1902. 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



69 



ment, due to open stand, is probably 

 caused less by climate than by soil. The 

 soil overlying the rocks of the rugged 

 slopes is scant}', and becomes more and 

 more so as we go north, until finally 

 onh' the nmck of decayed moss and 

 other vegetation ( except on the gravel 

 moraines of glaciers) furnishes a foot- 

 hold for the trees. In consequence 

 fallen timber frequently makes travel 

 impossible. The underbrush and lower 

 vegetation is often dense and luxuriant, 

 comprising species of vaccinium, rubas, 

 ribes, menziesia, and the spring echino- 

 panax " 



Regarding economic aspects of this 

 forest area, which, covering the rugged 

 islands of the Alexander Archipelago 

 and with a belt from two to twenty miles 

 in width along the shores as far as Cook 

 Inlet, maybe estimated at round 20,000 

 square miles, the writer was especially 

 solicitous to form a sound judgment, 

 since such variable accounts had been 

 given of the magnificence, or else the 

 uselessness, of these supplies. This 

 judgment he formulated as follows : 



' ' L,eaving out of consideration the 

 two cedars, w^hich are found only in 

 limited quantities and will soon be ex- 

 hausted, the other two species, spruce 



and hemlock, are by their nature not 

 capable of furnishing high-class lumber. 

 The hemlock furnishes a material which 

 would answer very well for house-fur- 

 nishing purposes, but it is objected to 

 because it is difficult to work, and enor- 

 mous quantities of far superior de\-elop- 

 ment are now going to waste in the 

 forests around Puget Sound because its 

 value is not known or appreciated in the 

 market. The spruce, being a rapidly 

 grown, coarse-grained wood, even where 

 it is best developed on the Oregon coast, 

 makes indifferent timber, fit only for 

 packing cases, boxes, and common build- 

 ing material, undesirable as long as better 

 material can be had. 



' ' In addition to the small value of 

 these woods and of their comparatively 

 unsatisfactory development, the condi- 

 tions under which lumbering on the 

 rugged slopes would have to be carried 

 on are extremely difficult. That the 

 value of this forest resource must in- 

 crease with the development of the 

 country and with the increase of local 

 needs allows of no doubt ; as a field of 

 exploitation under present economic 

 conditions it does not offer any induce- 

 ments, unless it be that the spruce could 

 be turned into paper pulp, the good felt- 



TREES UPSET BY GI.ACIER, ALASKA. 



