80 TREES 



Forests of balm of Gilead cover much of the vast British 

 possessions north of the United States, and reach to the 

 ultimate islands of the Aleutian group. They dip down 

 into the states as far as Nebraska and Nevada. In culti- 

 vation, the species has proved itself a tree of excellent 

 habit, easily propagated and transplanted, and of rapid 

 growth. It has all the good points of the Carolina poplar 

 and lacks its besetting sin of becoming so soon an unsightly 



cripple. 



Narrow-leaved Cottonwood 



P. angustifolia, James. 



Lance-leaved Cottonwood 



P. acuminata, Rydb. 



Mexican Cottonwood 



P. Mexicana, Wesm. 



These three cottonwoods line the banks of mountain 

 streams at high elevations in the great system of mountain 

 chains that stretch from British Columbia southward. 

 The dancing foliage, bright green in summer, golden in 

 autumn, lends a charming color note to the dun stretches 

 of arid plain and the sombre green of pine forests. These 

 trees furnish the settler fuel, shade, and wind-breaks while 

 he is converting his "homestead" into a home. 



Black Cottonwood 



P. trichocarpa. Hook. 



Farther west, covering the mountain slopes from Alaska 

 to Mexico, and liking even better the moist, rich low- 

 lands, is the black cotton wood, the giant of the genus, 



