CONDITIONS OF DISTRICT ,63 



climate of the Southern Pinery has prevented any serious forest fires ; 

 the peculiar continental climate with its occasional dry years must 

 alwa} s mean a special feature in fire protection ; the deep snow fall 

 of the Adirondacks or the North Rockies discourages pine and calls 

 for Spruce or Balsam ; the snow and ice road will always be a 

 factor in logging in the North Coimtries, and absence of snow in 

 the South will call for railway and wagon haul, etc. 



2. In all cases the effect of cliiuate on silviculture or the raising 

 of the crop far outweighs all other considerations. 



3. Usually the general climate of a district is known and much 

 information can be secured from the weather bureau reports. What 

 is wanted here is not long tabulations of relevant and irrelevant 

 matter, but brief, preferably tabular statements to show exactly what 

 the temperature, rainfall, frost, storm, etc., are for the district and 

 point out in what wa}- and to what degree these conditions afifeqt 

 silviculture, protection, exploitation, etc. Particular attention to 

 length of growing season, temperature and precipitation during this 

 period, frosts in spring and fall. Then also long dry spells, their 

 regularity and effect on forest, especially on fire protection; storms, 

 periodicity of these, direction and severity, regular storm roads as 

 in the Gulf Region and in mountains. 



4. In level country (Great Lakes, South) the information on 

 general climate of district quite suffices, but in mountain country 

 this is not true. Here every valley has its own peculiarities ; the 

 direction and intensity of wind changes with every slope ; the rain- 

 fall around the Olympic Mountains in Washington, for instance, 

 changes from over i6o" on west side to about 30" on Northeast 

 side at Port Townsend all within the same National Forest. 



5. It is evident that the Forester, in examining a property, can 

 not possibly determine all these facts. But he can always get the 

 general clim.ite from the Weather Bureau, and he can usually gather 

 considerable information from local people. Particularly on points 

 of long dry spells, time of early snow, depth of snow fall, usual 

 snow melt, character of spring season, etc. Here it is not a matter 

 of accurate figures, but rather of experience upon which the people 

 rely in their business affairs. 



6. In addition the Forester may safely infer from the char- 

 acter of tree growth and other vegetation, from the presence of 

 large bums, of parks, and grass lands, of sage brush slopes, etc.. 



