14 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



AMERICAN FOREST TREES. 



Bull Pine— Arizona Wliite Pine — California 

 White Pine. 



Pinus ponderosa. — Laws. 



The range of growth of this tree is through 

 the Pacific Coast states, from British Colum- 

 bia southeast to Mexico, through Colorado, 

 New Mexico, Arizona, the Black Hills of Da- 

 kota, and parts of Texas. In California, 

 Colorado, Montana, Idaho, Utah, 

 Washington and Oregon it is called 

 yellow pine; in California, white 

 pine; in Utah, Washington, Idaho, 

 California and Oregon, bull pine; 

 in Montana, big pine; in Utah and 

 Nevada, long-leaved pine; in Eng- 

 land, heavy-wooded pine; while in 

 various other sections of this coun- 

 try it i^ called red pine, pitch pine, 

 southern yellow pine, western pitch 

 pine. Sierra brownbark pine; and 

 in English literature, "Gambler 

 Parry's pine." 



Pinus ponderosa forms large for- 

 ests in northern California, along 

 the slopes of the Sierra Nevadas, 

 frequently growing on dry, open 

 ridges in southern California, 

 through the San Bernardino and 

 San Jacinto ranges, as high as 

 8,000 feet above the sea level. It 

 is often intermixed with sugar pine. 

 It is planted as an ornamental tree 

 in parts of Europe, and is some- 

 times successfully grown in the 

 eastern states. 



This great tree grows to a height 

 of one, two or even three hundred 

 feet in favorable environment, with 

 a trunk four to six feet in diam- 

 eter. The bark is bright reddish 

 brown, deeply fissured, and very 

 thick. The leaves are in tufts of 

 three, four to nine inches long, 

 stiff and elastic, remaining on the 

 branchlets from six to nine years. 

 The flowers are yellowish-green. 

 The fruit of this tree is a cone five 

 to twelve inches long, the scales of 

 which are fitted with strong, slim 

 prickles, usually hooked backward. 

 The seeds are often a half inch in 

 length, and winged. 



In structural qualities the wood 

 is heavy, hard, strong and brittle; 

 the thin heartwood is light red in 

 color, whUe the sapwood is nearly 

 white. The pores are coarse, and 

 the structure compact. The weight of a cubic 

 foot of the seasoned wood is approximately 

 thirty pounds. 



On the lower levels of New Mexico and 

 Arizona the timber is short bodied and of 

 ordinary quality, but as the higher altitudes 

 are reached the growth improves in quality, 

 until on levels of from 6,000 to 8,000 feet 

 above the sea it attains its maximum size 



THIRTY-SECOND PAFEB. 



and excellency. In this part of the country 

 the tree is known as " peno veta. " Botan- 

 ically it is the nearest approach to the white 

 pine of the North that can be found any- 

 where in the United States, save a scattering 

 growth in parts of Tennessee and North 

 Carolina. In fact, in some characteristics it 

 surpasses Pinus strol)us. The wood takes 



^TS^S* 



TYPICAL FOREST GROWTH WESTERN WHITE PINE, 

 LENCIA COUNTY, NEW MEXICO. 



easily and holds well a finish possessing a 

 briUiant sheen not excelled by any fancy 

 wood in the United States, and it compares 

 in softness with northern white pine. How- 

 ever, soine trees are found which exhibit 

 many characteristics of short-leaved yellow 

 pine in fiber, color and gum. 



Pinus ponderosa attains its largest growth 

 in the Lewis and Clark reservation of north- 



western Montana, in the valleys, at an alti- 

 tude of about 3,500 feet, where it forms per- 

 haps a fourth of the forest growth. In this 

 region trees from 180 to 200 feet in height, 

 uith a trunk three to seven feet in diameter, 

 are common. In parts of Idaho and western 

 Washington the growth is equally prolific. 

 From this outline of the range of growth it 

 will be noticed that the tree reaches 

 its highest perfection from a com- 

 paratively low altitude in the North 

 to a high altitude in the South. 

 This, however, is true of all woods 

 naturally adapted to a temperate 

 zone. The same will be noticed in 

 the white pine growth of eastern 

 Tennessee and western North Car- 

 olina — the timber on the lower 

 levels being scrubby and defective, 

 but at altitudes of several thousand 

 feet closely approaching perfec- 

 tion, while in the North the finest 

 specimens are found at no great 

 height above the sea level. 



This species of pine is slow grow- 

 ing, trees in the southwestern states 

 ranging in age from 175 to 450 

 years. The sapwood appears to 

 withstand climatic conditions as 

 well as the heartwood. It does not 

 decay under conditions which would 

 speedily rot the sap of northern 

 white pine. When green the wood 

 has an approximate weight of 4,500 

 pounds to the thousand feet, but 

 when seasoned only 2,500. In 

 regions where the atmosphere is 

 exceedingly dry and frequent winds 

 prevail, the seasoning of Pinus 

 ponderosa is very speedy. Its wood 

 is thoroughly adaptable for the 

 purposes to which good white pine 

 is put — pattern making, sash and 

 doors, ties, beams and general 

 mining uses. In house building it 

 is highly esteemed. As box ma- 

 terial it is excellent, as it is for 

 handsome and durable interior 

 finish. . 



i'rom the botanist's viewpoint 

 Pinus ponderosa is yellow pine. It 

 is practically the connecting link 

 between the white pine of the 

 North and the short-leafed pine of 

 the South and Southwest. While in 

 the West and Northwest it forma 

 a part of a mixed forest growth, in 

 New Mexico and Arizona it grows in a pure 

 stand. The larger operations in Pinus 

 ponderosa are at Albuquerque, New Mexico, 

 the source of timber supply being the high- 

 est levels of the Zuni mountains in Valencia 

 and McKinley counties; at Flagstaff, Ari- 

 zona, where a large sawmill and box-making 

 plant is located, and at Williams, Arizona, 

 in the San Francisco mountain district. 



VA- 



