CHOICE IN PINERY 105 



c. To enable present development where the market is unable 

 to use everything and also to work over small, detached areas. 



d. To encourage early removal of large masses of defective 

 and dying stuff. 



Since dryness of climate is everywhere the serious difficulty in 

 Western Yellow Pine forests, introduction and care of Balsam. 

 Cedar, Red Fir and Hardwoods which tend to give more density to 

 forest and thereby better protection from drying winds is advisable 

 in spite of the lesser value of these species as timber. 



Where artificial reproduction is necessary to re-stock larger 

 areas of clear cut lands it is best done by planting of good stock, 

 spaced not less than ten feet, and planted with sufficient care to 

 assure success. Rodents are a serious obstacle to natural and arti- 

 ficial reproduction of Western Yellow Pine. 



/. Lodge Pole Pinery. These forests are of importance in the 

 higher slopes of the Rockies from Colorado north, and also in the 

 northern Cascades, as well as out-lying mountains like the Big 

 Horns. The Sites are inferior ; a cold climate and short growing- 

 season make slow growth. It requires generally over 100 years to 

 make a 12" tree, and 150 years to grow a crop of tie timber. The 

 sites vary in topography and soil ; large areas are plateau country 

 with ample depth and quality of soil ; the altitude assures reasonable 

 moisture conditions and encourages reproduction. This takes place 

 readily on clear cut and even burned-over lands, less readily within 

 the stands. Exceptionally dry seasons and prevalence of electric 

 storms have led to great conflagrations in Lodgepole ; large areas 

 are bare, and generally stands of pine are even aged. At the lower 

 limits Lodgepole merges into Yellow Pine, and then is often mixed 

 with Red Fir; above, it grades into the Alpine forests of Spruce 

 in the Rockies, or Balsam, Hemlock and White Bark Pine in the 

 Pacific Ranges. 



The market for Lodgepole is generally a local one ; it is, there- 

 fore, developed only in a few places located near large mining enter- 

 prises, Montana, Colorado, Utah, or convenient to railways (tie 

 timber) as in the Big Horns and along the V. P. Ry. in Wyoming 

 and N. P. Ry. in Montana. Logging here is regular mountain 

 work, as a rule, calls for chutes, flumes and other special devices 



