August 14, 1909 



HORTICULTURE 



199 



Rocky Mountain Rambles 



VIII. 



The flora of the Cascade Mountains of Washington is 

 much like that of western Oregon. There are forests of 

 Douglas Fir, or, as it is known in Washington, the 



Oregon Fir (Psemioisuga DougiasH) with undergrowth of Hemlock, 



Young Oregon Firs, Yews ('fa a us brevifolia). Pines and 



CouiferS, Vancouver, Washington 



Washington Fir, wliile in Oregon it is commonl_v called 

 the Oregon Fir. Tliat is the commercial name for the 

 timber. The magnificent forests of this species in 

 Washington do not have an equal anywhere else in the 

 ■world; and this is not surprising if we take into account 

 the rainfall which in the Puget Sound country is about 

 fifty-three inches, wliile up in the higher Cascades, near 

 •Seattle, it is one hundred inches and even reaches one 

 hundred and fifty inches. Under such climatic condi- 

 tions the seeds of trees germinate readily and grow at 

 once and all trees continue to make a vigorous growth. 

 'These great forests then are due to the climatic condi- 

 tions of the region. On the east slope of the Cascades 

 the rainfall is much less, and one finds here the Bull 

 Pine (Pinus pondcrosa) interspersed with beautiful 

 "White Pines (Pinus monticola) which sometimes reaches 

 a height of 200 ft. and a diameter of 6 ft., although 

 there are many trees over 100 ft. high and 3 or 4 ft. 

 in diameter. The tree resembles our eastern White Pine 

 tut is more slender and with slender spreading or some- 

 what drooping branches ; like the White Pine, the leaves 

 ;are in fives but the leaves are bluish-green and glaucus. 



It is a more beautiful tree than its eastern cousin. The 

 Balm of Gilead Poplar is common; brambles, rose and 

 salmon berry abound in the woods. 



Farther eastward we llave an elevated plateau made 

 up largely of disintegrated lava beds. The summers 

 are hot and they have brief cold spells in the winter but 

 these are tempered by the chinook winds. The Palouse, 

 Spokane, Yakima, and Walla Walla countries are well- 

 known. Almost every agricultural crop grown in tem- 

 perate regions is grown successfully here without irriga- 

 tion. It must not, however, be assumed that the great 

 small-grain fields can be cultivated with the same crop 

 year after year ; it has, therefore, become a common prac- 

 tice to summer fallow. The region, too, has become 

 famous, where irrigation is practiced for its growth of 

 horticultural products. Apples, pears, strawberries and 

 other small fruit are abundantly grown in the region. 

 The raspberries and blackberries are especially large and 

 delicious. The Yakima region is especially famous for 

 its fruit, but it is by no means the only region in eastern 

 Washington adapted to the growing of fruits; in recent 

 years other regions have become equally famous. 



The forests of the Cascades on the coast may consist 



of many pure stands of the fir with many trees 8 and 9 



■ and even 10 to 13 feet in diameter or they may be 



interspersed with the Western Hemlock (Tsuga hetero- 



Washington (_ed»r (/a-.j pucata). Used largely for making 

 Shingles, Takoma, Washington. 



