on 



possible that eighty thousand, or even one hun- 

 dred thousand, seedlings started upon this acre. 

 Sometimes more than half a century is required 

 for the making of good poles. 



On the Grand River in Colorado I once mea- 

 sured a number of poles that' averaged two inches 

 in diameter at the ground and one and one half 

 inches fifteen feet above it. These poles averaged 

 forty feet high and were sixty-seven years of age. 

 Others of my notes read: "9728 trees upon an 

 acre. They were one hundred and three years 

 of age, two to six inches in diameter, four and a 

 half feet from the ground, and from thirty to sixty 

 feet high, at an altitude of 8700 feet. Soil and 

 moisture conditions were excellent. On another 

 acre there were 4126 trees one hundred and fifty- 

 four years old, together with eleven young Engel- 

 mann spruces and one Pinus flexilis and eight 

 Douglas firs. The accumulation of duff, mostly 

 needles, averaged eight inches deep, and, with 

 the exception of one bunch of kinnikinick, there 

 was neither grass nor weed, and only tiny, thinly 

 scattered sun-gold reached the brown matted 

 floor." 



188 



