THE CORRECTION AND COMPARISON OF CURVES OF GROAVTH. 



133 



diminish the rate of growth of those that remain living. Nevertheless, our 17 curves 

 appear to have l)een little iuflueuced in this way. In the first place, previous to the com- 

 ing of Europeans and to the introduction of locomotives, fires were probably not one-tenth 

 as numerous as now; they were due either to lightning or to the carelessness of the Indians. 



i;«io 



Tulip Poplar i 

 White Oak .--l 



Kud Spnice 



Spi'uce ,•■ '■•,.., 

 ••■ I 

 ,. ,, Douglas Fir .• 



Pine..--'" 



■•'Red Fir'""' •._..._ _.. 

 Sugar Pine ■•-'■■ 



Short Leaf Pine 

 Yellow Pine 



Coast Red 



197 Sequoia washingloniana 

 California 



177 Pinus jelTreyi 



S. California 

 107 Liriodendron 



West Virginia 

 72S Qucrcus alba 



West Virginia 



163 Picea rulira 



Maine 

 325 Picea sp. 

 West Virginia 



29 Pseudotsuga taxifulia 



Idaho 

 217 Pinus ponderosa 

 Idaho 



lis Abies magnilica 



California 

 31 Pinus lambertiana 



S. California 



32 Pinus ponderosa 

 S. California 



73 Abies magnifica 



Idaho 

 26 Quercus alba 

 Missouri 



245 Pinus echinata 

 Arkansas 



72 Pinus ponderosa 

 New Mexico 



227 Sequoia sempervu-ens 

 California 



4i; Fagns grandifolia. 

 New York 



Fig. 31. — Curves of Growth of American Trees. 



(See Table H. pp. 325-327.) 



The Indians, however, were few in number, and, according to all accounts, generally took 

 great care to extinguish their fires or to kindle them in places where they could not spread. 

 Still, even in their day, there must have been a certain number of fires, and traces of these 

 can sometimes be seen in charred spots far toward the center of a great tree. These 

 fires must have produced effects which are apparent in some of our curves. On the whole, 



