WESTERN HEMLOCK 



(Tsuga Heterophylld) 



WHEN this wood began to go to market, its promoters found 

 difficulties in securing a trial for it in eastern states, because of its 

 name. The eastern hemlock was known to be a substantial wood, but 

 a rough one with many faults linked with its virtues. It was naturally 

 supposed that the western hemlock had all the faults of its eastern rela- 

 tive with possibly some of the good qualities left out; and there was 

 general hesitancy to put the new comer to a trial. That caused a 

 movement among western lumbermen to sell their hemlock under some 

 other name. They were confident the wood had only to be given a trial 

 and it would win its way, after which the name would make little 

 difference. Accordingly, it was started to market under the name of 

 Alaska pine, although Alaska has no pine large enough for good 

 lumber. Other lumbermen thought it advisable to choose a name less 

 likely to excite suspicion, and they called it Washington pine. Others 

 designated it as spruce, and still others as fir. It was more likely to 

 pass for fir than for pine or spruce. 



The lumber is now generally known as western hemlock, but in 

 California some call it hemlock spruce or California hemlock spruce. In 

 Idaho, Washington, and Oregon the name hemlock usually suffices; 

 while western hemlock spruce, and western hemlock fir, and Prince 

 Albert's fir are names used in speaking of lumber and of the tree in the 

 forest. 



Western hemlock's range extends north and south a thousand 

 miles, from southern Alaska to California south of San Francisco. 

 It grows from the Pacific coast eastward to Montana, five hundred miles 

 or more. It ascends to altitudes of 6,000 feet, but it is not at its 

 best on high mountains, but in the warm, damp region near the coast 

 in Washington and Oregon. Trees 200 feet high and eight or ten in 

 diameter are found, but the average size is much less. 



The leaves of western hemlock are dark green and very lustrous 

 above. The flowers are yellow and purple. Cones are one inch or less 

 in length, and the small seeds are equipped with wings which carry them 

 some distance from the base of the parent tree. The seeds will germinate 

 and develop a root system without touching mineral soil. Their ability 

 to do so assists them greatly in maintaining the tree's position in the 

 damp climate where this hemlock reaches its best development. The 

 ground in the forest, with all objects that lie upon it, is often covered 

 with wet moss a foot or more thick. The seeds of most trees would 



103 



