562 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 196. 



of Wall Street, on a warm day and took a drink of water, say- 

 ing that he would rather have a drink from the old well at 

 home. His wife said, "Selim, that's a pretty subject for a 

 poem," and he wrote it. I have read an autograph letter written 

 by him in August, 1835, in which he says that his second son, 

 twenty years of age, was at that time on a three-years voyage 

 to the Pacific Ocean as captain's clerk to Captain Morrell, who 

 discovered the Cannibal Islands. Mr. Woodvvorth died Decem- 

 ber 9th, 1842, and was buried in New York, but his body was 

 afterward removed to San Francisco. I wish to learn where 

 it now lies, and whether there is any monument over his dust. 

 I think the birthplace should be marked in some appropriate 

 way, and should like to communicate with some of his de- 

 scendants, in order to consult them regarding the matter. The 

 well and the little old mill appear to be the same as when the 

 poet saw them daily in his boyhood. I think we ought to pre- 

 serve the well, and perhaps the millstones, which are still in 

 use. The birthplace is visited by an increasing number of 

 the summer dwellers on that part of the shore, sometimes as 

 many as sixty in a day. The interest which attracts people to 

 a poet's birthplace is wholesome and should be encouraged, 

 but it cannot always be convenient in its results for the cour- 

 teous family now having the care of the celebrated well. 

 Pleasant attention is given to all visitors, and fees, frequently 

 offered, are always refused. f. B. Harrison. 



Boston, Mass. 



The White River Forest Reservation. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — Colorado has the honor of possessing the first forest- 

 reservation under the act of Congress passed at the last ses- 

 sion. This is "The White River Forest Reservation," for 

 which a proclamation was issued by the President on October 

 17, 1891. I have carefully examined the whole tract, and a gen- 

 eral description of it would, no doubt, be of interest to the 

 readers of Garden and Forest. 



This reservation lies in the western part of the state, and 

 comprises the eastern portions of the counties of Garfield and 

 Rio Blanco. It is just over the crest of the Continental Divide, 

 where the rivers run almost due west, and where the greater 

 rainfall produces a larger forest-growth than on the eastern 

 side. The tract is rectangular, extending about fifty miles 

 north and south and forty miles east and west, beginning 

 about seven miles north of Glenvvood and ten miles east of 

 Meeker. It therefore has an area of about 2,000 square miles, 

 or about 1,350,000 acres. Three rivers receive a large portion of 

 their water here. In the southern part its slopes drain into 

 the Grand River, which flows past its border. In the centre, 

 near its eastern boundary, rise the White River and the 

 many small streams which form its head-waters. In the north- 

 ern portion rises the Williams River, the main tributary of the 

 Yampa, which, like the White River, empties into the Green 

 River near the Utah line. 



The reservation is made to cover what is known as the 

 White River Plateau, which, although broken with hill and 

 valley, and nowhere strictly level, is crossed by no mountain 

 ranges, and has a general level character, varying in altitude 

 from 8,000 to 11,000 feet, with here and there ragged peaks 

 rising as high as 12,000 feet. The formation is volcanic, and 

 the immense forces which threw up these bold cliffs and great 

 rocks are visible everywhere, forming a peculiarly grand and 

 sublime scenery. 



About two-thirds of the surface is covered with a dense for- 

 est, in some places almost impenetrable, consisting of one 

 deciduous and three coniferous species. Each species has its 

 own habitat or level, and seldom encroaches upon that of the 

 other. The first tree we meet is the Aspen, at an altitude of 

 about 8,000 feet. Above this comes the Red or Douglas 

 Spruce (Pseudotsuga taxifolia) at an altitude of 8,000 to 9,000 

 feet, and from this to the timber-line, 9,000 to 11,000 feet, is 

 the White or Engelmann Spruce (Picea Engelmanni). With 

 the Engelmann Spruce, at an altitude of 9,000 to 10,000 feet, is 

 mingled in large numbers the Balsam Fir [Abies lasciocarpa). 

 But this tree is of little value commercially, so that the for- 

 ests of this reservation may be said to consist of Red and 

 White Spruce. Grand trees they are, rising slim and straight 

 like a column of verdure to a great height, their trunks per- 

 fect, without a bend, and as straight as ship-masts. Many 

 have reached their maturity, and are toppling to their fall. 

 The forest-fioor is covered with dead trunks in all stages of 

 decay, among which, and fed by them, are young trees of 

 every age. The Red Spruce is the more valuable timber-tree, 

 and being easily reached on the lower slopes is cut to a con- 

 siderable extent. The White Spruce forests are so inaccessi- 



ble as to be of little commercial value, at least for many years 

 to come. At present the main object for the reservation is to 

 conserve the water for irrigation in the valleys below. 



The soil is in many places boggy, and the whole country is 

 full of springs and little rivulets. Wherever the nature of the 

 ground will allow, lakes are formed of all sizes, from fifty feet 

 to three miles across. On the highest .portion of the plateau, 

 where the surface is less broken and opportunities are given 

 for the water to accumulate, the little lakes are innumerable, 

 and one may ride for hours among them. This reservation 

 will be the means of storing an immense quantity of water, 

 which will be of incalculable value to the wide valleys in 

 western Colorado and Utah, through which flow the three 

 rivers which largely receive their supply from this region. In 

 the winter the accumulation of snow is immense, lying in 

 many places twenty feet deep, and never less than six feet, and 

 not disappearing until July. The beneficial effects of the for- 

 est upon this mass of snow is evident to any student of its 

 influences. 



The reservation contains magnificent scenery, which in 

 its way surpasses that of any other region. From the high- 

 est peak, Mt. Marvine, a little over 12,000 feet in altitude, 

 a most extensive view can be obtained, which will repay the 

 adventurous climber. At his feet is spread the whole of the 

 reservation. He can note the nature and extent of the forest, 

 and the open parks and valleys. He can follow the course of 

 the large streams and rivers, until they lose themselves in the 

 distance. He can point out the peaks of the reservation, and 

 beyond them the higher ranges, white with snow, which 

 bound the horizon as far as the eye can reach. Few more 

 attractive places than this reservation can be found for the 

 tourist, and a trip through this region is well worth any 

 trouble. It must be done on horseback, with guides and a 

 camping outfit. Glenwood Springs, a well-known watering- 

 place on the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, is the best 

 place to start from. 



Game abounds in this region. The lakes and streams are 

 full of trout ; and elk and deer, bear and mountain lion roam 

 the woods. But the large animals are becoming scarce, and 

 some method of game preservation must be adopted at once 

 to prevent the total destruction of the deer and elk. 

 1 Perhaps in no state or territory are the forest-reservations 

 more important than in Colorado. For, besides preserving 

 the timber, they prevent the diminution of the waters for irri- 

 gation, without which the agricultural and fruit-growing indus- 

 tries, now fast becoming most important, would languish and 

 fail. Several other reservations have already been asked, and 

 still others are in contemplation. After long waiting it seems 

 that we have now the opportunity to protect our streams, and 

 it is intended to push the movement now begun until the 

 head-waters of all Colorado rivers are reserved. 



Colorado Springs. George H. Par sons. 



The Specific Name of the Texan Cercis. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — I have read with some surprise in Professor Sargent's 

 " Notes " upon the synonymy of the Texan Red Bud (page 448, 

 supra) that he proposes to call it Cercis Texensis ; fori thought 

 I was quite familiar with the fact that it had been duly pub- 

 lished by Dr. Gray in the "PlantoeLindheimerianae," aslongago 

 as 1850, under the name C. reniformis, taken up from Dr. En- 

 gelmann's manuscript. Only a glance at the place thus re- 

 ferred to is needed to show that my impression was correct. 

 It was altogether erroneous to have stated, as was done in the 

 " Botany of California," that up to 1876 C. reniformis had re- 

 mained a manuscript name. The supposition of Professor 

 Sargent appears to be that, since Dr. Gray did not himself 

 recognize in this shrub of the south-west anything beyond a 

 mere form of C. occidentalis, he could not, or did not, give due 

 publication to the name C. reniformis, though what logical or 

 historical reason he may have for the supposition I cannot 

 imagine. While Dr. Gray did not adopt Dr. Engelmann's 

 opinion, he, nevertheless, conceived it to be an opinion worth 

 publishing, and published it, at the same time appending the 

 name by which it was intended the species should be known 

 in case specific rank should at some future day be generally 

 conceded to it. It is certain that Dr. Gray had no other pur- 

 pose in then printing the name C. reniformis, along with the 

 means of identifying it, but this, that his esteemed collabora- 

 tor's proposed name should forever designate the species in 

 case it should be accounted a species. He did it in order to 

 preclude all possibility of Dr. Engelmann's losing his right to 

 the name. It was, in his intent, an effectual preventive of 

 any possible future C. Texensis, for example. This provisional 



