568 KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 



Stems at the ground were no thicker than his wrist, and trailing on the ground, 

 occupied but sixteen or twenty square feet of space. There seemed to be but little 

 doubt that at some time in the past Mount Washington had forests of coniferse at 

 much higher elevations than at present, if not perhaps clean up to the summit; 

 that these scrubby plants now there were seedlings that had sprung up under the 

 elder ones, and that in time the older ones were destroyed, leaving the small ones 

 beneath alone to their fate. * 



An examination of different parts of Mount Washington shows not only that 

 this is the true explanation of the absence of good timber beyond what is known 

 as the timber line, but that the same law is in progress to-day as in centuries past. 

 Illustrations of this are numerous. There is now a railroad running straight up 

 the mountain side from the base to the summit. Near the timber line, a cut had 

 to be made through an area covered by mature Balsam Firs. This cut was about 

 eight or ten feet deep. Under the trees, moss and dead roots and old fir leaves 

 had made an earthy strata of a foot, or in places, more in depth. The moss was 

 still green from the rains, melting snows, and fogs of this elevated region, and 

 sustaining the various kinds of low vegetation common to these alpine heights. 

 YoUng firs were springing up in great abundance. But all the larger trees were 

 dead, though here and there might be seen a branch with a few lingering green 

 leaves. This mass of dead, standing timber occupied several acres. The reason 

 for their death was evident. The railroad cut showed that the forest stood on a 

 mass of large ■ but loose gneiss rocks, through which the waters from the two 

 thousand feet of loose rock above rushed as soon as the railroad cut was made, 

 carrying with it all the earthy matter on which the larger trees subsisted, but 

 leaving the tough turfy matter at the surface, on which smaller trees of the same 

 sort may live for many years, though the larger ones cannot longer exist. With 

 the death of the larger trees there is, of course, an increase of light, and then the 

 Hierochlce, with other grasses and sedges, speedily take possession, holding togeth- 

 er the loose soil, and even permitting in many cases an increase of the earthy 

 layer, by holding much of the disintegrated rock which may be washed or blown 

 on from above. Carefully examining patches of scrubby spruces above the timber 

 line, it is not uncommon to find dark patches of vegetable mould evidently the 

 remains of large trees that have been growing where now only the masses of 

 small scrubby plants exist. In some places a sharp stick may be pushed down 

 among the scrubby firs and spruces, and the earth found to be but a foot or so 

 deep over the loose rock below, from which the earth has been wholly washed 

 away. Again, there are some places, often nearly an acre in extent, where the 

 scrubby firs are still standing, dead, from the earth having been washed away 

 from below upward, not leaving enough for even the moderate demands of these 

 little bushes. 



In view of the facts detailed we may conclude that at the elevation of these 

 mountain chains, the lowland vegetation was carried up at the same time. The 

 summits, covered by luxuriant forests would present a cooler surface to the moist 

 clouds, and there would be less condensation than on bare sun-warmed rocks, 



