82 USES OF COMMERCIAL WOODS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



SUPPLY AND USES. 



This pine has several names, all of which are based on the fruit 

 it bears. It is called nut pine, pinon pine, pinon, and New Mexican 

 pifion, and is one of the four pines of the far West whose nuts are 

 important as food, the others being the singleleaf pinon, the Parry 

 pine, and the Mexican pinon. The tree under consideration has its 

 range in Colorado, New Mexico, and western Texas. It grows to an 

 elevation of 9,000 feet or more, and the available supply is consider- 

 able, though it can scarcely be classed as a timber tree in the ordinary 

 meaning of the term. Its trunk is so short that it seldom makes 

 more than a crosstie or fence post. It usually branches a few feet 

 above the ground, and has the appearance of a large shrub. 



The pifion has been tested as tie timber and as such has had a 

 limited commercial use. Some 20 years ago the Rio Grande Western 

 Eailroad laid 2,000 pinon ties as an experiment, and the result was 

 believed to be satisfactory. In some other instances where this wood 

 has been similarly used ties occasionally broke under the strain of 

 traffic, the rails cut the wood, and sometimes, with resinous speci- 

 mens, the ties split when spikes were driven. Complaint has also 

 been made that the wood's holding power upon spikes is poor. 



Beports are conflicting also with regard to the value of this wood 

 for fence posts, of which comparatively large numbers are used. 

 Sometimes they have offered satisfactory resistance to decay, and at 

 others have lasted only 3 or 4 years. This difference may be explained 

 by the fact that some of the timber is very pitchy and some is not. 

 The posts for an experimental coyote-proof pasture fence in Coche- 

 topa National Forest, Colo., are of this timber. 



In all parts of the tree's range it is cut for fuel. Where the demand 

 is strong large areas have been partly or wholly stripped to supply it. 

 In some parts of Colorado $8 a cord has been paid for it. Few soft- 

 woods rank above it in fuel value. 



Telephone poles are sometimes cut of pinon, but on account of its 

 poor form its use as poles can never rise to importance. 



Charcoal burners in all parts of its range have cut it for fuel for 

 local forges. The wood is pressed into service for various ranch uses, 

 usually because it is the best available in particular localities. Among 

 such uses are parts of wagons and sleds, neckyokes, pickets, corral 

 poles and posts, culverts, sheds, and cabins. 



The nuts borne by this tree give it one of its chief values. The 

 Indians and some of the early settlers of the region gathered the nuts 

 for food. This is still done to some extent, and local stores offer 

 them for sale. The tree is a less prolific seeder than is the singleleaf 

 pinon of eastern California and western Nevada. The nuts are not 

 carried by the wind, but fall near the trunk of the parent tree, where 

 they are easily collected by Indians and by birds and rodents. So 



