tibet Opt er 
‘§ 
1d 
4 
* 
P 
a 
~~ 
ae 
: = 
® 
ye 

199 
English parks. The magnificent trees spread a generous shade over the 
fields of wild flowers and grasses. Grain is often planted under the oaks 
and matures well, only a little later than that in the open plains. 
It is a great regret to every lover of nature to see such characteristic¢ 
beauty, so difficult to recreate, rapidly disappearing. The broader 
canyons, when there is enough good soil, are enchanting. 
As we leave the sea, the water-courses, or more properly tlood-courses, 
of the country are covered by Cottonwood trees (Populus Premontii 
and Populus trichocarpa). ‘These, like the Oaks, frequently form beau- 
tiful parks on the damp lands where they grow. One of the hand- 
somest of these groves is at San Jacinto, in San Diego County, 
In the great Colorado Desert and on its edges are found several use- 
ful stunted trees that form in favorable locations considerable planta- 
tions. These are the Iron-Wood, .Mesquite, the Screw-Bean, and the 
Pinon Pines. The last three bear edible fruit, which is collected by and 
forms the main support of the desert Indians. 
In the Mojave Desert a tree cactus grows which is being made into 
paper, on a Jarge scale, by an English company. This is the Yucca 
brevifolia. It grows about 20 to 30 feet high, and forms the same 
erove-like plantations so frequent in this dry country. In the mount- 
ain canyons opening on the desert side grow the striking California 
Palms, Washingtonia jilifera. 
The edible Oak acorns, the nut of the California Walnut, and the 
fruit of the desert trees spoken of form important possible sources of 
food. 
Speaking generally, it must be borne in mind that the plains and 
deserts of southern California are devoid of trees, and when trees do 
occur they never form forests. 
In the lower mountain canyons, wherever there is water, the ee 
are dense. The principal trees are the Willow, Alder, Maple, and 
Mountain Live Oak (Quercus oblongifolia). These are mixed with trees 
coming up from the valleys on the one side, principally Oaks, and 
down from the mountain heights on the other, principally Spruce 
(Abies Douglasii). The whole is inextricably tangled up with dense 
chaparral and charmingly ornamented with large fern-brake. 
The deciduous trees of the country are almost exclusively confined 
to the canyons or the damp land below them, or to the courses of the 
waters. The Quercus oblongifolia is the only one of our Oaks valuable 
for timber. . 
On the mountains the real forest is found. Considerable quantities of 
valuable timber exist on the Sierra Madre, San Bernardino, San Jacinto, 
and Cuyamaca Mountains. The Sierra Madre range has been too steep 
and inaccessible as yet to be exploited; but on San Bernardino and 
San Jacinto large saw-mills are continually at work, supplying the col- 
onies below in the valleys with lumber, but furnishing none for export. 

