WESTERN YELLOW PINE 169 



some remaining in the cones until midwinter. This pro- 

 longed falling of the seed gives the varying winds an op- 

 portunity to scatter them in all directions from the parent 

 tree. This result is strikingly shown where Red and White 

 Pine have occupied the same ground and seed trees have 

 been left, the Red always preempting the ground with its 

 seedlings, for the White Pine drops its seeds as soon as 

 ripe and they are scattered only in the direction in which the 

 wind may be blowing at the time. But if natural reproduc- 

 tion cannot take place through want of seed trees, then 

 the seed should be gathered and treated in all respects as 

 directed for White Pine. The tree has a tendency to de- 

 velop a tap-root, but if the soil in which the plants are 

 grown in the nursery is moist, that tendency does not man- 

 ifest itself very strongly for two or three years, and they can 

 be successfully grown and transplanted. Still, it may prove 

 far the better way to plant the seed. It certainly will be 

 if dry, exposed, sterile ground is chosen for the plantation. 

 This is especially so if the ground proves to be stony and 

 with little good soil in which to set the plants. The distances 

 apart that the seed should be planted or the trees set should 

 be the same as for White Pine. As White Pine is superior 

 to it, all things considered, it would not be best to plant it 

 where that tree will flourish, but the possibilities of the tree 

 are great in certain sections where other valuable species 

 will not thrive. 



WESTERN YELLOW PINE : Pinus ponderosa 



THIS important tree is loaded down with no less than 

 fourteen local names. It is called Yellow Pine in seven of 

 the states where it is most abundant, and Bull Pine in five. 

 W r hy this latter name should be applied to any Pine and 

 it is to no less than seven different species is past com- 

 prehension. To call it Yellow Pine is in entire harmony 

 with the character of the tree and is in the line of accur- 

 acy. In the eastern lumber trade it is very properly des- 



