154 AMERICAN FOREST TREES 



more abundant, and will be used in preference to fir for that purpose. 

 The decrease in area on account of fires, and in quantity because of pulp- 

 wood operations, indicates that forest grown Eraser fir has seen its best 

 days. On the other hand, the United States Forest Service has acquired 

 tracts of land on the summits of the mountains where this species has its 

 natural home, and the growth will be protected from fires and from 

 destructive cutting, and there is no danger that the species will be 

 exterminated. 



It is an interesting tree. It contributes to the pleasure of tourists 

 and campers among the southern mountains. The fragrance of its 

 leaves and young branches add a zest to the summer camp. The 

 traveler who is overtaken in the woods by the coming of night, prepares 

 his bed of the boughs of this tree and of red spruce and sleeps soundly 

 beneath an evergreen canopy. Pillows and cushions stuffed with fir 

 needles carry memories of the mountains to distant cities. 



In one respect this tree of the high mountains is like the untamed 

 Indians who once roamed in that region : it refuses to be civilized. The 

 tree has been planted in parks in this country and in Europe, but it does 

 not prosper. Its form loses something of the grace and symmetry which 

 it exhibits in its mountain home, and its life is short. Those who wish 

 to see Fraser fir at its best must see it where nature planted it high on 

 the southern mountains. 



ARIZONA CORK FIR (Abies arizonica) very closely resembles forms of the alpine 

 fir, and may not be a separate species. Sudworth was unable to distinguish its 

 foliage and cones from those of alpine fir, but the bark is softer. Its range is on the 

 San Francisco mountains in Arizona. It is very scarce, and only local use of its wood 

 is possible. 



