i6 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



AMERICAN FOREST TREES. 



Noble Fir or Oregon Larch. 

 Abies noMlia — Llndl. 

 The complete range of growth of this mag- 

 nificent forest tree of the western United 

 States is not positively known. It is familiar 

 growth, however, throughout the states of 

 Washington and Oregon, particularly along 

 the coast mountains in southwestern Washing- 

 ton, in the Olympic mountains, on 

 Solduc river, and from Mount Baker 

 southward in the Cascade moun- 

 tains. In Oregon it is found along 

 Browder ridge, at the headwaters 

 of the McKinzie river, in Lane coun-- 

 ty, and to the lumbermen of that 

 state is known as larch, although 

 it must not be confused with Mon- 

 tana larch or tamarack {Larix oc- 

 cidentalis), which is a small, scrub- 

 by tree in comparison, and though 

 stronger, its timber is heavy and 

 rather coarse-grained and dark. 



Oregon manufacturers designate 

 the tree as noble fir, preferably, 

 also as red fir, although it is often 

 marketed in small quantities with 

 other lumber, as larch. In Cali- 

 fornia, it is referred to as feather- 

 cone red fir and noble or bracted 

 red fir. The Pacific Indians call 

 it tuck tuck. 



The tree is tall, with broad, round 

 head and stiff branches. The bark 

 is one to two inches thick, reddish- 

 brown, and irregularly furrowed. Its 

 leaves are blue-green, often glaucous 

 when young, flat and grooved; they 

 are one to two inches long. The 

 staminate flowers are reddish-pur- 

 ple; the pistillate scattered on the 

 upper limbs. 



Noble fir may be distinguished 

 from all other firs by its large, 

 erect cones, sometimes six inches 

 in length, on which the bracts are 

 bent downwards, giving the cone 

 the appearance of a pineapple. The 

 foliage is very luxuriant, regular 

 and strong, all of the leaves curl- 

 ing upwards and so closely matted 

 together as to look like a soUd 

 branch, when seen from a distance. 

 It is one of the finest timber 

 trees in the states of Oregon and 

 Washington, both on account of its 

 size, quality of the wood, and clear- 

 ness of trunk. The wood is light, strong, 

 close-grained, easily worked, and takes a 

 fine finish. The heartwood is reddish-brown; 

 the sapwood darker. A cubic foot of sea- 

 soned wood weighs twenty-eight pounds. 



The timber is absolutely free from pitch 

 or odor. It is chiefly used as inside finish, 

 ceiling, flooring and bevel siding. The com- 

 mon goes largely into boxes. One of the 

 largest ship-buUding institutions on the At- 



SIXTY-SIXTH PAPUR. 



lantic coast has used it for years for the 

 interior finish of cabins on large passenger 

 and battle ships. 



The noble fir is undoubtedly one of the 

 most beautiful trees in the world, being very 

 symmetrical, averaging fifty inches in diameter 

 at the stump, and running as high as 180 

 feet before the first limb or blemish ap- 



TYPICAL GROWTH NOBLE FIR, OREGON. 



pears. An old tree is often 200 to 250 feet 

 high, with a trunk six or eight feet in 

 diameter. It is found on the higher alti- 

 tudes of mountain ranges, and is seldom, if 

 ever, found below 2,500 feet elevation, reach- 

 ing its maximum individual development at 

 3,000 to 4,000 feet. 



It does not grow in a pure stand and 

 there are only a few bodies of timber known 

 to lumbermen, where the percentage of noble 



fir or Oregon larch is large enough to war- 

 rant its being classified by itself as a specific 

 product. As a general thing there are but a 

 few scattering trees found intermingled with 

 other Pacific coast conifers. Lying so well up 

 in the mountains, it is usually a long way 

 from transportation, and consequently very 

 little of it has been reached by the operator. 

 In fact there is but one concern 

 which has made a specialty of Ore- 

 gon larch, as far as the Haedwood 

 Record knows. This is the Bridal 

 Veil Lumbering Company of Port- 

 land, Ore., which owns a tract con- 

 taining about 600,000,000 feet of 

 timber on Larch mountain, about 

 thirty miles east of Portland. Twen- 

 ty-five to thirty per cent of this 

 tract consists of Oregon larch, and 

 the company has been marketing it 

 in the middle West and East for 

 many years. The accompanying il- 

 lustrations are from photographs 

 made on its property. 



Lumbering in Korea. 

 The principal lumbering region 

 in Korea is in the extreme north, 

 along the banks of the Yalu and 

 Tumen rivers, writes Consul W. D. 

 Straight from Mukden. Southeast- 

 ern Manchuria, touching the same 

 streams, is also heavily wooded. 

 The lumbering industry has not 

 been developed on the Tumen 

 river or Pacific slope, but has for 

 some years yielded considerable 

 profits to those engaged therein 

 along the Yahi. Large quantities 

 of timber are annually floated 

 down the Sungari river, which 

 rises near the sources of the other 

 streams mentioned, flowing throngh 

 the same forest-clad country to 

 the northwest, while the Yaln 

 flows southwest and the Tumen 

 southeast. 



In the general readjustment 

 which followed the termination of 

 hostilities with Pussia the .Tanan- 

 ese. in their treaties vrith both 

 China and Korea, arranged that 

 the forests on both banks of the 

 Y.nln should be reserved for ex- 

 ploitation by Japanese-Korean 

 and Japanese-Chinese companies. 

 By special agreement with the em- 

 peror of Korea the Japanese now 

 exercise practically absolute control of the 

 timber industry in northern Korea. The pro- 

 visions of the treaty with China have not yet 

 been carried out, and there is considerable 

 friction regarding the interpretation thereof. 

 It is probable, however, that the outstanding 

 differences will eventually be settled and that 

 the joint stock company will be floated. 



The forests are located about 300 miles 

 upstream, and th* timber felled by native 



