THE ^ii£RRAS AND PACIFIC SLOPE. 59 



Cedar doors. These, when finished with hard oil, show the grain 

 to good advantage and give the best of satisfaction. Our 

 house Is also weather-boarded with the sam« material. 



Hemlock Spruce — ^Taugai Pattonlana. This is called by Mulr 

 the most singularly beautiful of all the California Conifers. "So 

 slender is its axis at the top that it bends over and droops lilte 

 the stalk of a nodding lily." The branches divide into droop- 

 ing, waving sprays, the whole tree looking lilce a beautiful 

 fountain, whose gently falling waters had turned to softest 

 green. 



Though apparently delicate and tender, it yet has a robust- 

 ness which enables it to endure the cold and storms, the floods 

 and snow massing. It delights in an elevation of 9,000 to 10,- 

 000 feet. 



When the first snows fall the branches of the young trees 

 Quietly yield to the burden. More snow falls and the whole 

 forest of young trees will bend lower and lower till they lie 

 prone on the earth. Then come the great snow masses which 

 cover them com'pletely — packed so solid you can ride on horse- 

 back over them. Then spring comes. The burden is lifted and 

 slowly the beautiful trees rise erect again; their plumes nodding 

 in the gentle breeze. 



The U. S. government has recently published a work on the 

 Western Hemlock, calling attention to its strength and fitness 

 for framing lumber. Our Eastern Hemlock was neglected for 

 years. Tou might go through our Pine forests of the North, 

 and you would see the Hemlock yet untouched. But, as lum- 

 ber grows scarcer this comes in play, and though it splits too 

 badly for finishing lumber It has its place for sheeting and 

 scantling. 



The Nut Pines. These constitute the' wild orchards of the 

 Indians, furnishing food in immense quantities for man and 

 beast. Tons of these seeds are shipped away to be sold and 

 eaten as nuts. They are about the size of a pea and are eaten 

 like peanuts, either raw or roasted. One of the prominent 

 members of the group is Pinus Sabiniana. Full grown speci- 

 mens will be forty to fifty feet tall and two or three feet In 

 diameter. This is ai great favorite with birds, squirrels, bears 

 and Indians. 



PInusi Monophylla. This is a low. bushy tree, built down 

 on the ground with cones as accessible as possible. The Indians 

 claim these as their own and many a white rnan has been kill- 

 ed for cutting them down. 



The PInyon Edulis varies but little from the former. In 

 short. Providence seems to have placed these trees in immense 

 quantities where they are most needed— where the rainfall Is 

 light, and other things do not readily grow without Irrigation. 



