i6 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



AMERICAN FOREST TREES. 



Western Hemlock. 

 Tsuga lietcrophylla — Saigent. 

 This preat western tree ranges from south- 

 ern Alaska, through the mountains of British 

 Columbia and the CasMide and coast ranges 

 in the states of Washington and Oregon; on 

 the western slopes of the continental divide, 

 in Idaho and Montana, and as far south as 

 Marin county, California. It reaches its 

 finest development and is most abundant in 

 western Washington and Oregon, and. often 

 forms a large part of the forests of those 

 sections. It is occasionally found in the in- 



SIXTV-EIQHTH PAPHR. 



is considered in relation to the eastern species. 

 So great is this objection even at the pres- 

 ent time that, although large quantities of 

 the timber are cut and sold, it is often mar- 

 keted under other names; for instance, Alaska 

 pine, Washington pine, spruce and fir. West- 

 ern hemlock, as such, has so far had little 

 commercial standing. 



This tree, when conditions favor its best 

 development, often reaches a diameter of six 

 feet at the butt and grows to be 200 feet in 

 height. Its trunk is straight and cylindrical, 

 but does not readily clear itself of branches. 



pistillate purple. The fruit of western hem- 

 lock is an oval, pointed cone, an inch long 

 or more; its scales are broad and thin. 



The preferred habitat of tlie tree is damp 

 mountain slopes; it will grow from tidewater 

 to a great elevation, and in moist valleys. 

 It is not hardy in the eastern states, but has 

 been successfully used in ornamental garden- 

 ing in Europe. It requires a great deal of 

 moisture, and in rich river valleys, where the 

 air is humid, it becomes a monarch among 

 trees — graceful, handsome and picturesque. 



The root system of the tree is extensive 



TYPICAL FOREST GROWTH WESTERN HEMLOCK, CASCADE MOUNTAINS. 



terior, at an elevation of 6,000 feet above 

 the sea level. 



The tree is known as hemlock spruce in 

 California; as hemlock in Oregon, Idaho and 

 Washington; as western hemlock spruce and 

 California hemlock spruce in some localities; 

 as Alaska pine to many northwestern lumber- 

 men; as western hemlock fir and Prince 

 Albert's fir in parts of England. 



The introduction of western hemlock into 

 the market as a building material has met 

 with many obstacles, not the least of which 

 is the great opposition and prejudice against 

 it aroused by the name "hemlock," when it 



even in a forest stand, which causes small 

 knots in the timber and makes it difficult to 

 secure any considerable percentage of clear 

 lumber except from large trees. The branches 

 are drooping and horizontal. The bark is 

 reddish-brown, and scaly, with shallow fis- 

 sures; it is used for tanning purposes, and 

 the Indians made a certain variety of food 

 from extracts of it. 



The buds are brown and small ; the leaves 

 are grooved on top, with slender petioles; 

 they are rounded at the tip and lustrous — 

 somewhat paler green below than above. The 

 flowers are solitary, the staminate yellow, the 



and aggressive. Mosses sometimes a foot 

 thick, and saturated with moisture, often 

 clothe the fallen trunks and undergrowth in 

 the dense forests of Vancouver. The light 

 seeds of the western hemlock will frequently 

 germinate on some great branch of a tree 

 long dead. The virile roots push downward 

 eagerly until they rectify Nature's error by 

 finally reaching the earth and embedding 

 themselves firmly to anchor the shoot. Finally 

 the dead trunk rots away and the new tree 

 is left standing on its unique but firm base, 

 as lofty and confident as any of its neigh- 

 bors in the forest. 



