214 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 219. 



up to about 9,000 or 10,000 feet. Above this the trees dwindle 

 in size and the wood deteriorates in qualit}'. At about 12,000 

 feet of altitude vegetation ceases, the mountains above are of 

 naked granite and mostly covered with snow all the year 

 round. In the high and heavily timbered lands the conifers 

 are represented by fourteen genera and fifty-two species, there 

 being sixteen or more species of Pines, all somewhat different 

 from their eastern congeners. 



After leaving the foot-hill country the first of these majestic 

 trees encountered is the Yellow Pine (Pinus ponderosa), a tree 

 of most noble presence. It is widely disseminated from cen- 

 tral Oregon south to Mexico, and laterally from the Coast 

 mountains east, across the cascade and the Sierra Nevada 

 ranges. In size and in value for lumber it ranks next to the 

 Sugar Pine, which comes in a little higher up. In the moun- 

 tains lying toward the sea, as also in the arid interior, the Yel- 

 low Pine is considerably smaller, but on the Sierra it attains a 

 height of two hundred to three hundred feet and a diameter of 

 ten to fifteen feet. It is among the best of our timber-trees, 

 the wood being soft yet firm and unusually heavy. A greater 

 amount of lumber is made from it than from any other tree in 

 the Sierras. 



At an elevation of about 3,000 feet the Sugar Pine (Pinus 

 Lambertiana) begins to appear ; its best development is 

 reached at about 5,000 feet, and it extends the whole length of 

 the big timber-belt and covers a zone from twenty to thirty 

 miles in width. Its grand colonnades run pai'allel with the 

 general trend of the Sierra. In size it ranks next to the Sequoia 

 gigantea, which in all other respects it excels. As a lumber- 

 tree it has no superior. The wood is nearly white, close- 

 grained and solid. No other timber works so easily, nor does 

 any other crack or warp so little, for which good qualities it is in 

 great demand for cabinet-work and interior finish. It is largely 

 used on the Pacific coast, and there is an export demand for it. 

 The sugar made from the sap which exudes from it when cut 

 or otherwise wounded, is utilized for food by the Indians but 

 is not relished by the whites. 



Being so valuable for lumber the destruction of the Sugar 

 Pine has been rapid, both the saw-mill man and the shake- 

 maker having until recently been allowed to depredate upon 

 these trees at pleasure. As many of them do not split freely, 

 it was the practice of the early shake-maker to fell one tree 

 after another until he had found one that would rive to suit 

 him. The rejected trunks were left to rot on the ground or to 

 be consumed by the sweeping fires so common in these for- 

 ests. Under this practice thousands of these trees were de- 

 stroyed for no other purpose than to prove to the satisfaction 

 of these vandals that they did not split freely. Through the 

 enactment of laws sufficiently stringent to terrorize this class 

 of woodsmen, our Sugar Pines and other valuable trees are 

 now pretty well secured against such want-on and criminal 

 waste. 



The white Silver Fir, by reason of its great strength and du- 

 rability, is much sought after for railway-ties, bridge-building 

 and mine-timbers. Some varieties of the Spruce and Hemlock 

 also make a tough, but rather coarse lumber. The home of 

 these trees, which nearly equal the Yellow Pine, extends along 

 the whole length of the Sierra, reaching laterally from 3,000 to 

 8,000 feet, the best being found about midway of this belt. 



The Incense Cedar (Libocedrus decurrens) is another most 

 useful and widely disseminated tree, its habitat reaching from 

 southern Oregon to Mexico, and from 2,000 up to 6,000 feet 

 above the sea-level. In height it ranges from 100 to 150 feet, 

 in diameter from three to six feet. The timber is adapted for 

 a great variety of uses, being light, durable and strong ; it is 

 used in railway, ship and boat building. Having a straight 

 grain and riving freely, great quantities of it are split into 

 shakes and pickets, and formerly it was made into clapboards. 

 The bark is thick and tough, and excellent for filling in boggy 

 places in road-building. This Cedar is never found in groves, 

 but is scattered through forests of the Sugar Pine, Yellow Pine, 

 Spruce, Fir and Hemlock, and is often called the White Cedar 

 of California. 



Correspondence. 



German Forests as I Remember Them. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — My memory runs back to the Revolutionary riots which 

 took place in Germany in 1848, when the enraged people re- 

 sorted to acts of violence in revenge for existing evils. Vibra- 

 tions from the centres of fermenting dissatisfaction in Paris, 

 Vienna and Berlin had reached provincial cities, and my native 

 place in Mecklenburg was not exempt from this disturbing- 



visit. Here the rage of the people was directed mainly against 

 the head, or, as he was called, the Senator of the Forest De- 

 partment, which was a distinct branch in our municipal gov- 

 ernment. The furious'mob, not finding his person, demolished 

 all his belongings, and not a particle of what could be broken 

 in or about his house escaped destruction. Now, why was 

 this punishrnent inflicted upon him ? The charge was that he 

 had appropriated to his own use certain sums received from 

 the sale of timber and wood, and, what was considered a still 

 more serious offence, he had ordered more trees to be cut 

 fron: the forests than had been allowed by the higher authority, 

 which consisted of a committee of representative citizens ap- 

 pointed for this purpose, whose duty is to designate at cer- 

 tain intervals those trees which, on account of interference 

 with the growth of others or for some other cause, it was 

 thought best to dispose of. 



In well-regulated communities the preservation of the for- 

 ests is a matter of the greatest concern to the inhabitants. 

 With us they brought in certain valuable revenues to the in- 

 come of the city besides conferringdirect benefits to individual 

 citizens. For centuries certain inalienable rights had belonged 

 to the lots on which our houses had been built, under which, 

 according to their valuation, a certain amount of wood could 

 be had for the simple fee of cutting. Persons who did not 

 own real estate, after securing permission which cost nothing, 

 although it was placed upon record, might gather the dry 

 wood which they needed on designated days and in certain 

 places under the supervision of the City Forester or his aids. 

 They could use a wheelbarrow for carrying and a hook to 

 break the dry branches, but no hatchet could be carried. Any 

 one who might be discovered carrying a concealed hatchet had 

 his permission at once revoked. The dry leaves or Pine- 

 needles were also gathered under restriction. The people had 

 learned through centuries of experience, dating back to the 

 times before the Roman occupation, that their forests pro- 

 tected them and helped to provide a means of living for them, 

 and therefore they have always been held in veneration. The 

 result of this long experience is a well-regulated system of 

 tree-culture. It is a luxury to walk through some of these 

 groves. In the oldest sections the giant trees stand in such 

 regular rows as to suggest the thought that they had been 

 originally planted at regular distances. 



When wood is sold for building purposes or for use to the 

 different artisans, such as coopers, wagon-makers and joiners, 

 auctions are made, and no one from another place is allowed 

 to bid for it, the privilege belonging exclusively to the resi- 

 dents and citizens. Even the stumps of the trees are dug out 

 and sold for firewood to brick-makers and bakers. In the 

 Pine-woods the long roots are carefully gathered and worked 

 into baskets and similar utensils. Pea-brush, bean-poles, 

 Christmas-trees and decorative greens are cut under supervi- 

 sion, and no slashing and hacking to the right and left is allowed. 

 Now, what is the result of all this care ? The people point with 

 pride to their forests, which are wealth to them and a blessing 

 in many educational ways. A fire (Waldbrand) is considered 

 a calamity of the direst sort. In the dry season, when leaves 

 have fallen, no smoking is allowed in the woods. Such his- 

 torical forests as Wienerwald, which belongs to Vienna, the 

 Spreewald, which belongs to Berlin, and many others are 

 places of renown, but less famous ones scattered throughout 

 the country are cherished and loved by the people beyond de- 

 scription. They feel that they could not exist without them. 

 Besides the value from their wood and protection, in other 

 ways the)' have great historical interest. Here, we have been 

 taught, are the remains of the graves of the Huns, and here 

 the caves where the Vikings lived and hid their treasures. 

 Here, again, are beautiful openings, where are found such 

 floral treasures as the odorous Violets and Lilies-of-the-valley. 

 In the dark Oak-woods we may startle some deer or wild 

 pigs, and in the Beech-woods are the "horsts" of aromafic 

 berries, and the Woodruff (Asperula odorata), which grows 

 in such great clusters that the whole population goes out to 

 gather it tor decorating the houses when they plant the May- 

 bush, and all the doorways and stairs are entwined with it at 

 the Pfingsten celebration. 



We German people miss our forests when coming to this 

 country. We had read the descriptions of the great woods in 

 Fenimore Cooper's Indian tales, but too often we have found 

 nothing but second or third growth trees with tangled under- 

 brush, or burned stumps which told where trees had once 

 stood. It would be well if our people could realize that in the 

 care of their woodlands there lies a refining influence which 

 helps to make a strong- home sentiment and nobility of char- 

 acter. We cannot overestimate their economic value, but if 

 every town and village had its forest, in which all the people 



