12 North American Forests and Forestry 



like the Monterey pine (Pinus radiatd) or the 

 redwood {Sequoia sempervirens), are restricted to 

 a few valleys or mountain ranges. Of the 109 

 coniferous trees native to the United States and 

 enumerated in Sudworth's list, eighty belong to 

 the country west of the great plains, twenty-eight 

 to the eastern forest, while only one, the common 

 juniper (^Juniperus communis), inhabits portions of 

 both regions. 



What has been said about the peculiarly open 

 character of much of the western forest does not 

 apply to those portions found in the western halves 

 of Oregon and Washington, and thence stretching 

 along the coast into Alaska and far towards the 

 Arctic regions. On the contrary, these are among 

 the densest woods in the whole world, where under 

 the vaults of the immense crowns, that are swung 

 from the column-like trees at a height of 100 or 

 150 feet, eternal twilight covers the ground. Of 

 all the forests of the world these have the most 

 gigantic trees, barring only the Sequoias of Cali- 

 fornia, of which we will speak anon. Compared 

 to the spruces, firs, and pines of the Paget Sound 

 region, the mightiest of eastern pines and even the 

 giant sycamores of Illinois and Indiana river bot- 

 toms are but smallish. No one who has en- 

 tered those dense forests composed of trees 250 

 feet tall and having six and more feet in diameter 

 has failed to be impressed with their grandeur, 

 and literature is filled with attempts to describe 

 their majesty. But they are surpassed by the 



