170 



The Plant World. 



for parts of the Alps.* When il is remembered that flocks 

 and shepherds have played a considerable and not easily de- 

 termined part in bringing about present conditions, the value 

 of such tables is less apparent. A study of wooded mountains 

 where conditions are entirely undisturbed would, therefore, 

 seem desirable. 



Such, it may safely be assumed, are the Selkirks. So far 

 as is known, even savages have not dwelt there, and the scattered 

 line of settlements now existing along the railroad and the 

 Columbia River constitute too remote a factor to be considered 

 in this connection. The Selkirks possess an additional interest 

 from the fact that in phenomena of timber line and, indeed, 

 of vegetation in general, they bear a strong resemblance to the 

 Alps. In the White Mountains, too, the plant life at high alti- 

 tudes, so far as it relates to timber line, is quite undisturbed, 



1 believe. 



In considering the general question of timber lines, it is to 

 be noted that many errors have been made in regard to their 

 existence. Flahaultf has shown that the so-called Alpine pas- 

 tures of the Cevennes in France are entirely due to the destructive 

 activity of man and domestic animals. In these mountains 

 the natural domain of the beech includes even the highest 

 summits. Acting on his initiative, the government has begun 

 the reforestation of these "alpine pastures," and much progress 

 has already been made. 



In the Alps and Pyrenees, the presence of trunks and stumps 

 far above the present timber line, together with other facts of 

 a similar bearing, show clearly for some places that the limits 

 of the forest have not always been what thev are today. 

 DemontzeyJ even went so far as to conclude that the present 

 pastures of the Alps owe their existence to, and are evidence 

 of, foimer forests on the same ground. " Les gazons formant 

 aujourdhui des pelouses continues audessus des forets actuelles 

 ne sont que les temoins de l'existence des forets superieures qui 



* Reishauer. Hoehengrenzen der Vegetation in den Stubaier Alpen in der 

 Adamello Gruppe. Wissensehaftliche Veroeffentlichungen des Vereins fur Erdkunde 

 Leipzig. Bd. VI.. 1904. 



Imhof. Die Waldgrenze in der Schweiz. Gerlands Beitraege zur Geophysik Bd. 

 IV. Heft 3. Leipzig, 1900. 



fFlahault, Ch. Les limites superieures de la vegetation forestiere et les prairies pseudo 

 alpines en France. Extrait de la Revue des Eaux et Forets XI. juillet, 1901. 



tDemontzey. Traite Pratique du Reboisement et du Gazonnement des montagnes. 



2 ed Paris. 1882. p. 313. 



