Conifers 



have already mentioned, oaks and other deciduous trees 

 kill out the pines in good and fertile valleys. 



They do, however, manage to hold their own on 

 poor and peaty land. Thus in the Hartz Mountains, 

 the Scotch pine still grows on chalk or poor granitic 

 soil, whilst the richer Silurian and Carboniferous rocks 

 have been won from it by the beech.* Sandy stretches 

 along the seashore are often pine barrens, as, for instance, 

 along the Atlantic seaboard of the United States. 



These peculiarities in distribution are quite simple if it 

 is correct to suppose that the pine is a sort of forerunner 

 or pioneer for the more advanced deciduous woodlands. 



In the Alps, and on all north temperate highlands, 

 there is almost always a mountain forest of conifers. 

 Our common Scotch pine ascends to 2743 metres (9000 

 feet) on the Caucasus, and its variety, montana, reaches 

 at least 2695 metres (8850 feet) in Europe. Farther south 

 one finds the Cedars of Lebanon and of Mount Atlas, 

 and far away down in British Central Africa there is 

 another conifer forest on Mount Mlanji, where Widd- 

 ringtonia Whytei forms exceedingly fine trees at altitudes 

 of 10,000 feet. It is, of course, unnecessary to mention 

 all these coniferous forests, but the Deodar association 

 on the Himalayas, and especially the beautiful woods of 

 British Columbia, ought to be described. 



Those of British Columbia are full of magnificent 

 giants, such as the Douglas fir, which is often 200 feet 

 high (10 to 12 feet in diameter). Nor is this the only 

 giant amongst them, as the following short list clearly 

 shows : — 



Sitka Cypress (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis), often 120 feet high, 



5 to 6 feet diameter. 

 Sitka Spruce (100 to 200 feet high), 15 to 16 feet diameter. 

 Red Cedar (Thuja plicata), often 200 feet high, 15 feet diameter. 

 Mountain Hemlock (Tsuga Mertensiana), 70 to 150 feet high, 4 



to 5 feet diameter.^ 



239 



