568 THE FORESTS OF THK UNITED STATES. 



construction, is manufactured from the fir and pines of the lower mountain slopes, which have also furnished 

 immense quantities of fuel and railway ties. The timber, however, of this forest most accessible to mining centers 

 and the lines of railroads has already been destroyed, while its productive capacity is everywhere impaired by 

 wasteful methods of lumbering and destructive conflagrations. The elevated spruce forests, which contain the 

 only great bodies of heavy timber found in the central Rocky Mountain region, have thus far, on account of the 

 difficulties of operating in them, escaped all serious inroads from the ax of the lumberman. Small portable mills, 

 however, have been established in these forests to supply the wants of some of the most elevated mining centers, 

 and fires every year reduce their extent and value. 



Colorado is principally supplied with lumber from Chicago; a small amount is manufactured, however, in the- 

 state, mostly upon the waters of the South Fork of the Platte river, in Jefferson county, and in the extensive 

 pineries which cover the divide between the waters of the .Sooth Platte and the Arkansas rivers. A little lumber 

 is also manufactured in small portable mills in nearly every county. 



NEW MEXICO. 



The forests of New Mexico are confined to the slopes and cafions of the high mountain ranges. The elevated 

 plateau which occupies the whole of the eastern part of the territory is treeless, with the exception of occasional 

 willows and cottouwoods bordering the large streams, while the high mesas of the southwest and west are sometimes 

 dotted with an open growth of dwarf junipers and nut pines of considerable local importance as a source of fuel 

 and fencing supply. The high mountain ranges extending southward into the northern part of the territory are 

 covered with forests very similar in composition, density, and distribution to those covering the mountains of 

 Colorado. Engeluianu's spruce is here the important timber tree at high elevations; lower, open forests of red. 

 fir and yellow pine occupy the sides of canons and the lower mountain slopes, and the nut pine and juniper cover 

 the foot hills with an open, scattered growth. The detached mountain ranges which spring from the central 

 plateau of the territory are less heavily timbered than the higher mountains north and south. The yellow pine is 

 here the most common and important tree, mingled in sheltered canons and at highest elevations with occasional 

 red firs. 



The most important forests of the territory cover the high group of mountain ranges west of the Rio Grande 

 and south of the thirty-fourth degree of latitude the San Francisco, the Tulerosa, Sierra Blanca, Sierra Diablo, 

 Mogollon, Pinos Altos, and Mimbres. The foot-hills and lower slopes of these mountains, between 0,000 and 7,000 

 feet elevation, are coverexl with a heavy growth of junipers, nut pines, and different evergreen oaks. The banks 

 of streams are here lined with immense cotton woods, sycamores, cherries, ashes, and hackberries, while the arroijos 

 or depressions in the menus contain fine groves of mesquit. Above an elevation of 7,000 feet the yellow pine appears,, 

 and mingled with it on north slopes the red fir and white pine (Finns reflexa) ; the elevated valleys contain fine 

 groves of cottonwood, box-elder, alder, and small oaks, wl'ile the most inaccessible slopes of some of the highest 

 ranges are covered with forests of cypress (Cuprcxntin (lurttltilupensis). 



The coniferous forests of these mountains are dense and valuable, and, although not yet accessible for lumbering 

 operations except at a few points, they seem destined to become an important factor in the future development of 

 the whole region. They can, if properly protected, supply with lumber indefinitely a larger population than will 

 probably occupy this part of the United States. 



The deciduous trees of this entire southwestern region, often of considerable size, are generally hollow, especially 

 the oaks; they are of little value for any mechanical purpose, although affording abundant and excellent fuel. 



During the census year 64,034 acres of woodland only were reported destroyed by fire, with an estimated loss 

 of $142,075. 



A small amount of coarse lumber, principally yellow pine, is manufactured in the territory, mostly in the 

 counties of San Miguel and Santa Fe. New Mexico, however, like Colorado, obtains most of its lumber by rail 

 from Chicago. 



ARIZONA. 



Northern, western, and southwestern Arizona are destitute of true forests. Ravines in the mesas of the high 

 Colorado plateau of northern Arizona are occasionally covered, however, with stunted junipers. Cottonwoods and 

 willows line the banks of the Colorado river, and the ironwood, the palo verde, the mesqnit, the suwarrow, and 

 other Mexican forms of arborescent vegetation are found in the valley of the Gila and the deserts of the southern 

 part of the territory ; individual trees are, however, widely scattered, nowhere forming forests in the true meaning 

 of the word. The low lava ridges and arid lake beds with which the southwestern part of the territory is covered 

 are entirely destitute of tree growth. 



The mountain system culminating south of the Colorado plateau in the San Francisco mountains, and 

 extending southeasterly through the middle of the territory into New Mexico, is well timbered. The high ranges 

 which spring from this central elevated plateau bear heavy forests of yellow pine and red fir, the plateau itself 



