CHAPTER IX. 



THE EVERGREENS OF THE SIERRAS AND THE PACIFIC 

 SLOPE. 



When we come to tbc Rookies we find Conifers entirely dif- 

 ferent from those of the East — a race by themselves. And as 

 we cross the range we find most of the Colorado families, be- 

 sides numerous species and varieties which belong to those re- ■ 

 gions alone. As this book is for the average reader it is not ne- 

 cessary to give the long array of names attached, like their own 

 cones, to these various trees. 



Just think! the evergreen trees of the Pacific slope com- 

 prise 60 species, with twenty-five marked varieties. Should you 

 wish to familiarize yourself with them all, read "Cjone Bearing 

 Trees of Northwest America" by J. G. Lemmon. Many of these 

 species are obscure and rare — hidden oft in inaccessible places 

 — all, of course, interesting, but, for practical use, beyond the 

 reach of the average planter. What we want most of all is 

 to encourage the planting of evergreens in the great prairie 

 states where they are most needed, and to give general infor- 

 mation regarding the great family. One of the most remarkable 

 of all the evergreens is the Pinus Tuberculata. It is a slender 

 and graceful tree and, I think, is also called the Attenuata. When 

 about eight years old it begins to bear cones — not out of the 

 branches like other trees, but o.i the main stem, a.nd they 

 stay there like ticks securely fastened. They never open to let 

 out the seeds and never fall off. The cones are about four inches 

 long; sometimes the bark will close over them and they will be 

 found solidly embedded in the tree. As the main stem grows 

 new cones appear clinging to it. Then, as branches shoot out, 

 closely attached to them will be other cones. These are exceed- 

 ingly strong and solid, coated with a sort of water-proof var- 

 nish, making them'i well nigh exempt from worms and squirrels. 

 Sometimes a tree will be split open, ingrowing cones will be im- 

 bedded there, and all those seeds will be good. Most seeds of 

 the deciduous cone bearers, like the larch, are worthless after 

 a year or two. But these are kept so perfectly that they will 

 be good when a hundred years old. 



Now what is Nature's design in preserving these seeds? 

 Simply this: These trees are In exposed places which are sub- 



