OCT., 1899.] 



WHITE-I5ARK PINE BELT. 



45 



tlie trees grow, tliickeii into irregular ]>lat('s transversely broken at 

 intervals of S to 12 inches. 



In the growing' tree the branches die from below npward in a curious 

 way. First a subdivision of a low branch dies and the tii)s curl down- 

 ward and inward, drawing together until they form a close curl or 

 tail Miiich can be set on fire by a single match. Dozens of these curls 

 can be seen on most of the young trees, and also on the lowermost 

 remaining branches of the middle-sized and some of the old ones. This 

 process of dying and curling continues until all the lower branches are 

 dead. Meanwhile, the curl-tails gradually drop off and litter the 

 ground, leaving the bare dead branches hanging down at a sharp angle. 

 These dead branches hug the trunks closer than the living ones and 

 cling on until the bark comes off', when they form an armature of 



Fui. Ii7.— Uioui) ot uliiii 



unsightly bleached and brittle sticks pointing downward around the 

 trunk. These in time break off', too, so that as the tree grows into 

 maturity the handsome trunk finally becomes clear and clean. 



The alpine hemlocks are prolific bearers and the ground is always 

 strewn with their cast-off' cones, which average about 2^ inches in 

 length, and have a dark streak down the middle of each scale. When 

 young the cones are conical, Avhen old and the scales become fully 

 reflexed they are slender, subcylindrical and only three-fourths of an 

 inch in diameter. Year after year the cones fall to the ground in 

 such prodigious numbers that they form a very important part in 

 the layer of felting that covers the surface in the hemlock forests — 

 a loose dark felting composed of disintegrating needles, twigs, and cone 

 scales pressed iirmly together by the weight of the snow in winter, and 



