354 NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA. [No. 7. 



Pass a continuous forest of tree yuccas stretches away in the distance 

 until lost in the desert haze, adding a singularly weird element to the 

 peculiar physiognomy of the region. 



Some years ago an attempt was made to make paper pulp from the 

 trunks of tree yuccas. The attempt was successful so far as the pro- 

 duction of good pulp was concerned, but the cost of manufacture 

 proved greater thau the projectors of the enterprise expected and it 

 was abandoned. Mr. Charles H. Shinn, in an article in the American 

 Agriculturist for December, 1891 (p. 689), states that a small pulp 

 mill was built at Eavenna in Soledad Pass, just south of Mohave 

 Desert in California (of which two figures are given), and that large 

 quantities of paper were manufactured and shipped to England, on 

 which a few editions of the London Daily Telegraph were printed. He 

 states further that some of it was used in New York and in Sau 

 Francisco. 



The following detailed notes were recorded respecting the distribu. 

 tion of this species : 



CALIFORNIA. 



Mohave Desert. — Tree yuccas are common on the higher levels of the 

 Mohave Desert, where they form a belt several miles in width around 

 the west arm of the desert, covering the slope at the north foot of the 

 San Bernardino range of mountains and stretching thence westerly nearly 

 to the west end of Antelope Valley. On the north side of the desert 

 they cover the slope at the foot of the Tehachapi Mountains and extend 

 northeasterly in scattered patches nearly to Walker Pass, in which 

 they again become abuudant. This belt is not continuous throughout, 

 but is interrupted by the absence of suitable conditions. Opposite 

 Cajon Pass the forest is fully 20 kilometers (12 miles) in breadth, 

 covering the slope between the altitudes of 730 and 1,180 meters (2,500 

 and 3,900 feet), though the trees are scarce and scattering below 920 

 meters (3,300 feet). Above 1,060 meters (3,500 feet) they are mixed 

 with juniper, and between 1,150 and 1,180 meters (3,800-3,900 feet) 

 with the true sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata). An isolated clump 

 grows within the mouth of the pass on the south side of the divide at 

 an altitude of 1,170 meters (3,850 feet). On the divide between Dag- 

 get and Pilot Knob they occur sparingly on the south side of 

 the summit, but are more common on the long slope leading down to 

 Paradise Valley from the south (north exposure), where a sparse growth 

 continues for many miles. A few scattered and stunted trees were 

 found also on and near the divide at Pilot Knob, On the north 

 side of the Mohave Desert, just north of the town of Mohave, they 

 begin at an altitude of 900 meters (3,000 feet) and extend up through 

 the wash or open canon leading to Tehachapi Valley, reaching Came- 

 ron at an altitude of 1,090 meters (3,600 feet). They range thence 

 easterly a few miles, and westerly along the base of the Tehachapi 

 Mountains as far as the eye can reach. They come down from the 



