ARBORICULTURE 



i8i 



MOUNTAIN VIEW. 



Forests of the Rocky Mountains. 



To know the mid-continental moun- 

 tain country it is not enough to go hur- 

 riedly through the ranges by rail in mid- 

 summer, when flowers are abundant and 

 the emerald hue characterizes every peak 

 and park. One must see the countrv 

 when ice and snow abound, and the con- 

 trasts are most decided. 



With from one to many feet depth of 

 snow upon the surface, the Spruce and 

 Aspen thickets of the higher elevations 

 and the Pinon and Cedar on the lower 

 slopes attest the majesty of Nature. 



These mountains have been stripped 

 of all larger trees by the ax-man and 

 fire has ravaged the forests on every 

 hand, yet Nature makes extraordinary 

 efforts to cover the bare spots with ver- 

 dure. 



Among the fallen logs and leafless 

 trunks still upright, remnants of former 

 conflagrations, she has scattered the fine 

 seeds of the Aspen on the wings of the 

 wind, as this is almost the only decidu- 

 ous tree which will grow in the higher 

 mountains, and here among the ruins 

 of a past forest dense thickets of this 

 rapid growing populus trciiiuloidcs ha'vc 

 established themselves, and are fast pre- 

 paring a soil in which the more valuable 

 conifers will, if they have opportunity, 

 again re-cover these mountain sides. 



The steepest slopes and most precipi- 

 tous mountains, above 8,000 or 9,000 feet 



elevation, are being planted by Nature 

 with these most important pioneers of 

 afiforestation. 



liirds, animals and the wind are doing 

 their part in distributing among these 

 Aspen thickets seeds of Douglas (red) 

 Spruce, Silver Spruce and other trees 

 of greater value and permanence, which, 

 hidden by the fallen leaves, take root, 

 and protected by their deciduous friends 

 grow into timber. 



The Aspens when dead and dry are 

 very inflammable, and fire spreads wdth 

 rapidity, destroying the coniferous for- 

 ests as well. 



The national government has not yet 

 awakened to the necessity and impor- 

 tance of protecting the forests of these 

 mountains from fire and spoliation. 



The forest rangers are given far more 

 territory to guard than their insignificant 

 numbers can cover. There should be 

 a hundred times as many men employed 

 as are allowed by the authorities. 



Here at the headwaters of the most 

 important rivers of America no adequate* 

 efforts are being made to perpetuate the 

 forests, without which irrigation will be 

 forever impossible, navigation irregular 

 and agriculture in the West a precarious 

 occupation, while the mines, upon which 

 so much depends, will be without tim- 

 bers, except as it is brought from far 

 distant points. 



