«6 



EVERGREENS. 



The body and the branches of this tree seem to belong 14 

 two entirely distinct systems. The trunk is straight as an a.T' 

 row, and the limbs are the crookedest things that grow on U 

 tree. The first time I saw a grove of them I stopped and 

 studied them' a long time. The foliage is of yel- 

 lowish green, in fine contrast to the neighboring Concolor. N3 

 straighter tree grows in any forest, but as the lower limbs dla 

 and are dried up, they turn and knot and twist like so many 

 writhing serpents, forming one of the most striking contrasts 

 In tree life. 



Native Forest of Pinus Contorta Growing in Idaho. 



By permission ol Forestry Department, From GiHord Pinchotg, Primer ol Forestry 



The cones of this tree are very remarkable in that they 



hold the seeds in a vise-like grip instead of opening them to the 



sun and letting the seeds fall like other Conifers, and herein Is 



a most remarkable provision or com>pensation of nature. The 



trees are full of pitch and the dry limbs easily catch fire and 



the whole tree Is wrapped In flame, and the entire grove Is a 



charred and ruined mass. But the fires open the cones and 



the seeds spill out Into the ashes. They sprout and take root 



and come up by the miUion. They spread out further and 



further. Thus by their destruction they push their conquests. 



In this respect the tree much resembles the PInus Tubercu- 



lata of the Pacific slope. In a visit to the Yellowstone Nation- 



