THE CONIFEROUS FORESTS 
ditions of their environment, which, if 
we except certain large tracts of pine 
forests, is commonly placed among 
mountains and at considerable eleva- 
tions above the sea. To these several 
sources must be ascribed many of the 
qualities that have invested the ever- 
green forests with a peculiar magnifi- 
cence and beauty. 
The reader may be surprised at the 
statement that coniferous forests are 
distinguished for a “dense commu- 
nity of growth,” for it must have 
been noticed that many of our Rocky 
Mountain forests do not bear evidence 
of this fact. And yet it is true that 
the typical habit, so to speak, of the 
conifers is a close huddling together of 
individuals. It is shown in the mas- 
sive red fir forests of western Wash- 
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