss to 

 the State and its inhabitants. It is generally admitted that the exhaus- 

 tion of the mature timber of the United States is a matter of but one 

 or two generations, and that thereafter second growth must be used to 

 supply the natural needs. It is the Pacific coast region, with its warm 

 climate and heavy rainfall, which promises the most certain and rapid 

 return of logged-off land to forest, and to this region the country will 

 naturally turn for much of its timber supply in the future. With the 

 exception of the Government forest reserves, no provision is being 

 made to meet this demand, and for this condition of affairs unwise 

 taxation is largely responsible. 



Over the larger part of western Oregon and Washington, Red Fir 

 is the tree which takes possession of burned-over land, and, if undis- 

 turbed, it does so almost immediately. It is at present the most val- 

 uable timber tree of the region, and its readiness to reforest denuded 

 land seems exceedingly fortunate. There are, however, certain regions 

 in which there is practically no reproduction of Fir, and here the market 

 future of Hemlock will fix the profit of growing a second crop. This 

 is largely the case along the coast. 



The present practice is to cut all good Fir and Spruce and to leave 

 the Hemlock and only such Fir as is conky or otherwise unsound and 

 hence unable to play an important part in reseeding the lumbered area. 

 (PI. X, fig. 1.) There is, of course, the adjacent untouched forest, 

 which, under some conditions, would, b} T the aid of the wind, seed up 

 openings as fast as they might be made b}*- ordinary lumbering; but 

 here the Fir bears irregularly and scantily, and little seed is produced. 

 On the other hand, the Hemlock, which is left untouched in the 

 slashings and forms a large part of the neighboring forest, bears 

 abundantly every year. Furthermore, the slashing may escape fire, 

 in which case Fir seed finds an unsuitable seed bed and is shaded too 

 much by uncut Hemlock and underbrush. The final result under such 

 conditions is a dense stand of Hemlock, often some Spruce, but only 

 occasionally a Red Fir. (PI. X, fig. 2.) 



It is not impossible that this result might often be somewhat modified 

 by judicious burning. While many loggers prefer, if possible, to 

 avoid fire altogether, there are two arguments for a contrary course — 

 safety in the future and a better chance for reproduction of Fir. 

 There remains little doubt that fire after logging greatly assists this 



