206 THE HEMLOCKS 



of one hundred and fifty feet, with a diameter of five or 

 six feet, yet such specimens are rare. It thrives best in a 

 moist soil and a humid atmosphere. It is rather more light- 

 demanding than its Eastern relatives and in dense stands 

 will grow tall, with a slightly tapering stem clean of limbs 

 for half its height. It is superior in all respects to any other 

 Hemlock as a timber tree. The bark is more valuable, and 

 the lumber cut from it is of such good quality that the lum- 

 bermen of Washington and Oregon have little or no diffi- 

 culty in mixing ten per cent of it with Douglas Spruce and 

 palming it off on customers and consumers for " Oregon 

 Pine." The wood is fine-grained, rather light, soft, tough, 

 and more durable than the Eastern species. The heartwood 

 is pale yellowish brown, slightly tinged with red, with thin 

 and nearly white sapwood. Except in point of strength 

 the one who purchases Western Hemlock believing it to be 

 " Oregon Pine " is not much wronged, for it is softer and 

 more easily worked than that wood ; in fact, is nearly equal 

 to the Western Yellow Pine in facility and ease of work- 

 ing. If the purchasing public could be induced to lay aside 

 the prejudice which loads down the very name of Hem- 

 lock, and to accept the lumber cut from this particular spe- 

 cies, and to accept it on its merits, it> would quickly come 

 into general use, for it is really a valuable wood. It has few 

 of the defects of its Eastern relative. 



It is a very prolific seeder and will reproduce itself if 

 given anything near a fair opportunity. No other method 

 need be undertaken if sufficient seed trees are left and fire 

 kept out. It is not known that any attempts have been made 

 to propagate it artificially, except such efforts as have been 

 made by eastern nurserymen who have endeavored to grow 

 it as an ornamental tree, but with poor success. It has been 

 developed in the moist climate of the Pacific Coast and can- 

 not endure removal, although it is stated that it thrives fairly 

 well in northern Europe not far from the sea. Unfortunately 

 it is a slow grower, and trees sixteen or seventeen inches in 

 diameter are from three hundred to four hundred years old. 



