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excels it in quantity of production. Moreover, its cut has been 

 increasing steadily while that of the pines has been waning. In 

 1923 about 8}i billion board-feet of Douglas Fir were felled on 

 the Pacific Coast, which constituted almost a quarter of the total 

 lumber production in the country. All this timber comes from a 

 relatively small territory concentrated in Washington and Oregon. 

 But the lumber is distributed and consumed all over the country. 

 Here lies one of the greatest forestry problems, the increasing 

 localization of timber production on the West Coast and the 

 nation-wide distribution with high transportation charges. 



The Douglas Fir has long suffered a variety of common names. 

 Under cultivation it is generally known as such or as Douglas 

 Spruce. The former is favored by the smooth twigs and soft 

 foliage. Other names that have been associated with it, particu- 

 larly in the lumber trade on the West Coast, are Red Fir, Yellow 

 Fir, Spruce. Fir. Pine. Red Pine, Puget Sound Pine, Oregon Pine, 

 and others. 



The range of this tree extends from southern Alaska along the 

 coast to the Sierra Nevada Mountains in central California and 

 eastward through the Rocky Mountains into Colorado. The finest 

 development is found in Washington and Oregon between the 

 Cascades and the ocean, where heights up to 250 feet and diam- 

 eters of 12 feet are attained. 



The Douglas Fir is quite readily distinguished from other simi- 

 lar evergreens. The form of trees in cultivation is well exempli- 

 fied by those at hand. The foliage is somewhat psndulous at the 

 tips, the twigs are smooth as in the true firs and the buds are 

 non-resinous, reddish, and very distinctly pointed. These trees 

 thrive best in a porous sandy soil and their cultivation is very 

 similar to that of the spruces. Growth is rapid. Though the 

 Rocky Mountain form, which is the one in cultivation, is quite 

 hardy, severe exposure is apt to be injurious. Consequently, 

 groups of the trees are safer than exposed individuals unless 

 somewhat sheltered. It is, therefore, a mistake to use Douglas 

 Fir for a windbreak. Unlike the true firs they have fibrous roots 

 like the Norway Spruce and so transplant readily. 



