20 OUR NATIONAL PARKS 



of fir and hemlock in varying abundance, form- 

 ing a forest kingdom unlike any other, in which 

 limb meets limb, touching and overlapping in 

 bright, lively, triumphant exuberance, two hun- 

 dred and fifty, three hundred, and even four 

 hundred feet above the shady, mossy ground. 

 Over all the other species the Douglas spruce 

 reigns supreme. It is not only a large tree, 

 the tallest in America next to the redwood, 

 but a very beautiful one, with bright green 

 drooping foliage, handsome pendent cones, and 

 a shaft exquisitely straight and round and reg- 

 ular. Forming extensive forests by itself in 

 many places, it lifts its spiry tops into the sky 

 close together with as even a growth as a well- 

 tilled field of grain. No ground has been bet- 

 ter tilled for wheat than these Cascade Moun- 

 tains for trees : they were ploughed by mighty 

 glaciers, and harrowed and mellowed and out- 

 spread by the broad streams that flowed from 

 the ice-ploughs as they were withdrawn at the 

 close of the glacial period. 



In proportion to its weight when dry, Douglas 

 spruce timber is perhaps stronger than that of 

 any other large conifer in the country, and being 

 tough, durable, and elastic, it is admirably suited 

 for ship-building, piles, and heavy timbers in 

 general ; but its hardness and liability to warp 

 when it is cut into boards render it unfit for fine 

 work. In the lumber markets of California it is 



