106 SURVEYS OF FOREST RESERVES. 



The iucense cedar is most comiuou in the lower portions of the sugar- 

 pine belt, where it is oftenest found on rather moist soil. This tree 

 reaches an average height of 125 feet, an average diameter of 6 feet, 

 and an average length of clear trunk of 15 feet. Its wood has qualities 

 which would render it exceedingly valuable as a lumber tree were it 

 not for the attacks of a species of fangus, which perforates the heart 

 wood in perpendicular channels, and so ruins the timber value of a con- 

 siderable proportion of the whole stand. The libocedrus has good power 

 of reproduction. 



The Sequoia, the largest and most majestic tree on the earth, occu- 

 pies in the Sierras a belt some 260 miles in length along the axis of the 

 range, the major part of which lies within the forest reserve. This 

 superb tree reaches in old specimens the following average dimen- 

 sions: Height, 275 feet; diameter, 20 feet; length of clear trunk, 125 

 feet. Except where it is being destroyed by lumbermen, as in the val- 

 ley of Kings River, the numbers of this tree show no tendency to 

 decrease. It appears to have no enemies but wind and fire. Its repro- 

 duction is everywhere fairly good, becoming excellent toward the south. 

 It seems equally adapted to wet and dry localities, stands drought well, 

 and gives unmistakable evidence that it is gradually extending the 

 limits of its habitat. 



The white fir and the noble fir occur at elevations of from 5,000 to 9,000 

 feet. Of marked promise commercially, these two trees have hitherto 

 been less used than will be the case hereafter. Young growth of the 

 white fir is especially abundant. This tree reaches average dimensions 

 as follows: Height, 175 feet; diameter, 4 feet; length of clear trunk, 50 

 feet. The noble fir is somewhat larger, with these dimensions: Height, 

 200 feet; diameter, 5 feet; length of clear trunk, 75 feet. 



The lodge-pole pine (tamarack), a tree of comparatively little economic 

 importance, is found between elevations of 7,000 and 9,000 feet. Its thin 

 and resinous bark makes it an easy victim to forest fires, which often 

 flame through the tops, killing the tree, but usually consuming only the 

 leaves, or at times some of the smallest twigs also. It grows chieiiyin 

 pure forests, and reaches average dimensions as follows : Height 60 ^et ; 

 diameter, 1.5 feet; length of clear trunk, 10 feet. 



The mountain white pine reaches its best development at altitudes of 

 10,000 feet. It is distinctively an alpine tree, and resists admirably 

 the winds and severe climate of great altitudes. Its average dimen- 

 sions are as follows: Height, 80 feet; diameter, 5 feet; length of clear 

 trunk, 40 feet. 



The black hemlock has small economic value, but is conspicuous 

 for grace and beauty. It is found chiefly in groves without admixture 

 of other species, and reaches average dimensions as follows : Height, 

 70 feet ; diameter, 3 feet ; length of clear trunk, 20 feet. The white- 

 bark pine and the limber and foxtail pines are other alpine species of 

 small size and of no economic importance. 



To the east of the range the principal tree is the single leaf pirion nut, 

 or pinon pine, which often covers tens of thousands of acres in continuous 

 belts between altitudes of 2,000 and 8,000 feet. It is a small tree, with an 

 average height of 15 feet, and its edible nuts furnish one of the prin- 

 cipal sources of food supply for the Indians on both slopes of the range. 



The forests of the Sierras are less open to destruction by fire than they 

 would be if the trees stood nearer together and the vegetation were 

 more dense. The scars of ancient conflagrations are found nearly 



