STORY OF OUR NATIONAL FOREST 91 



is discovered the richness, beauty, and charm with 

 which the eastern forest offsets the superior gran- 

 deur of that of the far West. 



Down the higher slopes and summits of the 

 Southern Appalachians, northern conifers invaded 

 the far South, while up the sandy lowlands of the 

 Atlantic coast southern conifers thrust another long 

 finger invading the North. Thus, throughout the 

 East there then was, and is within the narrow limits 

 of forest remaining to-day, a delightful if sometimes 

 confusing variety. 



On Mount Desert Island in Maine, for example, 

 in Lafayette National Park, southern species com- 

 mon on the Gulf of Mexico overlap northern species 

 from the shores of Hudson Bay. Throughout the 

 entire eastern forest, rarely anywhere in any con- 

 siderable area was possession complete either for 

 the conifers in their special ranges or for the decidu- 

 ous trees in theirs. There were usually a few pines, 

 at least, among the hardwoods, a few hardwoods 

 among the pines ; and throughout hundreds of thou- 

 sands of square miles the contest for supremacy pro- 

 duced remarkable variety and charm. Only the 

 spruces in close stands, because their dense foliage 

 ceilings excluded sunlight, discouraged invasion 

 even of their own kind. Of the eastern forest's 

 original total of 1,065,000 square miles, 439,000 

 square miles, a little more than forty per cent, con- 

 sisted of conifers. 



The most famous of all eastern trees was the 



