26 



A Study of the Vegetation of 



A chemical analysis not only confirms the low amount of vola- 

 tile and organic matter, but also shows, as one would expect, the 

 low nitrogen content of the new soil covered with bunch-grass 

 (Table III). 



TABLE III 



CHEMICAL ANALYSES OF SOILS FROM VARIOUS PLANT COMMUNITIES IN 

 SOUTHEASTERN WASHINGTON AND ADJACENT IDAHO 



A second set of stations was maintained on Kamiak Mountain, 

 a bold butte lying 9 miles north of Pullman, and one of a series 

 extending in a westerly direction from Thatuna Hills. This 

 butte running from east to west for a distance of over 2 miles, 

 and reaching an elevation of 1,000 feet above the surrounding 

 hilltops, is covered on the south side with prairie, while the 

 steeper north slope bears a dense forest of Douglas fir and west- 

 ern larch (Figs. 36 and 37). 



On the south side trees occur only near the summit, where out- 

 cropping rocks furnish in their crevices a sufficient shelter and 

 water supply for the establishment of the seedlings. Here is a 

 very open growth of yellow pine which flanks the fir and tamarack 

 and also occupies the less sheltered north base below the fir- 

 tamarack community. In fact, this mountain offered so many 

 interesting conditions of slope, exposure, and vegetational cover, 

 that 13 stations were maintained here during 1913. 



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