184 THE SPRUCES 



lumber for all general purposes of construction. No inform- 

 ation can be obtained concerning its fitness for pulp, yet 

 there is little doubt but that it is suitable, as all Spruces 

 thus far experimented with are. Its bark is quite rich in 

 tannin, but as the bark does not exceed three fourths of an 

 inch in thickness on adult trees, the yield will necessarily 

 be light. This thinness of its bark renders the tree an easy 

 prey to forest fires, which are too frequently permitted to 

 spread over large areas of the Rocky Mountain and Pacific 

 regions where covered with a dense growth of splendid 

 trees. Whether the fires occur as " ground " or " crown," 

 the latter where it leaps from the top of one tree to 

 another with the speed of a race-horse, consuming every 

 leaf and twig, the trees are killed outright and the 

 ground left naked, to be covered by a growth of chapar- 

 ral, or, in rare cases, by trees of other species. 



The cones are produced in great abundance, but are con- 

 fined almost entirely to the topmost branches of the tree. 

 They open and release the seeds early in October. The 

 seeds are small, with a large wing, and can be carried a 

 great distance by the winds. No doubt natural regeneration 

 would be ample if fires could be kept out and care taken 

 to leave a sufficient number of seed trees. Artificial pro- 

 pagation, beyond planting seeds where the tree flourishes 

 best, should not be undertaken except in an experimental 

 way. However, it is one of the few western conifers that 

 shows something of a readiness to grow elsewhere than in 

 its natural home. Specimens of Engelmann Spruce are 

 growing in the Eastern States and in Europe, giving some 

 promise of success, but no information can be obtained of 

 any attempt to grow it for other than ornamental purposes 

 except in Europe, and there the planting of it in the forest 

 has been so recent that nothing definite can be determined. 

 It is with this tree as with nearly all the Rocky Mountain 

 and Pacific Slope trees: Nature has provided for their 

 abundant continuance, and, if permitted, she will accom- 

 plish it. The situation there is not like that east of the 



