42 ERYTHEA. 



be used as a park or for some other similar purpose. This body of 

 land is the property of Mr. G. J. Griffith. It is very diversified in 

 its topography, being made up of hill, plain, and mountain country, 

 and varying greatly in soil character, exposure, and altitude above 

 sea level. It has been proposed to found here a great botanic 

 garden, which shall illustrate, in so far as possible, the floras of all 

 the countries bordering the Pacific Ocean. The conditions, climatic 

 and otherwise, are extremely favorable to the carrying out of such 

 a plan, A garden of this character would yield rich scientific 

 results, would prove a great attraction to travelers visiting western 

 America, and would be of distinct economic value to California in 

 the great and growing commercial relations of the State with Trans- 

 Pacific lands. 



Mr. J. B. Leiberg, in No. 1 of Volume V, "Contributions from 

 the United States National Herbarium," gives an account of a botan- 

 ical survey of the Coeur d'AIene Mountains in 1895. The report is 

 largely economic in its character. The principal topics treated 

 relate to the climatology of the region, the forest resources, the 

 composition of the forests, the destruction of the forests, and con- 

 sideration of the system of timber protection. The author states 

 that, without regard to sentiment in the matter of forest preservation, 

 there is no question but that it would be of the highest advantage to 

 that region to protect and adequately manage the Coeur d'AIene 

 forests. The greatest wealth of the Coeur d'Aleue is in its mines. 

 To exploit the mineral treasures of these mountains will constantly 

 require a large amount of timber and fuel. As illustrating the 

 rapid rate of wasteful forest destruction, the following paragraph by 

 Mr. Leiberg is of interest: "In 1884 I passed through the Coeur 

 d'Aleue into Montana. In spite of the many previous fires, there 

 were miles upon miles of primeval forest. In this year (1895) along 

 the same route there was not a single foot that the fire and ax had 

 not run through, and the larger quantity had been uselessly and 

 totally destroyed." The era of forest fires began with the early 

 immigrants; with the discovery of ore deposits, forest fires raged in 

 hundreds of localities, started for the purpose of clearing away the 

 dense brush and timber which interfered with the work of pros- 

 pectors seeking mineral-bearing lodes. 



