PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 97 



YELLOW PINE FOR THE WEST. 



(Pimis Ponderosa.) 



Among the Clouds in Colorado. 



It is not an uncommon experience for mountain climbers to be upon a high 

 peak and look down from a clear sky upon dense clouds from which snow or 

 rain is being precipitated upon the plains or valleys below ; the author has had 

 many such impressions, but on February the 23rd, while examining a large tract 

 of pine timber on the divide not far from Palmer Lake, Colo., quite another experi- 

 ence occurred. 



The morning was fairly bright, as at sunrise the range of mountains to the 

 west, as well as Pike's Peak, was in plain view, the snow-covered slopes shining 

 resplendent as a ray of sunshine penetrated the partial mist, and the dark, steep 

 canyons contrasted with the more regular snowy surfaces. While yet admiring 

 the beautiful scene, Pike's Peak was suddenly enveloped in clouds, and soon 

 the entire range was hidden. 



The elevation of this divide is 7,000 feet, nowhere steep, but with long, gently 

 rolling slopes over which we drove in a buggy through forests of Pinus Ponde- 

 rosa. This tree is not a dweller of the highest Rockies, but gradually disappears 

 at from 7,000 to 8,000 feet elevation spruce and aspen appearing at the latter 



elevations. 







Ponderosa is essentially an arid region tree, the melting snows and mini- 

 mum rain showers providing sufficient moisture, while the sandy or gravelly 

 soil of the plains suits its ponderous roots, enabling them to build up the super- 

 structure which is so well named Bull Pine. 



There seems to be no other tree of any consequence which will take root 

 from natural seeding, grow rapidly and develop into valuable timber in a soil 

 so dry and porous as exists throughout the plains regions, under conditions of 

 aridity which prevail west of the looth meridian and at such an elevation. 



Pinus Ponderosa therefore possesses a value in re-afforestation as a grand 

 forest tree which places it beyond the usual popular estimate of timber trees. 

 It is the only solution of the forest problem for the great plains region, South 

 Dakota, western Nebraska and Kansas, Colorado and westward to California. 



Of the millions of seeds produced, by far the greater quantity are devoured 

 by small animals and also forms the food of birds, yet a sufficient quantity falls 

 in good ground and germinates to quickly reproduce a forest where a sufficient 

 number of seed trees remain. 



