4 
Journal of Agricultural Research 
Vol. XI, No. i 
the higher ridges. Dwarf juniper (Juniperus communis L.), on the other 
hand, is restricted to the subalpine summits. 
The fire occurred from September 8 to 12, 1902, following an excep¬ 
tionally dry season, and, driven by a dry southeast wind, traveled from 
southeast to northwest. So far as can be determined from local infor¬ 
mation, it traveled at perhaps a maximum rate of 8 miles an hour during 
the time it was doing the most damage. No portion of the area has been 
burned over by a second fire. 
The main feature that is now of interest on the burn is the good stand 
of young growth almost uniformly covering the area and of the same 
species as that which made up the burned forest. The presence of 
this reproduction is very obvious to anyone passing through the area, 
but the reason for its appearance after so severe a fire is a question that 
has always been open to conjecture. The problem, then, was to deter¬ 
mine the history of the reproduction and, so far as possible, to account 
for its distribution. 
An arbitrary section, chosen to include Lookout Mountain, was studied 
intensively by a gridiron system of east and west belt transects 
(PI. 2, B). These were run 2K chains apart over the entire section. 
Then, with this section as a hub, an arbitrary township surrounding it 
was studied extensively. For this study eight transects were run radi¬ 
ally from the centers of the four sides and from the four corners of the 
section to the corresponding points in the township. Wherever a solid 
body of green timber was encountered, the transect was discontinued 
at that point. These belt transects served effectively to disclose the 
distribution of reproduction over the entire township. The plan of the 
survey is shown in figure 2. The lines radiating from the center section 
represent the transects which were run in making the township study. 
Each species found on the Columbia bum is discussed separately. 
SEED TREES EEFT ON THE BURN ONLY A MINOR FACTOR IN REPRODUCTION AFTER THE 
FIRE 
DouGiyAS fir. —The Douglas-fir records bring out the fact that there 
is scarcely any young growth on the south and east slopes of Lookout 
Mountain, and such as does occur is confined to the draws below the 
barren slopes. On the north and west slopes, however, it is uniformly 
scattered. This distribution of the young growth is due to the local 
topography. The fire approached the mountain from the southeast and 
naturally swept up these slopes with unusual intensity; also the south 
and east slopes were hot, dry sites after the fire, and were consequently 
unfavorable to the establishment of seedlings. On the other hand, on the 
north and west slopes the opposite of these conditions obtained—that is, 
the fire was less intense, and the site was inherently more propitious for 
seedling growth. 
