20 CLIMATIC CYCLES AND TREE-GROWTH. 
were cut during various months from May to November. Naturally, 
those cut in May are in the midst of their most rapid growth, while 
those cut in summer may or may not show the double ring just forming. 
The conditions are shown in table 2. 
TABLE 2, 
Group. Altitude. |Date of cutting.| Cutting season. Remarks. 
feet. 
1 6,125 1911 May, June....} 9 out of 10 show white tissue only. 
2 and 4 6,420 1909 July to Sept...| 30 out of 33 show red ring just form- 
ing, probably a doubling. 
5 5,800 1909 Summer...... 3 or 4 out of 10 show red ring just 
forming, probably a doubling. 
3 6,800 1910 Oct. and Nov.| All 12 show white without red, prob- 
ably a large single. 
By reference to figure 1, showing the curves of monthly rainfall for 
1909 and 1910, it will be seen that 1910 would be likely to carry its 
growth through the year and produce a single line, as in group 3 above. 
The year 1909 is of intermediate character, having heavy winter 
precipitation and a severe spring drought of 3 months. In the groups 
cut at this time 33 out of 43 show a red ring forming in July, August, 
or September, doubtless the preliminary ring of a double. This lesser 
red ring is due to the spring drought, and its appearance at this time 
indicates a lag of a couple of months, more or less, in the response of 
the tree to rain. The whole matter of the relative thickness of the red 
and white portions of the rings is illustrated in figure 2. The heavy 
sinuous line shows the rainfall month by month at Prescott throughout 
the 43 years under consideration. The total rainfall for the year is 
indicated by the dotted rectangles while the size and character of the, 
rings is shown in the solid rectangles. In these the white portion 
indicates the white tissue and the shaded portion indicates red tissue. 
Significance of subdivisions in rings.—The normal ring consists of a 
soft, light-colored tissue which forms in the spring, merging into a 
harder reddish portion which abruptly ends as the tree ceases growth 
for the year. The present subject (namely, the time of year of ring 
formation) indicates that the red tissue appears as the tree feels lack 
of sufficient moisture. Therefore, the great diversity in relative size 
of the red tissue and the occasional appearance of false rings undoubt- 
edly has a real significance as to distribution of precipitation during the 
growing-season. This subject is a very promising one, but has received 
little attention in the present work. The trees of the Prescott group 
offer a few interesting examples of two or three false red rings in one 
year; they also have exceptionally many cases of omitted rings; both of 
these peculiarities are explained by the fact that these trees are close 
to the lowest elevation at which the climate permits them to live; they 
are therefore greatly affected by rainfall distribution and probably 
exaggerate its changes. 
