BRISTLECONE PINE. 95 



colored, conspicuous, resinous; resin passages few, not prominent; medullary 

 rnys numerous, obscure; color reddish, the thin sapwood nearly white. 



Growth. Height rarely exceeding 40 feet or diameter more than 3 feet, 

 usually much smaller. 



SUPPLY AND USES. 



The bristlecone pine, so named because of the sharp bristles on the 

 ends of the cone scales, is a high-mountain tree, running up to the 

 timber line at an altitude of 12,000 feet, and seldom occurring below 

 6,000 or 7,000 feet. It ekes out its existence in many regions on dry, 

 stony ridges, very cold and stormy in winter and subject to pro- 

 tracted drought during the growing season. Under such conditions 

 a large and symmetrical tree is impossible, and the bristlecone pine's 

 trunk is short, excessively knotty, and tapers rapidly. It reaches its 

 best development among the Rocky Mountains, but extends its range 

 westward to the mountains of California, and is found in Utah, 

 Nevada, and northern Arizona. It grows slowly and reaches an age 

 of 200 years or more. 



The great altitude at which it grows and the remoteness of the 

 districts where it abounds would exclude it from many of the com- 

 mon uses. In addition to that disadvantage, it is not desirable in 

 either form or quality. Yet in spite of these drawbacks it has been 

 and still is important in certain localities. Many valuable mines in 

 central Nevada were developed largely through the use of this un- 

 shapely tree. In some sections it was cut so closely that scarcely a 

 seed tree was left. It was made to serve as mine props, stulls, lagging, 

 windlass frames, cabins, fuel, and other necessary accessories to min- 

 ing. It was sometimes the best charcoal wood obtainable, and the 

 product of the pits was carried long distances on pack animals to 

 supply blacksmiths in mining camps. 



It is rarely sawed into lumber, but is occasionally employed as 

 fence posts, the resin in the wood causing it to give fairly long 

 service. Its use as railroad ties has been reported, but it is not 

 listed as tie material by any of the leading railroads. It finds place 

 in the construction of stock corrals, sheds, fences, and sometimes 

 barns and cabins. The grain of the wood is so involved and twisted, 

 and so many knots abound, that no split commodities, such as 

 shingles, shakes, or pickets, can be made from it. 



There is no likelihood that the bristlecone pine will ever rise to an 

 important place in the country's lumber supply, but it is perhaps the 

 most valuable crop that the sterile and rocky peaks and ridges will 

 produce. It crowds out no tree that is more valuable, and it is able 

 to maintain its existence. Its small seeds have ample wing area, 

 and the wind carries them to a distance of GOO feet or more from the 

 parent tree. They take root and grow in rocky soil where no humus 

 is visible. 



