154 



THE FORESTER. 



July, 



however, furnished in sufficient quantities 

 for the constant renewal of the forests 

 i fire, viz., by the fall of old trees. 

 The soil is thus returned and mellowed, 

 and many trees are planted for every one 

 that falls. Landslides and floods also give 

 rise to bare virgin ground, and a tree now 

 and then owes its existence to a burrow- 

 ing wolf or squirrel. But the most reg- 

 ular supply of fresh soil is furnished by 

 the fall of aged trees. 



"The climatic changes in progress in 

 the Sierra, bearing on the tenure of the 

 tree life, are entirely misapprehended, 

 especially as to the time and the means 

 employed by nature in effecting them. 

 It is constantly asserted in a vague way 

 that the Sierra was vastly wetter than 

 now, and that the increasing drought 

 will of itself extinguish Sequoia, leaving 

 its ground to other trees supposed to be 

 capable of flourishing in a dryer climate. 

 But that Sequoia can and does grow on 

 as dry ground as any of its present rivals, 

 is manifest in a thousand places. 'Why 

 then,' it will be asked, 'are Sequoias al- 

 ways found in greatest abundance in well 

 watered places where streams are ex- 

 ceptionally abundant ?' Simply because 

 a growth of Sequoias creates these 

 streams. 



"The thirsty mountaineer knows well 

 that in every Sequoia grove he will find 

 running water, but it is a mistake to sup- 

 pose that the water is the cause of the 

 grove being there : on the contrary the 

 grove is the cause of the water being 

 there. Drain off the water and the trees 

 will remain, but cut off the trees and the 

 water will vanish. Never was cause 

 more completely mistaken for effect than 

 in the case of these related phenomena 

 of Sequoia woods and perennial streams, 

 and I confess that at first I shared the 

 blunder. 



"When attention is called to the 

 method of Sequoia's stream-making, it 

 will be apprehended at once. The roots 

 of this immense tree fill the ground, 

 forming a thick sponge that absorbs and 

 holds back the rains and melting snows, 

 allowing them only to ooze and flow gen- 

 tly. Every fallen leaf and rootlet, as 



well as long clasping roots and prostrate 

 trunk, may be regarded as a dam, hoard- 

 ing I he bounty of storm clouds, and dis- 

 pensing it as blessings all through the 

 Summer, instead of allowing it to go 

 headlong in short-lived floods. Evapo- 

 ration is also checked by the dense foli- 

 age to a greater extent than by any other 

 Sierra tree, and the air is entangled in 

 masses and broad sheets that are thickly 

 saturated ; while thirsty winds are not 

 allowed to go sponging and licking along 

 the ground." 



There are many reasons to justify the 

 assertion that the tree would flourish in 

 our mountains of Southern California, 

 from 4, 000 to 9, 000 feet elevation. What 

 a thing of beauty our mountains would 

 be if thus planted, and that in a com- 

 paratively few years, and the problem of 

 a water supply for our homes and farms 

 would be solved for all time. The work, 

 of course, should be done by the Federal 

 Government, through all the semi-arid 

 regions, but communities that are suffer- 

 ing for water should move in the work, 

 and the Government will soon take it up. 

 A system of scientific forest culture, such 

 as is now being developed by the Gov- 

 ernment, will doubtless secure as excel- 

 lent results for America as other coun- 

 tries have attained in Europe. 



The Silver Firs, Abies, Concolor and 

 A. Magnifica, the most beautiful native 

 conifer, will grow and thrive in the 

 higher elevations, but not in poor soil, 

 or on steep, hot slopes. An occasional 

 group of these beautiful, fern-like trees 

 would add much to the attractiveness of 

 the forests, and no other tree grows so 

 compact, or so long shelters the snow 

 from melting. 



The Ponderosa or Silver Pine is found 

 more generally both as to altitude and 

 latitude, below the great Redwood belt 

 of Northern California. The Ponderosa 

 forms at least two-thirds of all the conif- 

 erous forests, and reaching as they do, 

 away over the high plateaus of Arizona. 

 It is useful for lumber, but is not so use- 

 ful as some others, as a covering for our 

 mountains, mainly because of its lack of 

 density of foliage. 



