CYPRESS

CYPRESSCypressCypress

CypressCypress

Cypress

CYPRESS(Taxodium Distichum)The name cypress has been used quite loosely in this country and the old world, and botanists have taken particular care to explain what true cypress is. It is of no advantage in the present case to join in the discussion, and it will suffice to give the American cypresses according to the authorized list published by the United States Forest Service. Two genera, one having two and the other six species, are classed as cypress. These are Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum), Pond Cypress (Taxodium imbricarium), Monterey Cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa), Gowen Cypress (Cupressus goveniana), Dwarf Cypress (Cupressus pygmæa) Macnab Cypress (Cupressus macnabiana), Arizona Cypress (Cupressus arizonica), and Smooth Cypress (Cupressus glabra). The first two grow in the southern states, and the others in the Far West. Bald cypress, which is generally known simply as cypress in the region where it grows, is more important as a source of lumber than are all the others combined. It probably supplies ninety-nine per cent of all cypress sold in this country. Its range is from southern Delaware to Florida, westward to the Gulf coast region of Texas, north through Louisiana, Arkansas, eastern Mississippi and Tennessee, southeastern Missouri, western Kentucky and sparsely in southern Illinois and southwestern Indiana. It is a deep swamp tree, and it is never of much importance far from lagoons, inundated tracts, and the low banks of rivers. Water that is a little brackish from the inwash of tides does not injure the tree, but the presence of a little salt is claimed by some to improve the quality of the wood. It is lumbered under difficulties. The deep water and miry swamps where it grows best must be reckoned with. Some of the ground is not dry for several years at a time. Neither felling nor hauling is possible in the manner practiced in the southern pineries. Owing to the great weight of the green wood, it will not float unless killed by being girdled for a year or more in advance of its being felled. In the older logging operations, cypress was girdled and snaked out to waterways and floated to the mills. Lately many cypress operations are carried on by the building of railroads through the swamps, which are largely on piling and stringers, although occasionally earth fills are utilized. The usual size of mature cypress ranges from seventy-five to 140 feet in height and three to six in diameter.The wood is light, soft, rather weak, moderately stiff, and the grain is usually straight. The narrow annual rings indicate slow growth. The summerwood is comparatively broad and is slightly resinous;medullary rays are numerous and obscure. The wood is light to dark brown, the sapwood nearly white. At one time specimens of the wood in the markets of the world were known as black or white cypress, according as they sank or floated. Much of the dark cypress wood is now known as black cypress in the foreign markets, where it is employed chiefly for tank and vat building. Individual specimens of the wood in some localities are tinted in a variety of shades and some of the natural designs are extremely beautiful.The wood is reputed to be among the most durable in this country when exposed to soil and weather. Some of it deserves that reputation, but other does not. Well-authenticated cases are cited where cypress has remained sound many years—in some instance a hundred or more—when subjected to alternate dampness and dryness. Such conditions afford severe tests. In other cases cypress has been known to decay as quickly as pine.Historical cases from the old world are sometimes cited to show the wonderful lasting properties of cypress. Doors and statues, exposed more or less to weather, are said to have stood many centuries. The evidence has little value as far as this wood is concerned. In the first place, the long records claimed are subjects for suspicion; and in the second place, it was not the American cypress that was used—and probably no cypress—but the cedar of Lebanon.Sound cypress logs have been dug from deep excavations near New Orleans, and geologists believe they had lain there 30,000 years. That would be a telling testament to endurance were it not that any other wood completely out of reach of air would last as long.The estimated stand of cypress in the South is about 20,000,000,000 feet. The annual cut, including shingles, exceeds 1,000,000,000 feet. New growth is not coming on. The traveler through the South occasionally sees a small clump of little cypresses, but such are few and far between. It was formerly quite generally believed that cypress in deep swamps, where old and venerable stands are found, was not reproducing, and that no little trees were to be seen. It was argued from this, that some climatic or geographic change had taken place, and that the present stand of cypress would be the last of its race. More careful investigation, however, has shown that the former belief was erroneous. Seedling cypresses are found occasionally in the deepest swamps. Probably cypress which has not been disturbed by man is reproducing as well now as at any time in the past. The tree lives three or four centuries, and if it leaves one seedling to take its place it has done its part toward perpetuating the species. Fire, the mortal enemy of forests, seldom hurts cypress, because the undergrowth is not dry enough to burn.The uses of cypress are so nearly universal that a list is impossible. In Illinois alone it is reported for seventy-eight different purposes. There is not a state, and scarcely a large wood-using factory, east of the Rocky Mountains which does not demand more or less cypress.The tree is graceful when young, but ragged and uncouth when old. Though a needleleaf tree, it yearly sheds its foliage and most of its twigs. The fruit is a cone about one inch in diameter; and the seed is equipped with a wing one-fourth inch long and one-eighth inch wide.When cypress stands in soft ground which most of the time is under water, the roots send up peculiar growths known as knees. They rise from a few inches to several feet above the surface of the mud, and extend above the water at ordinary stages. They are sharp cones, generally hollow. It is believed their function is to furnish air to the tree’s roots, and also to afford anchorage to the roots in the soft mud. When the water is drained away, the knees die.Cypress is widely planted as an ornament, and a dozen or more varieties have been developed in cultivation.Pond Cypress(Taxodium imbricarium) so closely resembles bald cypress with which it is associated that the two were once supposed to be the same. Pond cypress averages smaller and its range is more circumscribed. The name pond cypress, by which it is popularly known in Georgia, indicates the localities where it is oftenest found. It is the prevailing cypress in the Okefenoke swamp in southeastern Georgia. The general aspect of the foliage and fruit is the same as of bald cypress. No detailed examination of the wood seems to have been made, but in general appearance it is like the other cypress. It is said that little of it ever gets to sawmills because it grows in situations where logging is inconvenient.Monterey Cypress(Cupressus macrocarpa). This tree has only one name and that is due to its place of growth on the shores of Monterey bay, California. Its range is more restricted than that of any other American softwood. It does not much exceed 150 acres, though the trees are scattered in a narrow strip for two miles along the coast. They approach so close the breakers that spray flies over them in time of storm. Trees exposed to the sweep of the wind are gnarled and of fantastic shapes. Their crowns are broad and flat like an umbrella, but ragged and unsymmetrical in outline. That form offers least resistance to wind, and most surface to the sun. The trees take the best possible advantage of their opportunities. Tall crowns would be carried away by wind; and the flat tops, with a mass of green foliage, catch all the sunlight possible. They need it, for they grow in fog, and sunshine is scarce. Sheltered trees develop pyramidal tops. It is widely planted in this and other countries, and when conditions are favorable, it is graceful and symmetrical. The largest trees are from sixty to seventy feet tall, others are five or six in diameter; but the tallest trees and the largest trunks seldom go together. The cones are an inch or more in length, and each contains about 100 seeds. The leaves fall the third and fourth years. Wood is heavy, hard, strong, and durable, but is too scarce to be of value as lumber, even if the trunks were suitable for sawlogs. The Monterey cypress is of peculiar interest to botanists and also to physical geographers. The few trees on the shore of Monterey bay appear to be the last remnant of a species which was once more extensive. The ocean is eating away the coast at that point.Fragments of hills, cut sheer down from top to the breakers beneath, are plainly the last remnants of ranges which once extended westward, but have been washed away by the encroaching waves. No one knows how much of the former coast has been destroyed. Apparently the former range of the cypress was principally on land now swallowed up by the encroaching ocean. A mere fringe of the trees—a belt about 200 yards wide along the beach—remains, and the sea is undermining them one by one and carrying them down. So rapidly is the undermining process going on that many large roots of some of the trees are exposed to view.Arizona Cypress(Cupressus arizonica), as its name implies, is an Arizona tree. It forms considerable forests in the eastern, central, and southern parts of the state, and is found also in Mexico. It grows at elevations up to 6,000 feet. Because of the small population in the region where this cypress grows, it has never been much used, but the size of the trees and the character of the wood fit it for many purposes. Its growth is often quite rapid, and the timber is soft, light, and with well-defined summerwood. Its usual color is gray, but occasionally faint streaks of yellow appear. The leaves fall during the fourth and fifth years; cones are small and flat; and the small seeds are winged. It is believed by persons familiar with Arizona cypress that it will attain considerable importance when the building of railroads and the settlement of the country make the forests accessible. The wood is durable in contact with the soil.Smooth Cypress(Cupressus glabra) ranges in Arizona and is not believed to have or to promise much importance as a source of lumber supply. Its name was given on account of the smoothness of the bark. It is one of the latest species to be given a place among the cypresses, and was described and named by George B. Sudworth of the United States Forest Service.Cypress branch

The name cypress has been used quite loosely in this country and the old world, and botanists have taken particular care to explain what true cypress is. It is of no advantage in the present case to join in the discussion, and it will suffice to give the American cypresses according to the authorized list published by the United States Forest Service. Two genera, one having two and the other six species, are classed as cypress. These are Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum), Pond Cypress (Taxodium imbricarium), Monterey Cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa), Gowen Cypress (Cupressus goveniana), Dwarf Cypress (Cupressus pygmæa) Macnab Cypress (Cupressus macnabiana), Arizona Cypress (Cupressus arizonica), and Smooth Cypress (Cupressus glabra). The first two grow in the southern states, and the others in the Far West. Bald cypress, which is generally known simply as cypress in the region where it grows, is more important as a source of lumber than are all the others combined. It probably supplies ninety-nine per cent of all cypress sold in this country. Its range is from southern Delaware to Florida, westward to the Gulf coast region of Texas, north through Louisiana, Arkansas, eastern Mississippi and Tennessee, southeastern Missouri, western Kentucky and sparsely in southern Illinois and southwestern Indiana. It is a deep swamp tree, and it is never of much importance far from lagoons, inundated tracts, and the low banks of rivers. Water that is a little brackish from the inwash of tides does not injure the tree, but the presence of a little salt is claimed by some to improve the quality of the wood. It is lumbered under difficulties. The deep water and miry swamps where it grows best must be reckoned with. Some of the ground is not dry for several years at a time. Neither felling nor hauling is possible in the manner practiced in the southern pineries. Owing to the great weight of the green wood, it will not float unless killed by being girdled for a year or more in advance of its being felled. In the older logging operations, cypress was girdled and snaked out to waterways and floated to the mills. Lately many cypress operations are carried on by the building of railroads through the swamps, which are largely on piling and stringers, although occasionally earth fills are utilized. The usual size of mature cypress ranges from seventy-five to 140 feet in height and three to six in diameter.

The wood is light, soft, rather weak, moderately stiff, and the grain is usually straight. The narrow annual rings indicate slow growth. The summerwood is comparatively broad and is slightly resinous;medullary rays are numerous and obscure. The wood is light to dark brown, the sapwood nearly white. At one time specimens of the wood in the markets of the world were known as black or white cypress, according as they sank or floated. Much of the dark cypress wood is now known as black cypress in the foreign markets, where it is employed chiefly for tank and vat building. Individual specimens of the wood in some localities are tinted in a variety of shades and some of the natural designs are extremely beautiful.

The wood is reputed to be among the most durable in this country when exposed to soil and weather. Some of it deserves that reputation, but other does not. Well-authenticated cases are cited where cypress has remained sound many years—in some instance a hundred or more—when subjected to alternate dampness and dryness. Such conditions afford severe tests. In other cases cypress has been known to decay as quickly as pine.

Historical cases from the old world are sometimes cited to show the wonderful lasting properties of cypress. Doors and statues, exposed more or less to weather, are said to have stood many centuries. The evidence has little value as far as this wood is concerned. In the first place, the long records claimed are subjects for suspicion; and in the second place, it was not the American cypress that was used—and probably no cypress—but the cedar of Lebanon.

Sound cypress logs have been dug from deep excavations near New Orleans, and geologists believe they had lain there 30,000 years. That would be a telling testament to endurance were it not that any other wood completely out of reach of air would last as long.

The estimated stand of cypress in the South is about 20,000,000,000 feet. The annual cut, including shingles, exceeds 1,000,000,000 feet. New growth is not coming on. The traveler through the South occasionally sees a small clump of little cypresses, but such are few and far between. It was formerly quite generally believed that cypress in deep swamps, where old and venerable stands are found, was not reproducing, and that no little trees were to be seen. It was argued from this, that some climatic or geographic change had taken place, and that the present stand of cypress would be the last of its race. More careful investigation, however, has shown that the former belief was erroneous. Seedling cypresses are found occasionally in the deepest swamps. Probably cypress which has not been disturbed by man is reproducing as well now as at any time in the past. The tree lives three or four centuries, and if it leaves one seedling to take its place it has done its part toward perpetuating the species. Fire, the mortal enemy of forests, seldom hurts cypress, because the undergrowth is not dry enough to burn.

The uses of cypress are so nearly universal that a list is impossible. In Illinois alone it is reported for seventy-eight different purposes. There is not a state, and scarcely a large wood-using factory, east of the Rocky Mountains which does not demand more or less cypress.

The tree is graceful when young, but ragged and uncouth when old. Though a needleleaf tree, it yearly sheds its foliage and most of its twigs. The fruit is a cone about one inch in diameter; and the seed is equipped with a wing one-fourth inch long and one-eighth inch wide.

When cypress stands in soft ground which most of the time is under water, the roots send up peculiar growths known as knees. They rise from a few inches to several feet above the surface of the mud, and extend above the water at ordinary stages. They are sharp cones, generally hollow. It is believed their function is to furnish air to the tree’s roots, and also to afford anchorage to the roots in the soft mud. When the water is drained away, the knees die.

Cypress is widely planted as an ornament, and a dozen or more varieties have been developed in cultivation.

Pond Cypress(Taxodium imbricarium) so closely resembles bald cypress with which it is associated that the two were once supposed to be the same. Pond cypress averages smaller and its range is more circumscribed. The name pond cypress, by which it is popularly known in Georgia, indicates the localities where it is oftenest found. It is the prevailing cypress in the Okefenoke swamp in southeastern Georgia. The general aspect of the foliage and fruit is the same as of bald cypress. No detailed examination of the wood seems to have been made, but in general appearance it is like the other cypress. It is said that little of it ever gets to sawmills because it grows in situations where logging is inconvenient.Monterey Cypress(Cupressus macrocarpa). This tree has only one name and that is due to its place of growth on the shores of Monterey bay, California. Its range is more restricted than that of any other American softwood. It does not much exceed 150 acres, though the trees are scattered in a narrow strip for two miles along the coast. They approach so close the breakers that spray flies over them in time of storm. Trees exposed to the sweep of the wind are gnarled and of fantastic shapes. Their crowns are broad and flat like an umbrella, but ragged and unsymmetrical in outline. That form offers least resistance to wind, and most surface to the sun. The trees take the best possible advantage of their opportunities. Tall crowns would be carried away by wind; and the flat tops, with a mass of green foliage, catch all the sunlight possible. They need it, for they grow in fog, and sunshine is scarce. Sheltered trees develop pyramidal tops. It is widely planted in this and other countries, and when conditions are favorable, it is graceful and symmetrical. The largest trees are from sixty to seventy feet tall, others are five or six in diameter; but the tallest trees and the largest trunks seldom go together. The cones are an inch or more in length, and each contains about 100 seeds. The leaves fall the third and fourth years. Wood is heavy, hard, strong, and durable, but is too scarce to be of value as lumber, even if the trunks were suitable for sawlogs. The Monterey cypress is of peculiar interest to botanists and also to physical geographers. The few trees on the shore of Monterey bay appear to be the last remnant of a species which was once more extensive. The ocean is eating away the coast at that point.Fragments of hills, cut sheer down from top to the breakers beneath, are plainly the last remnants of ranges which once extended westward, but have been washed away by the encroaching waves. No one knows how much of the former coast has been destroyed. Apparently the former range of the cypress was principally on land now swallowed up by the encroaching ocean. A mere fringe of the trees—a belt about 200 yards wide along the beach—remains, and the sea is undermining them one by one and carrying them down. So rapidly is the undermining process going on that many large roots of some of the trees are exposed to view.Arizona Cypress(Cupressus arizonica), as its name implies, is an Arizona tree. It forms considerable forests in the eastern, central, and southern parts of the state, and is found also in Mexico. It grows at elevations up to 6,000 feet. Because of the small population in the region where this cypress grows, it has never been much used, but the size of the trees and the character of the wood fit it for many purposes. Its growth is often quite rapid, and the timber is soft, light, and with well-defined summerwood. Its usual color is gray, but occasionally faint streaks of yellow appear. The leaves fall during the fourth and fifth years; cones are small and flat; and the small seeds are winged. It is believed by persons familiar with Arizona cypress that it will attain considerable importance when the building of railroads and the settlement of the country make the forests accessible. The wood is durable in contact with the soil.Smooth Cypress(Cupressus glabra) ranges in Arizona and is not believed to have or to promise much importance as a source of lumber supply. Its name was given on account of the smoothness of the bark. It is one of the latest species to be given a place among the cypresses, and was described and named by George B. Sudworth of the United States Forest Service.

Pond Cypress(Taxodium imbricarium) so closely resembles bald cypress with which it is associated that the two were once supposed to be the same. Pond cypress averages smaller and its range is more circumscribed. The name pond cypress, by which it is popularly known in Georgia, indicates the localities where it is oftenest found. It is the prevailing cypress in the Okefenoke swamp in southeastern Georgia. The general aspect of the foliage and fruit is the same as of bald cypress. No detailed examination of the wood seems to have been made, but in general appearance it is like the other cypress. It is said that little of it ever gets to sawmills because it grows in situations where logging is inconvenient.

Monterey Cypress(Cupressus macrocarpa). This tree has only one name and that is due to its place of growth on the shores of Monterey bay, California. Its range is more restricted than that of any other American softwood. It does not much exceed 150 acres, though the trees are scattered in a narrow strip for two miles along the coast. They approach so close the breakers that spray flies over them in time of storm. Trees exposed to the sweep of the wind are gnarled and of fantastic shapes. Their crowns are broad and flat like an umbrella, but ragged and unsymmetrical in outline. That form offers least resistance to wind, and most surface to the sun. The trees take the best possible advantage of their opportunities. Tall crowns would be carried away by wind; and the flat tops, with a mass of green foliage, catch all the sunlight possible. They need it, for they grow in fog, and sunshine is scarce. Sheltered trees develop pyramidal tops. It is widely planted in this and other countries, and when conditions are favorable, it is graceful and symmetrical. The largest trees are from sixty to seventy feet tall, others are five or six in diameter; but the tallest trees and the largest trunks seldom go together. The cones are an inch or more in length, and each contains about 100 seeds. The leaves fall the third and fourth years. Wood is heavy, hard, strong, and durable, but is too scarce to be of value as lumber, even if the trunks were suitable for sawlogs. The Monterey cypress is of peculiar interest to botanists and also to physical geographers. The few trees on the shore of Monterey bay appear to be the last remnant of a species which was once more extensive. The ocean is eating away the coast at that point.Fragments of hills, cut sheer down from top to the breakers beneath, are plainly the last remnants of ranges which once extended westward, but have been washed away by the encroaching waves. No one knows how much of the former coast has been destroyed. Apparently the former range of the cypress was principally on land now swallowed up by the encroaching ocean. A mere fringe of the trees—a belt about 200 yards wide along the beach—remains, and the sea is undermining them one by one and carrying them down. So rapidly is the undermining process going on that many large roots of some of the trees are exposed to view.

Arizona Cypress(Cupressus arizonica), as its name implies, is an Arizona tree. It forms considerable forests in the eastern, central, and southern parts of the state, and is found also in Mexico. It grows at elevations up to 6,000 feet. Because of the small population in the region where this cypress grows, it has never been much used, but the size of the trees and the character of the wood fit it for many purposes. Its growth is often quite rapid, and the timber is soft, light, and with well-defined summerwood. Its usual color is gray, but occasionally faint streaks of yellow appear. The leaves fall during the fourth and fifth years; cones are small and flat; and the small seeds are winged. It is believed by persons familiar with Arizona cypress that it will attain considerable importance when the building of railroads and the settlement of the country make the forests accessible. The wood is durable in contact with the soil.

Smooth Cypress(Cupressus glabra) ranges in Arizona and is not believed to have or to promise much importance as a source of lumber supply. Its name was given on account of the smoothness of the bark. It is one of the latest species to be given a place among the cypresses, and was described and named by George B. Sudworth of the United States Forest Service.

Cypress branch

BALSAM FIRBalsam firBalsam Fir

Balsam firBalsam Fir

Balsam Fir

BALSAM FIR(Abies Balsamea)Balsam fir is the usual name applied to this tree in New England, New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Ontario. The shorter name balsam suffices in some parts of that region, and particularly in New York, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Because it is common north of the international boundary, the name Canada balsam has been given it in some regions. In Delaware it is known as balm of Gilead, but that name belongs to a tree of the cottonwood group, (Populus balsamifera) which is a broadleaf species. In New York and Pennsylvania a word of distinction is added, and it is called balm of Gilead fir. Toward the southern limit of its range it is spoken of as fir pine and blister pine. New York Indians knew the tree as blisters. They referred to the pockets under the bark of young trees and near the tops of mature trunks, in which resin collected. The name balsam refers to that characteristic also, as does the word balm. In some parts of Canada the tree is known as silver pine, and as silver spruce. The secretion of resin in bark blisters is a characteristic of several firs.The list of names and the locality of their use indicate fairly well the geographical range of balsam fir. Its northern limit forms a line across eastern Canada from Labrador to Hudson bay. From Hudson bay its northern boundary trends northwestward and reaches the vicinity of Great Bear lake. In the United States it grows westward to Minnesota and southward to Pennsylvania. It is cut for lumber in eleven states.In a range so large and including situations so various, it is natural that the tree should vary greatly in size. In the Lake States the common height is fifty or sixty feet, and the diameter is twelve or fifteen inches. Young balsam firs grow vigorously when the ground is suitable and their tops receive sufficient light. In lumbered regions in the Lake States, this fir gets a foothold in the shade of a dense growth of paper birch and other quickly-growing species; and in a few years the pointed, intensely green spires of the balsams may be seen piercing the canopy of other young tree tops, and shooting above into the light. This is accomplished after a struggle of some years in the shade; but the firs ultimately win their way upward, and in a few years they shade to death most of their broadleaf associates. If they are in competition with northern white cedar or tamarack, they are not always successful in winning first place.The leaves of balsam fir are from one-half to one and one-fourthinches long. They are green and lustrous above and silver white below, the whiteness due to stomata on their undersides. On young twigs the leaves bristle out on all sides and are very numerous and crowded together, but on older branches the leaves are more scattered, due to the dropping of some of them. It is their habit to adhere to the stems about eight years.The leaves of balsam fir possess a pleasing and characteristic odor which is turned to account in a practical way. The small needles are stripped from the branches in large quantities, cleaned, dried, and are used for stuffing sofa pillows, cushions, and other kinds of upholstery. The odor persists a long time. Much of the collecting of the needles is done in summer as a pastime by summer campers in the northern woods. The needles are sufficiently tough to stand much wear in pillows, and they are still odorous when long use has ground them to powder.The cones of balsam fir follow the fashion of all species of fir, and stand erect on the branches. Seeds are one-fourth inch in length and are winged. The wood is of approximately the same weight as white pine, but it falls considerably below white pine in strength and stiffness. It is of moderately rapid growth when conditions are favorable, and the annual ring has a fair proportion of summerwood. The yearly rings are quite distinct. The medullary rays are numerous, and for a softwood they are prominent. When a log is quarter-sawed, and the surfaces of the boards are planed, the wood presents a silvery appearance, but it is too monotonous to be very attractive. The heartwood is pale brown, streaked with yellow, the thick sapwood much lighter in color. It is perishable in contact with the soil.Pulp manufacturers are the largest users of balsam fir. About three per cent of all the pulpwood cut in the United States in 1910 was from this species. Its use is on the increase, or appears to be; but recent statistics relating to this wood cannot be safely compared with returns for former years, because the custom of mixing fir with spruce and other pulpwoods formerly prevailed in New England, and it was then not possible to determine exactly how much fir reached the market. At the present time fir goes under its own name, and the output exceeds 132,000 cords, which is equivalent to 105,000,000 feet, board measure, yearly.Eleven states contribute to the balsam fir lumber cut, but most is supplied by Maine, Minnesota, Vermont, Michigan, and Wisconsin. The total for 1910 was 74,580,000 feet. Much of it is employed in rough form for fences and buildings, while other is further manufactured by planing mills and factories. Car builders employ it in several ways. It serves as doors, siding, lining, and roofing for freight cars. It is not adurable wood when exposed to weather. The largest reported use of the wood in New England is by box makers. Massachusetts alone works nearly 15,000,000 feet a year into crates and shipping boxes. Its uses in the Lake States are more varied. The makers of berry, fruit, and vegetable baskets draw supplies from the wood. Some of the product is of thin split slats, and other of veneer or sawed material.The light weight and white color of balsam fir make it acceptable to the manufacturers of excelsior. The product is employed in packing merchandise for shipment, and to a small extent in upholstery. The wood fills a rather important place in the woodenware industry, where its white color and light weight constitute its most important recommendations. It is sawed into staves for pails and tubs.Though balsam fir has little figure and its appearance is rather common, it finds its way to planing mills and woodworking shops where it is made into ceiling, newel posts, molding, railing, spindles, chair-boards, and other interior finish.The most widely known commercial product manufactured from this tree is Canada balsam. Strictly speaking, it is not a manufactured article except what is done in nature’s laboratory, and the product is the resin stored under bark blisters. The resin is transparent, and is employed by microscopists in mounting objects for examination. Little machinery or apparatus is used in removing the viscid fluid from the pockets in the bark. With a knife the thin, soft blister is slit and the resin is scraped out. All kinds of claims of medicinal virtue are made for balsam resin in the region where the tree grows; but the treatment in most cases effects cures—if any cures are really effected—by appeals to faith and the imagination.Balsam fir owes a large part of its importance to its abundance. It is not exactly a swamp tree, but it does best in damp situations where the ground is moist and cool in summer. Only in periods of protracted drought does the ground litter become sufficiently dry to burn fiercely, and to that fact is due much of the promise of future supply of balsam fir. That which grows on the dry uplands may fall prey to forest fires, but that in the damp flats, associated with northern white cedar and tamarack, will hold its ground and continue to supply demand.Balsam fir has an importance which can not be wholly measured in feet, pounds, cords, or dollars. Many of the choicest Christmas trees which in December go by tens of thousands to the cities, are of this tree. Its form is almost perfect, being conical, broad near the bottom, and running to a sharp apex. The deep green of the needles, which retain their color from two weeks to a month after the trunk is severed, gives balsam Christmas trees much of their popularity. The trees are cutfrom Maine to Michigan, and many are shipped across the international boundary from Canada. The custom of cutting Christmas trees is often condemned as a waste of resources. It has been argued that the destruction in one month of 1,000,000 young trees is equivalent to the destruction of 500,000,000 feet of lumber, because, if allowed to reach maturity, they would yield that much lumber. That argument does not take into consideration the fact that not one of the young trees in ten would reach maturity if left to the course of nature.When Gifford Pinchot was United States forester, a protest against the cutting of Christmas trees was formally laid before him. It was generally believed that he would declare that the waste ought to be stopped and would set his disapproval on the practice; but he did nothing of the sort. He declared that the forests are for the use of the people and that they can serve in no better way than by supplying every child in the land with a Christmas tree once a year.Balsam fir branch

Balsam fir is the usual name applied to this tree in New England, New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Ontario. The shorter name balsam suffices in some parts of that region, and particularly in New York, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Because it is common north of the international boundary, the name Canada balsam has been given it in some regions. In Delaware it is known as balm of Gilead, but that name belongs to a tree of the cottonwood group, (Populus balsamifera) which is a broadleaf species. In New York and Pennsylvania a word of distinction is added, and it is called balm of Gilead fir. Toward the southern limit of its range it is spoken of as fir pine and blister pine. New York Indians knew the tree as blisters. They referred to the pockets under the bark of young trees and near the tops of mature trunks, in which resin collected. The name balsam refers to that characteristic also, as does the word balm. In some parts of Canada the tree is known as silver pine, and as silver spruce. The secretion of resin in bark blisters is a characteristic of several firs.

The list of names and the locality of their use indicate fairly well the geographical range of balsam fir. Its northern limit forms a line across eastern Canada from Labrador to Hudson bay. From Hudson bay its northern boundary trends northwestward and reaches the vicinity of Great Bear lake. In the United States it grows westward to Minnesota and southward to Pennsylvania. It is cut for lumber in eleven states.

In a range so large and including situations so various, it is natural that the tree should vary greatly in size. In the Lake States the common height is fifty or sixty feet, and the diameter is twelve or fifteen inches. Young balsam firs grow vigorously when the ground is suitable and their tops receive sufficient light. In lumbered regions in the Lake States, this fir gets a foothold in the shade of a dense growth of paper birch and other quickly-growing species; and in a few years the pointed, intensely green spires of the balsams may be seen piercing the canopy of other young tree tops, and shooting above into the light. This is accomplished after a struggle of some years in the shade; but the firs ultimately win their way upward, and in a few years they shade to death most of their broadleaf associates. If they are in competition with northern white cedar or tamarack, they are not always successful in winning first place.

The leaves of balsam fir are from one-half to one and one-fourthinches long. They are green and lustrous above and silver white below, the whiteness due to stomata on their undersides. On young twigs the leaves bristle out on all sides and are very numerous and crowded together, but on older branches the leaves are more scattered, due to the dropping of some of them. It is their habit to adhere to the stems about eight years.

The leaves of balsam fir possess a pleasing and characteristic odor which is turned to account in a practical way. The small needles are stripped from the branches in large quantities, cleaned, dried, and are used for stuffing sofa pillows, cushions, and other kinds of upholstery. The odor persists a long time. Much of the collecting of the needles is done in summer as a pastime by summer campers in the northern woods. The needles are sufficiently tough to stand much wear in pillows, and they are still odorous when long use has ground them to powder.

The cones of balsam fir follow the fashion of all species of fir, and stand erect on the branches. Seeds are one-fourth inch in length and are winged. The wood is of approximately the same weight as white pine, but it falls considerably below white pine in strength and stiffness. It is of moderately rapid growth when conditions are favorable, and the annual ring has a fair proportion of summerwood. The yearly rings are quite distinct. The medullary rays are numerous, and for a softwood they are prominent. When a log is quarter-sawed, and the surfaces of the boards are planed, the wood presents a silvery appearance, but it is too monotonous to be very attractive. The heartwood is pale brown, streaked with yellow, the thick sapwood much lighter in color. It is perishable in contact with the soil.

Pulp manufacturers are the largest users of balsam fir. About three per cent of all the pulpwood cut in the United States in 1910 was from this species. Its use is on the increase, or appears to be; but recent statistics relating to this wood cannot be safely compared with returns for former years, because the custom of mixing fir with spruce and other pulpwoods formerly prevailed in New England, and it was then not possible to determine exactly how much fir reached the market. At the present time fir goes under its own name, and the output exceeds 132,000 cords, which is equivalent to 105,000,000 feet, board measure, yearly.

Eleven states contribute to the balsam fir lumber cut, but most is supplied by Maine, Minnesota, Vermont, Michigan, and Wisconsin. The total for 1910 was 74,580,000 feet. Much of it is employed in rough form for fences and buildings, while other is further manufactured by planing mills and factories. Car builders employ it in several ways. It serves as doors, siding, lining, and roofing for freight cars. It is not adurable wood when exposed to weather. The largest reported use of the wood in New England is by box makers. Massachusetts alone works nearly 15,000,000 feet a year into crates and shipping boxes. Its uses in the Lake States are more varied. The makers of berry, fruit, and vegetable baskets draw supplies from the wood. Some of the product is of thin split slats, and other of veneer or sawed material.

The light weight and white color of balsam fir make it acceptable to the manufacturers of excelsior. The product is employed in packing merchandise for shipment, and to a small extent in upholstery. The wood fills a rather important place in the woodenware industry, where its white color and light weight constitute its most important recommendations. It is sawed into staves for pails and tubs.

Though balsam fir has little figure and its appearance is rather common, it finds its way to planing mills and woodworking shops where it is made into ceiling, newel posts, molding, railing, spindles, chair-boards, and other interior finish.

The most widely known commercial product manufactured from this tree is Canada balsam. Strictly speaking, it is not a manufactured article except what is done in nature’s laboratory, and the product is the resin stored under bark blisters. The resin is transparent, and is employed by microscopists in mounting objects for examination. Little machinery or apparatus is used in removing the viscid fluid from the pockets in the bark. With a knife the thin, soft blister is slit and the resin is scraped out. All kinds of claims of medicinal virtue are made for balsam resin in the region where the tree grows; but the treatment in most cases effects cures—if any cures are really effected—by appeals to faith and the imagination.

Balsam fir owes a large part of its importance to its abundance. It is not exactly a swamp tree, but it does best in damp situations where the ground is moist and cool in summer. Only in periods of protracted drought does the ground litter become sufficiently dry to burn fiercely, and to that fact is due much of the promise of future supply of balsam fir. That which grows on the dry uplands may fall prey to forest fires, but that in the damp flats, associated with northern white cedar and tamarack, will hold its ground and continue to supply demand.

Balsam fir has an importance which can not be wholly measured in feet, pounds, cords, or dollars. Many of the choicest Christmas trees which in December go by tens of thousands to the cities, are of this tree. Its form is almost perfect, being conical, broad near the bottom, and running to a sharp apex. The deep green of the needles, which retain their color from two weeks to a month after the trunk is severed, gives balsam Christmas trees much of their popularity. The trees are cutfrom Maine to Michigan, and many are shipped across the international boundary from Canada. The custom of cutting Christmas trees is often condemned as a waste of resources. It has been argued that the destruction in one month of 1,000,000 young trees is equivalent to the destruction of 500,000,000 feet of lumber, because, if allowed to reach maturity, they would yield that much lumber. That argument does not take into consideration the fact that not one of the young trees in ten would reach maturity if left to the course of nature.

When Gifford Pinchot was United States forester, a protest against the cutting of Christmas trees was formally laid before him. It was generally believed that he would declare that the waste ought to be stopped and would set his disapproval on the practice; but he did nothing of the sort. He declared that the forests are for the use of the people and that they can serve in no better way than by supplying every child in the land with a Christmas tree once a year.

Balsam fir branch

FRASER FIRFraser firFraser Fir

Fraser firFraser Fir

Fraser Fir

FRASER FIR(Abies Fraseri)The people who are acquainted with this interesting and somewhat rare tree have seen to it that it does not want for names. Some of these names are both definitive and descriptive, while others are neither. Tennessee, North Carolina, and West Virginia furnish the names. Within the tree’s range in Tennessee and North Carolina it is often known as balsam without any qualifying word, and that is quite sufficient, for no other fir or balsam grows within its range. In the same region it is called balsam fir. That is the common name of its northern relative, but there is little likelihood of confusing the two species, for their ranges do not overlap much, if they touch at all, which they probably do not. In Tennessee the name is reversed and instead of balsam fir it is fir balsam. It is likewise known as double fir balsam, but why “double” is added to the name is not clear. Similar mystery attaches to the name “single spruce,” which is applied to the balsam fir in the interior of British America. The southern Appalachian tree is called she balsam and she balsam fir. These names have no scientific basis, and they appear to have originated in a desire to distinguish this tree from the red spruce with which it is associated. The spruce is called “he balsam.” Artificial names like these are not necessary to distinguish red spruce from Fraser fir, as very slight acquaintance should enable anybody to tell one from the other at sight, and to see clearly that they are not of the same species. Mountain balsam, a North Carolina name for this fir, is well taken, for it is distinctly a mountain species. The name healing balsam is given in acknowledgment of the supposed medicinal properties of the resin which collects in blisters or pockets under the bark of young trees and near the tops of old. In West Virginia, where this tree reaches the northern limits of its habitat, it is called blister pine, on account of the resin pockets. In the same region it is called stackpole pine, because farmers who mow mountain meadows use straight, very light poles cut from this fir round which to build haystacks.This tree is decidedly an inhabitant of the high, exposed localities, being found entirely in the upper elevations of the southern Appalachian mountains, either forming extensive pure stands or growing in the company of red spruce (Picea rubens), with a scattering of various stunted hardwoods, as birch, mountain ash, cherry and usually with an undergrowth of rhododendron.Fraser fir’s range extends from the high mountains of North Carolina, where it grows 6,000 feet above sea level, northward intoWest Virginia, within a few miles of the Maryland line, at an altitude of 3,300 feet. The tree is not found in all regions between its northern and southern limits. Its best development is in the southern part of its range.On the upper limits of its habitat the tree presents a decidedly picturesque appearance, being gnarled and twisted and plainly showing the results of its long struggle for life and development. It is always noticeable that on the exposed side the limbs are so short as to be almost missing and on the opposite side they grow out straight and long, appearing to fly before the wind. These limbs are sometimes of as great a girth for five or six feet of their length as any part of the main stem, and have a singular look, seeming to be all out of proportion to the rest of the tree. The older trees are vested in a smooth, yellowish-gray, mossy bark, which is quite different from that of the balsam fir. The bark is thin, about one-fourth of an inch on young trunks, and half an inch near the ground on old ones. The leaves are usually half an inch long, sometimes one inch, and their lower sides are whitish, which tint is due to abundant white stomata. In that respect they resemble leaves of balsam fir and hemlock.The cones, like those of other species of fir, stand erect on the branches, and average about two and a half inches in length. They are smoother than the cones of most pines. They mature in September. The winged seeds average one-eighth inch in length, and are fairly abundant. The Fraser fir grows as tall as balsam fir, from forty to sixty feet, and the trunk diameter is greater, being sometimes thirty inches, though half of that is nearer an average. When of pole size, that is, from five to eight inches in diameter, Fraser fir is often tall, straight and shapely. Its form, however, depends upon the situation in which it grows. If in the open, it develops a relatively short trunk and a broad, pyramidal crown. This fir differs from balsam fir in its choice of situation. The latter, though not exactly a swamp tree, prefers damp ground, while Fraser fir flourishes on slopes and mountain tops.On the mountains of western North Carolina fir grows in mixture with red spruce. Sometimes the fir is fifty per cent of the stand, but usually it is less, and frequently not more than fifteen per cent. Few fir trees in that locality are two feet in diameter. They grow with fair rapidity in their early years, but decline in rate as age comes on. It may be observed in traveling through the stands of mixed spruce and fir among the high ranges of the southern Appalachian mountains that the proportion of spruce is much higher in old stands than in young. That is due to the greater age to which spruce lives. Trees of that species continue to stand after the firs have died of old age. On the other hand,fir outnumbers spruce in many young stands. That is because fir reproduces better than spruce, and grows with more vigor at first. In stands of second growth the fir often predominates. It depends to some extent upon the conditions under which the second growth has its start. Fir does not germinate well if the ground has been bared by fire and the humus burned. Consequently, old burns do not readily grow up in fir. The best stands occur where the natural conditions have not been much disturbed further than by removing the growth. Fortunately conditions on the summit and elevated slopes of the southern Appalachians do not favor destructive forest fires. Rain is frequent and abundant, and the shade cast by evergreen trees keeps the humus too moist for fire. To this condition is due the comparative immunity from fire of the high mountain forests of fir and spruce. Sometimes, however, fires sweep through fine stands with disastrous results. The destruction is more serious because no second forest of evergreens is likely on tracts which have been severely burned.A report by the State Geological Survey on forest conditions in western North Carolina, issued in 1911, predicted that spruce and fir forests aggregating from 100,000 to 150,000 acres among the high mountain ranges, will become barren tracts, because of the destructive effect of fires stripping the ground of humus.The cutters of pulpwood in the southern Appalachian mountains take Fraser fir wherever they find it, mix it with spruce, and the two woods go to market as one. Statistics show the annual cut of both, but do not give them separately. The output of spruce, including fir, south of Pennsylvania, in 1910 was 115,993 cords, equivalent to about 80,000,000 feet, board measure. Most of it was red spruce, but some was fir, and in North Carolina probably twenty-five per cent was of that species. The total pulpwood cut in that state was 14,509 cords of the two woods combined, and probably 3,800 cords were Fraser fir.The wood of Fraser fir is very light. An air dry sample from Roan mountain, N. C., weighed 22.22 pounds per cubic foot. That is lighter than balsam fir, which is classed among the very light woods. It is stronger than balsam fir by twenty-five per cent. The wood is soft, compact and the bands of summerwood in the annual rings are rather broad and light colored and are not conspicuous. The medullary rays are thin but numerous. The color is light brown, the sapwood mostly white.This wood is not of much commercial value except for pulp. It is not abundant, and it is not suited to many purposes. It is suitable for boxes, being light in weight and moderately strong; but other woods which grow in the same region are as good in all respects and aremore abundant, and will be used in preference to fir for that purpose. The decrease in area on account of fires, and in quantity because of pulpwood operations, indicates that forest grown Fraser fir has seen its best days. On the other hand, the United States Forest Service has acquired tracts of land on the summits of the mountains where this species has its natural home, and the growth will be protected from fires and from destructive cutting, and there is no danger that the species will be exterminated.It is an interesting tree. It contributes to the pleasure of tourists and campers among the southern mountains. The fragrance of its leaves and young branches add a zest to the summer camp. The traveler who is overtaken in the woods by the coming of night, prepares his bed of the boughs of this tree and of red spruce and sleeps soundly beneath an evergreen canopy. Pillows and cushions stuffed with fir needles carry memories of the mountains to distant cities.In one respect this tree of the high mountains is like the untamed Indians who once roamed in that region: it refuses to be civilized. The tree has been planted in parks in this country and in Europe, but it does not prosper. Its form loses something of the grace and symmetry which it exhibits in its mountain home, and its life is short. Those who wish to see Fraser fir at its best must see it where nature planted it high on the southern mountains.Arizona Cork Fir(Abies arizonica) very closely resembles forms of the alpine fir, and may not be a separate species. Sudworth was unable to distinguish its foliage and cones from those of alpine fir, but the bark is softer. Its range is on the San Francisco mountains in Arizona. It is very scarce, and only local use of its wood is possible.Fraser fir branch

The people who are acquainted with this interesting and somewhat rare tree have seen to it that it does not want for names. Some of these names are both definitive and descriptive, while others are neither. Tennessee, North Carolina, and West Virginia furnish the names. Within the tree’s range in Tennessee and North Carolina it is often known as balsam without any qualifying word, and that is quite sufficient, for no other fir or balsam grows within its range. In the same region it is called balsam fir. That is the common name of its northern relative, but there is little likelihood of confusing the two species, for their ranges do not overlap much, if they touch at all, which they probably do not. In Tennessee the name is reversed and instead of balsam fir it is fir balsam. It is likewise known as double fir balsam, but why “double” is added to the name is not clear. Similar mystery attaches to the name “single spruce,” which is applied to the balsam fir in the interior of British America. The southern Appalachian tree is called she balsam and she balsam fir. These names have no scientific basis, and they appear to have originated in a desire to distinguish this tree from the red spruce with which it is associated. The spruce is called “he balsam.” Artificial names like these are not necessary to distinguish red spruce from Fraser fir, as very slight acquaintance should enable anybody to tell one from the other at sight, and to see clearly that they are not of the same species. Mountain balsam, a North Carolina name for this fir, is well taken, for it is distinctly a mountain species. The name healing balsam is given in acknowledgment of the supposed medicinal properties of the resin which collects in blisters or pockets under the bark of young trees and near the tops of old. In West Virginia, where this tree reaches the northern limits of its habitat, it is called blister pine, on account of the resin pockets. In the same region it is called stackpole pine, because farmers who mow mountain meadows use straight, very light poles cut from this fir round which to build haystacks.

This tree is decidedly an inhabitant of the high, exposed localities, being found entirely in the upper elevations of the southern Appalachian mountains, either forming extensive pure stands or growing in the company of red spruce (Picea rubens), with a scattering of various stunted hardwoods, as birch, mountain ash, cherry and usually with an undergrowth of rhododendron.

Fraser fir’s range extends from the high mountains of North Carolina, where it grows 6,000 feet above sea level, northward intoWest Virginia, within a few miles of the Maryland line, at an altitude of 3,300 feet. The tree is not found in all regions between its northern and southern limits. Its best development is in the southern part of its range.

On the upper limits of its habitat the tree presents a decidedly picturesque appearance, being gnarled and twisted and plainly showing the results of its long struggle for life and development. It is always noticeable that on the exposed side the limbs are so short as to be almost missing and on the opposite side they grow out straight and long, appearing to fly before the wind. These limbs are sometimes of as great a girth for five or six feet of their length as any part of the main stem, and have a singular look, seeming to be all out of proportion to the rest of the tree. The older trees are vested in a smooth, yellowish-gray, mossy bark, which is quite different from that of the balsam fir. The bark is thin, about one-fourth of an inch on young trunks, and half an inch near the ground on old ones. The leaves are usually half an inch long, sometimes one inch, and their lower sides are whitish, which tint is due to abundant white stomata. In that respect they resemble leaves of balsam fir and hemlock.

The cones, like those of other species of fir, stand erect on the branches, and average about two and a half inches in length. They are smoother than the cones of most pines. They mature in September. The winged seeds average one-eighth inch in length, and are fairly abundant. The Fraser fir grows as tall as balsam fir, from forty to sixty feet, and the trunk diameter is greater, being sometimes thirty inches, though half of that is nearer an average. When of pole size, that is, from five to eight inches in diameter, Fraser fir is often tall, straight and shapely. Its form, however, depends upon the situation in which it grows. If in the open, it develops a relatively short trunk and a broad, pyramidal crown. This fir differs from balsam fir in its choice of situation. The latter, though not exactly a swamp tree, prefers damp ground, while Fraser fir flourishes on slopes and mountain tops.

On the mountains of western North Carolina fir grows in mixture with red spruce. Sometimes the fir is fifty per cent of the stand, but usually it is less, and frequently not more than fifteen per cent. Few fir trees in that locality are two feet in diameter. They grow with fair rapidity in their early years, but decline in rate as age comes on. It may be observed in traveling through the stands of mixed spruce and fir among the high ranges of the southern Appalachian mountains that the proportion of spruce is much higher in old stands than in young. That is due to the greater age to which spruce lives. Trees of that species continue to stand after the firs have died of old age. On the other hand,fir outnumbers spruce in many young stands. That is because fir reproduces better than spruce, and grows with more vigor at first. In stands of second growth the fir often predominates. It depends to some extent upon the conditions under which the second growth has its start. Fir does not germinate well if the ground has been bared by fire and the humus burned. Consequently, old burns do not readily grow up in fir. The best stands occur where the natural conditions have not been much disturbed further than by removing the growth. Fortunately conditions on the summit and elevated slopes of the southern Appalachians do not favor destructive forest fires. Rain is frequent and abundant, and the shade cast by evergreen trees keeps the humus too moist for fire. To this condition is due the comparative immunity from fire of the high mountain forests of fir and spruce. Sometimes, however, fires sweep through fine stands with disastrous results. The destruction is more serious because no second forest of evergreens is likely on tracts which have been severely burned.

A report by the State Geological Survey on forest conditions in western North Carolina, issued in 1911, predicted that spruce and fir forests aggregating from 100,000 to 150,000 acres among the high mountain ranges, will become barren tracts, because of the destructive effect of fires stripping the ground of humus.

The cutters of pulpwood in the southern Appalachian mountains take Fraser fir wherever they find it, mix it with spruce, and the two woods go to market as one. Statistics show the annual cut of both, but do not give them separately. The output of spruce, including fir, south of Pennsylvania, in 1910 was 115,993 cords, equivalent to about 80,000,000 feet, board measure. Most of it was red spruce, but some was fir, and in North Carolina probably twenty-five per cent was of that species. The total pulpwood cut in that state was 14,509 cords of the two woods combined, and probably 3,800 cords were Fraser fir.

The wood of Fraser fir is very light. An air dry sample from Roan mountain, N. C., weighed 22.22 pounds per cubic foot. That is lighter than balsam fir, which is classed among the very light woods. It is stronger than balsam fir by twenty-five per cent. The wood is soft, compact and the bands of summerwood in the annual rings are rather broad and light colored and are not conspicuous. The medullary rays are thin but numerous. The color is light brown, the sapwood mostly white.

This wood is not of much commercial value except for pulp. It is not abundant, and it is not suited to many purposes. It is suitable for boxes, being light in weight and moderately strong; but other woods which grow in the same region are as good in all respects and aremore abundant, and will be used in preference to fir for that purpose. The decrease in area on account of fires, and in quantity because of pulpwood operations, indicates that forest grown Fraser fir has seen its best days. On the other hand, the United States Forest Service has acquired tracts of land on the summits of the mountains where this species has its natural home, and the growth will be protected from fires and from destructive cutting, and there is no danger that the species will be exterminated.

It is an interesting tree. It contributes to the pleasure of tourists and campers among the southern mountains. The fragrance of its leaves and young branches add a zest to the summer camp. The traveler who is overtaken in the woods by the coming of night, prepares his bed of the boughs of this tree and of red spruce and sleeps soundly beneath an evergreen canopy. Pillows and cushions stuffed with fir needles carry memories of the mountains to distant cities.

In one respect this tree of the high mountains is like the untamed Indians who once roamed in that region: it refuses to be civilized. The tree has been planted in parks in this country and in Europe, but it does not prosper. Its form loses something of the grace and symmetry which it exhibits in its mountain home, and its life is short. Those who wish to see Fraser fir at its best must see it where nature planted it high on the southern mountains.

Arizona Cork Fir(Abies arizonica) very closely resembles forms of the alpine fir, and may not be a separate species. Sudworth was unable to distinguish its foliage and cones from those of alpine fir, but the bark is softer. Its range is on the San Francisco mountains in Arizona. It is very scarce, and only local use of its wood is possible.

Arizona Cork Fir(Abies arizonica) very closely resembles forms of the alpine fir, and may not be a separate species. Sudworth was unable to distinguish its foliage and cones from those of alpine fir, but the bark is softer. Its range is on the San Francisco mountains in Arizona. It is very scarce, and only local use of its wood is possible.

Fraser fir branch

NOBLE FIRNoble firNoble Fir

Noble firNoble Fir

Noble Fir

NOBLE FIR(Abies Nobilis)This tree’s name is justified by its appearance when growing at its best in the forests of the northwest Pacific coast. It is tall, shapely, and imposing. It often exceeds a height of 250 feet, and a trunk diameter of six feet. It is sometimes eight feet in diameter. No tree is more shapely and symmetrical. When grown in dense stands the first limb may be 150 feet from the ground, and from that point to the base there is little taper. It over-reaches so many of its forest companions that it is sometimes designated locally as bigtree; but it is believed that lumber is never so spoken of, and that the name applies to the standing tree only. The Indians of the region where it grows call it tuck-tuck, but information as to the meaning of these words is not at hand. In northern California, and probably still farther north, this species is often called red fir, feather-cone red fir, or bracted red fir. The color of the heartwood and the appearance of the cone, doubtless are responsible for these names. There is a tendency in the fir-growing regions of the West to call all firs either white or red, depending upon the color of the heartwood. There are ten or more species of fir west of the Rocky Mountains, and to the layman they all look much alike, but to botanists they are interesting objects of study.The range of noble fir covers parts of three states, but the whole of no one. Its northern limit is in Washington, its southern in northern California, and it follows the mountains across western Oregon. It often forms extensive forests on the Cascade mountains of Washington. It is most abundant at elevations of from 2,500 to 5,000 feet in southwestern Washington and northwestern Oregon. On the eastern and northern slopes of those mountains it is of smaller size and is less abundant. Like several other of the extraordinarily large western trees, it keeps pretty close to the warm, moist coast of the Pacific.The shining, blue-green color of the leaves is a conspicuous characteristic of noble fir as it appears in the forest. They vary in length from an inch to an inch and a half. They usually curl, twist, and turn their points upward and backward, away from the end of the branch which bears them. The cones, following the fashion of firs, stand upright on the twigs, and are conspicuous objects. They are four or five inches in length, which is rather large for firs, but not the largest. The seeds are half an inch long, and are winged. They are well provided with the means of flight, but many of them never have an opportunity to test their wings, for the dextrous Douglas squirrel cuts the cones fromthe highest trees, and when they fall to the ground he pulls them apart with his feet and teeth, and the seeds pay him for his pains. If cones ripen on the trees and the released seeds sail away, there are birds of various feather waiting to receive them. Consequently, the noble fir plants comparatively few seeds. Their ratio of fertility is low at best, but that is partly compensated for by the large numbers produced.Thick stands of noble fir are not common. It generally is found, a few trees here and there, mixed with other species. Sawmills find it unprofitable to keep the lumber separate from other kinds. It does not pay to do so for two reasons. Extra labor is required to handle it in that way, and there is a prejudice against fir lumber. It does not appeal to buyers. For that reason some operators have called this timber Oregon larch, and have sent it to market under that name. That is a trick of the trade which has been put into practice many times and with many woods. The purpose in the instance of noble fir was to pass it for the larch which grows in the northern Rocky Mountain region. The two woods are so different that no person acquainted with one would mistake it for the other. A recent government report of woods used for manufacturing purposes in Washington does not list a foot of noble fir. The inference is that it must be going to factories under some other name, for it is incredible that this wood should be put to no use at all in the region of its best development.Noble fir is of slow growth, and the large trunks are very old, the oldest not less than 800 years. The summerwood forms a narrow, dark band in the annual ring. Medullary rays are numerous, but very thin and inconspicuous. The wood possesses little figure. It weighs twenty-eight pounds per cubic foot, which is four pounds less than the average Douglas fir. It is very low in fuel value, as softwoods usually are which have little resin. It is very weak, and it bends easily. It is soft, easily worked, and polishes well. This is one of its most valuable qualities. It is deficient in a number of properties which are desirable in wood, but partly makes up for them in its ability to take a smooth finish. It is pale brown, streaked with red, the sapwood darker. In that particular it is unusual, for most softwoods have sap lighter in color than the heart.It has been already pointed out that difficulty is met when an attempt is made to list the uses of noble fir, because it loses its name before it leaves the sawmill yard and takes the name of some other wood, and those who put it to use often do so without knowing what the wood really is. It is known that some of it is manufactured into house siding. It works nicely and looks well, but since it is liable to quick decay it must be kept well painted when it is exposed to weather. It serves as interior finish, and this seems to be one of its best uses. It isso employed for steamboats and for houses, and many shipments of it have been made to boat builders on the Atlantic coast. It is used for shipping boxes, and its light color fits it for that purpose, as the wood shows painting and stenciling to good advantage.European nurseries have propagated noble fir with success, but it does not do so well in the eastern part of the United States, though it lives through winters as far north as Massachusetts. It is not known to have been planted for other than ornamental purposes. Unless it would grow much faster in plantations than in its wild state, it will be too long in maturing to make it attractive to the timber planter.White Fir(Abies concolor). The whiteness of the wood and the silver color of the young branches give this species its name, but it is not the sole possessor of that name, but shares it with three other firs. In California, Idaho, and Utah it is called balsam fir. The branches and upper parts of the trunk where the bark is thin, are covered with blisters which contain white resin. In Utah it is known as white balsam, as silver fir in some parts of California, and as black gum in Utah. The reason for that name is not apparent, unless it refers to the black bark on old trees. It has several other names which are combinations of white and silver with some other term. Its range is mostly in the Sierras and in the Rocky Mountain ranges, extending from southern Colorado to the mountains of California, north through Oregon, and south through New Mexico and Arizona. The immense proportions are reached only in the Sierra growth, those trees in the Rockies being hardly above ordinary size. In its free growth the tree is reputed to be the only one of its genus found in the arid regions of the Great Basin, and similar localities in Arizona and New Mexico. It is not distinguished by all botanists from the similar species,Abies grandis.White fir attains a height of 250 feet and a diameter of six in some instances, but the average size of mature trees among the Sierra Nevadas is 150 feet tall and three or four in diameter. In the Rocky Mountain region the tree is smaller. It grows from 3,000 to 9,000 feet above sea level. The leaves are long for the fir genus, and vary from two to three inches. The tree’s bark is black near the base of large trunks but of less somber color near the top. Near the base of large trees the bark is sometimes six inches thick. The wood of this species is light and soft. Carpenters consider it coarse grained, by which they mean that it does not polish nicely. It is brittle and weak. The rings of annual growth are generally broad, with the bands of darker colored summerwood prominent. In lumber sawed tangentially, rings produces distinct figure, but it is not generally regarded as pleasing. The medullary rays are prominent for a softwood, but quarter-sawing does not add much to the wood’s appearance. It decays quickly in alternate wet and dry situations. Trees are apt to be affected with wind shake, and the wood’s disposition to splinter in course of manufacture has prejudiced many users against it. However, it has some good qualities. The wood is free from objectionable odor, and this qualifies it as box material. Fruit shippers can use it without fear of contaminating their wares. It is light in color, and stenciling looks well on it. Its weight is likewise in its favor.Trees of this species seldom occur in pure stands of large extent, but are scattered among forests of other kinds. Sawmills cut the fir as they come to it, but seldom go much out of their way to get it. The United States census for 1910 showed that 132,327,000 feet of white fir lumber were cut in the whole country, but as several species pass by that name it is not possible to determine how much belongedto the one under discussion, but probably about half, as that much was credited to California where this tree is at its best. The fir does not suffer in comparison with trees associated with it. Its trunk does not average quite as large as the pines, yet larger than most of the cedars; but in height it equals the best of its associates, and in symmetrical form, and beauty of color of foliage, it must be acknowledged superior. The dark intensity of its green crown when thrown against the blue summer skies of the Sierras forms a picture which probably no tree in the world can surpass and few can equal. Its cones suffer from the depredations of the ever-hungry Douglas squirrel which is too impatient to wait for nature’s slow process to ripen and scatter the seeds; but he climbs the trunks which stand as straight as plummet lines two hundred feet or more, and clinging to the topmost swaying branches, clips the cone stems with his teeth, and the cone goes to the ground like a shot. A person who will stand still in a Sierra forest in late summer, where firs abound, will presently hear the cones thumping the ground on all sides of him. If his eyes are good, and he looks carefully, he may see the squirrels, silhouetted against the sky on far-away tree tops, seeming so small in the distance that they look the size of mice; yet the Douglas squirrel is about the size of the eastern red squirrel. He does not always let the cones fall when he cuts their stems, but sometimes carries them down the long trunk to the ground, then goes back for another. The squirrel hoards the cones for winter, but does not neglect to fully satisfy his appetite while about the work. A single hoard—carefully covered with pine needles as a roof against winter snow—may contain five or ten bushels of cones, which are not all fir cones, but these predominate in most hoards.Noble fir branch

This tree’s name is justified by its appearance when growing at its best in the forests of the northwest Pacific coast. It is tall, shapely, and imposing. It often exceeds a height of 250 feet, and a trunk diameter of six feet. It is sometimes eight feet in diameter. No tree is more shapely and symmetrical. When grown in dense stands the first limb may be 150 feet from the ground, and from that point to the base there is little taper. It over-reaches so many of its forest companions that it is sometimes designated locally as bigtree; but it is believed that lumber is never so spoken of, and that the name applies to the standing tree only. The Indians of the region where it grows call it tuck-tuck, but information as to the meaning of these words is not at hand. In northern California, and probably still farther north, this species is often called red fir, feather-cone red fir, or bracted red fir. The color of the heartwood and the appearance of the cone, doubtless are responsible for these names. There is a tendency in the fir-growing regions of the West to call all firs either white or red, depending upon the color of the heartwood. There are ten or more species of fir west of the Rocky Mountains, and to the layman they all look much alike, but to botanists they are interesting objects of study.

The range of noble fir covers parts of three states, but the whole of no one. Its northern limit is in Washington, its southern in northern California, and it follows the mountains across western Oregon. It often forms extensive forests on the Cascade mountains of Washington. It is most abundant at elevations of from 2,500 to 5,000 feet in southwestern Washington and northwestern Oregon. On the eastern and northern slopes of those mountains it is of smaller size and is less abundant. Like several other of the extraordinarily large western trees, it keeps pretty close to the warm, moist coast of the Pacific.

The shining, blue-green color of the leaves is a conspicuous characteristic of noble fir as it appears in the forest. They vary in length from an inch to an inch and a half. They usually curl, twist, and turn their points upward and backward, away from the end of the branch which bears them. The cones, following the fashion of firs, stand upright on the twigs, and are conspicuous objects. They are four or five inches in length, which is rather large for firs, but not the largest. The seeds are half an inch long, and are winged. They are well provided with the means of flight, but many of them never have an opportunity to test their wings, for the dextrous Douglas squirrel cuts the cones fromthe highest trees, and when they fall to the ground he pulls them apart with his feet and teeth, and the seeds pay him for his pains. If cones ripen on the trees and the released seeds sail away, there are birds of various feather waiting to receive them. Consequently, the noble fir plants comparatively few seeds. Their ratio of fertility is low at best, but that is partly compensated for by the large numbers produced.

Thick stands of noble fir are not common. It generally is found, a few trees here and there, mixed with other species. Sawmills find it unprofitable to keep the lumber separate from other kinds. It does not pay to do so for two reasons. Extra labor is required to handle it in that way, and there is a prejudice against fir lumber. It does not appeal to buyers. For that reason some operators have called this timber Oregon larch, and have sent it to market under that name. That is a trick of the trade which has been put into practice many times and with many woods. The purpose in the instance of noble fir was to pass it for the larch which grows in the northern Rocky Mountain region. The two woods are so different that no person acquainted with one would mistake it for the other. A recent government report of woods used for manufacturing purposes in Washington does not list a foot of noble fir. The inference is that it must be going to factories under some other name, for it is incredible that this wood should be put to no use at all in the region of its best development.

Noble fir is of slow growth, and the large trunks are very old, the oldest not less than 800 years. The summerwood forms a narrow, dark band in the annual ring. Medullary rays are numerous, but very thin and inconspicuous. The wood possesses little figure. It weighs twenty-eight pounds per cubic foot, which is four pounds less than the average Douglas fir. It is very low in fuel value, as softwoods usually are which have little resin. It is very weak, and it bends easily. It is soft, easily worked, and polishes well. This is one of its most valuable qualities. It is deficient in a number of properties which are desirable in wood, but partly makes up for them in its ability to take a smooth finish. It is pale brown, streaked with red, the sapwood darker. In that particular it is unusual, for most softwoods have sap lighter in color than the heart.

It has been already pointed out that difficulty is met when an attempt is made to list the uses of noble fir, because it loses its name before it leaves the sawmill yard and takes the name of some other wood, and those who put it to use often do so without knowing what the wood really is. It is known that some of it is manufactured into house siding. It works nicely and looks well, but since it is liable to quick decay it must be kept well painted when it is exposed to weather. It serves as interior finish, and this seems to be one of its best uses. It isso employed for steamboats and for houses, and many shipments of it have been made to boat builders on the Atlantic coast. It is used for shipping boxes, and its light color fits it for that purpose, as the wood shows painting and stenciling to good advantage.

European nurseries have propagated noble fir with success, but it does not do so well in the eastern part of the United States, though it lives through winters as far north as Massachusetts. It is not known to have been planted for other than ornamental purposes. Unless it would grow much faster in plantations than in its wild state, it will be too long in maturing to make it attractive to the timber planter.

White Fir(Abies concolor). The whiteness of the wood and the silver color of the young branches give this species its name, but it is not the sole possessor of that name, but shares it with three other firs. In California, Idaho, and Utah it is called balsam fir. The branches and upper parts of the trunk where the bark is thin, are covered with blisters which contain white resin. In Utah it is known as white balsam, as silver fir in some parts of California, and as black gum in Utah. The reason for that name is not apparent, unless it refers to the black bark on old trees. It has several other names which are combinations of white and silver with some other term. Its range is mostly in the Sierras and in the Rocky Mountain ranges, extending from southern Colorado to the mountains of California, north through Oregon, and south through New Mexico and Arizona. The immense proportions are reached only in the Sierra growth, those trees in the Rockies being hardly above ordinary size. In its free growth the tree is reputed to be the only one of its genus found in the arid regions of the Great Basin, and similar localities in Arizona and New Mexico. It is not distinguished by all botanists from the similar species,Abies grandis.White fir attains a height of 250 feet and a diameter of six in some instances, but the average size of mature trees among the Sierra Nevadas is 150 feet tall and three or four in diameter. In the Rocky Mountain region the tree is smaller. It grows from 3,000 to 9,000 feet above sea level. The leaves are long for the fir genus, and vary from two to three inches. The tree’s bark is black near the base of large trunks but of less somber color near the top. Near the base of large trees the bark is sometimes six inches thick. The wood of this species is light and soft. Carpenters consider it coarse grained, by which they mean that it does not polish nicely. It is brittle and weak. The rings of annual growth are generally broad, with the bands of darker colored summerwood prominent. In lumber sawed tangentially, rings produces distinct figure, but it is not generally regarded as pleasing. The medullary rays are prominent for a softwood, but quarter-sawing does not add much to the wood’s appearance. It decays quickly in alternate wet and dry situations. Trees are apt to be affected with wind shake, and the wood’s disposition to splinter in course of manufacture has prejudiced many users against it. However, it has some good qualities. The wood is free from objectionable odor, and this qualifies it as box material. Fruit shippers can use it without fear of contaminating their wares. It is light in color, and stenciling looks well on it. Its weight is likewise in its favor.Trees of this species seldom occur in pure stands of large extent, but are scattered among forests of other kinds. Sawmills cut the fir as they come to it, but seldom go much out of their way to get it. The United States census for 1910 showed that 132,327,000 feet of white fir lumber were cut in the whole country, but as several species pass by that name it is not possible to determine how much belongedto the one under discussion, but probably about half, as that much was credited to California where this tree is at its best. The fir does not suffer in comparison with trees associated with it. Its trunk does not average quite as large as the pines, yet larger than most of the cedars; but in height it equals the best of its associates, and in symmetrical form, and beauty of color of foliage, it must be acknowledged superior. The dark intensity of its green crown when thrown against the blue summer skies of the Sierras forms a picture which probably no tree in the world can surpass and few can equal. Its cones suffer from the depredations of the ever-hungry Douglas squirrel which is too impatient to wait for nature’s slow process to ripen and scatter the seeds; but he climbs the trunks which stand as straight as plummet lines two hundred feet or more, and clinging to the topmost swaying branches, clips the cone stems with his teeth, and the cone goes to the ground like a shot. A person who will stand still in a Sierra forest in late summer, where firs abound, will presently hear the cones thumping the ground on all sides of him. If his eyes are good, and he looks carefully, he may see the squirrels, silhouetted against the sky on far-away tree tops, seeming so small in the distance that they look the size of mice; yet the Douglas squirrel is about the size of the eastern red squirrel. He does not always let the cones fall when he cuts their stems, but sometimes carries them down the long trunk to the ground, then goes back for another. The squirrel hoards the cones for winter, but does not neglect to fully satisfy his appetite while about the work. A single hoard—carefully covered with pine needles as a roof against winter snow—may contain five or ten bushels of cones, which are not all fir cones, but these predominate in most hoards.

White Fir(Abies concolor). The whiteness of the wood and the silver color of the young branches give this species its name, but it is not the sole possessor of that name, but shares it with three other firs. In California, Idaho, and Utah it is called balsam fir. The branches and upper parts of the trunk where the bark is thin, are covered with blisters which contain white resin. In Utah it is known as white balsam, as silver fir in some parts of California, and as black gum in Utah. The reason for that name is not apparent, unless it refers to the black bark on old trees. It has several other names which are combinations of white and silver with some other term. Its range is mostly in the Sierras and in the Rocky Mountain ranges, extending from southern Colorado to the mountains of California, north through Oregon, and south through New Mexico and Arizona. The immense proportions are reached only in the Sierra growth, those trees in the Rockies being hardly above ordinary size. In its free growth the tree is reputed to be the only one of its genus found in the arid regions of the Great Basin, and similar localities in Arizona and New Mexico. It is not distinguished by all botanists from the similar species,Abies grandis.

White fir attains a height of 250 feet and a diameter of six in some instances, but the average size of mature trees among the Sierra Nevadas is 150 feet tall and three or four in diameter. In the Rocky Mountain region the tree is smaller. It grows from 3,000 to 9,000 feet above sea level. The leaves are long for the fir genus, and vary from two to three inches. The tree’s bark is black near the base of large trunks but of less somber color near the top. Near the base of large trees the bark is sometimes six inches thick. The wood of this species is light and soft. Carpenters consider it coarse grained, by which they mean that it does not polish nicely. It is brittle and weak. The rings of annual growth are generally broad, with the bands of darker colored summerwood prominent. In lumber sawed tangentially, rings produces distinct figure, but it is not generally regarded as pleasing. The medullary rays are prominent for a softwood, but quarter-sawing does not add much to the wood’s appearance. It decays quickly in alternate wet and dry situations. Trees are apt to be affected with wind shake, and the wood’s disposition to splinter in course of manufacture has prejudiced many users against it. However, it has some good qualities. The wood is free from objectionable odor, and this qualifies it as box material. Fruit shippers can use it without fear of contaminating their wares. It is light in color, and stenciling looks well on it. Its weight is likewise in its favor.

Trees of this species seldom occur in pure stands of large extent, but are scattered among forests of other kinds. Sawmills cut the fir as they come to it, but seldom go much out of their way to get it. The United States census for 1910 showed that 132,327,000 feet of white fir lumber were cut in the whole country, but as several species pass by that name it is not possible to determine how much belongedto the one under discussion, but probably about half, as that much was credited to California where this tree is at its best. The fir does not suffer in comparison with trees associated with it. Its trunk does not average quite as large as the pines, yet larger than most of the cedars; but in height it equals the best of its associates, and in symmetrical form, and beauty of color of foliage, it must be acknowledged superior. The dark intensity of its green crown when thrown against the blue summer skies of the Sierras forms a picture which probably no tree in the world can surpass and few can equal. Its cones suffer from the depredations of the ever-hungry Douglas squirrel which is too impatient to wait for nature’s slow process to ripen and scatter the seeds; but he climbs the trunks which stand as straight as plummet lines two hundred feet or more, and clinging to the topmost swaying branches, clips the cone stems with his teeth, and the cone goes to the ground like a shot. A person who will stand still in a Sierra forest in late summer, where firs abound, will presently hear the cones thumping the ground on all sides of him. If his eyes are good, and he looks carefully, he may see the squirrels, silhouetted against the sky on far-away tree tops, seeming so small in the distance that they look the size of mice; yet the Douglas squirrel is about the size of the eastern red squirrel. He does not always let the cones fall when he cuts their stems, but sometimes carries them down the long trunk to the ground, then goes back for another. The squirrel hoards the cones for winter, but does not neglect to fully satisfy his appetite while about the work. A single hoard—carefully covered with pine needles as a roof against winter snow—may contain five or ten bushels of cones, which are not all fir cones, but these predominate in most hoards.

Noble fir branch

GRAND FIRGrand firGrand Fir

Grand firGrand Fir

Grand Fir

GRAND FIR(Abies Grandis)In California, Oregon, and Idaho this tree is called white fir, but it has several other names, silver fir and yellow fir in Montana and Idaho. In California some know it as Oregon fir, western white fir, and great California fir. Grand fir is more a botanist’s than a lumberman’s name.The range extends from British Columbia to Mendocino county, California, and to the western slopes of the continental divide in Montana. The coastal growth lies in a comparatively narrow strip. In the mountains an altitude of 7,000 feet is sometimes reached, the soil and moisture requirements, however, being the same. The largest trees are found in bottom lands near the coast where trunks 300 feet tall and six feet in diameter are found, but the average is much less. In mountain regions at considerable altitudes a height of 100 feet and a diameter of two or three is an average size. The leaves are about an inch and a half in length, occasionally two and a half. They are arranged in rows along the sides of the long, flexible branches. Cones are from two to four inches long, and bear winged seeds three-eighths of an inch long, the wings being half an inch or more in length. The bark of old trunks may be two inches thick, but generally is thinner. It is unfortunate that the wood of the large western firs lacks so many qualities which make it valuable. It is generally inferior to the woods of Douglas fir, western hemlock, Sitka spruce and the western cedars, sugar pine, and western yellow pine. The wood of grand fir is light, soft, weak, brittle, and not durable in contact with the soil. Its light color and the abundance of clear material in the giant trunks are redeeming features. These ought to open the way for much use in the future. It cannot find place in heavy construction, because it is not strong enough. That shuts it from one important place for which it is otherwise fitted. Box makers find it suitable, as all fir woods are, and large demand should come from that quarter. Trunks that will cut from 15,000 to 20,000 feet of lumber that is practically clear, and of good color, and light in weight, are bound to have value for boxes and slack cooperage. Trees grow with fair rapidity. Annual rings are usually broad, and the bands of summerwood are wide and distinct. This guarantees a certain figure in lumber sawed tangentially, but it is not a figure to compare in beauty with some of the hardwoods, or even with Douglas fir, or the southern yellow pines. It ought to be a first class material for certain kinds of woodenware, particularly for tubs, pails, and small stave vessels, and as far as it has been used in that way it has been satisfactory. It cannot be recommendedfor outside house finish, such as weather-boarding, cornice, and porch work, because of its susceptibility to decay; but it meets requirements for plain interior finish, and tests have shown it to be good material for cores or backing over which to glue veneers of hardwood.While the eastern states have not yet wakened up to the fact that this tree is of value in ornamental planting, its decorative qualities in open stands have been recognized for some time in eastern Europe, where trees of considerable size, promising to attain almost primeval proportions, are already flourishing.Red Fir(Abies magnifica) is the largest fir in America. At its best it attains a height of 250 feet and a diameter of ten, but that size is rare. It has several names, magnificent fir, which is a translation of its botanical name; redbark fir, California red fir, and golden fir. The reference to red which occurs in its several names, is descriptive of its heartwood. Its range lies on the Cascade mountains of southern Oregon, and along the entire length of the western slope of the Sierra Nevadas in California. It is common in southern Oregon and sometimes forms nearly pure forests at elevations of 5,000 or 7,000 feet. It is plentiful in the Sierra Nevada ranges at altitudes of from 6,000 to 9,000 feet. In southern California it ascends 10,000 feet. On old trees the limbs, regularly whorled in collars of five, are usually pendulous or down-growing and are regularly and precisely subdivided into branches and twigs, the short, stiff blue-green leaves, which persist for ten years, closely covering the upper side of the latter. Its cones are the largest of the firs, are dark purple in color and grow erect on the branches.The cones are six or eight inches long, and three or four in diameter. They present a fine appearance as they stand erect on the branches. The seeds are large, but their strong wings are able to carry them away from the immediate presence of the parent tree. The wings are extremely beautiful, and flash light with the colors of the rainbow. Old trees are protected by hard, dark-colored bark five or six inches thick. A forest fire may pass through a stand of old firs without burning through the bark, but young trees are not so protected, and are liable to be killed.A study of the wood of the red fir reveals rather more favorable qualities than the other firs afford. Sap and heartwood are more easily distinguished than in the other species, the sapwood being much lighter in color than the reddish heart. Contrary to the general rule among the firs, this wood possesses considerable durability, especially when used for purposes which bring it in contact with the soil. It is, however, light, soft and weak, but has a close, fine grain and compact structure. Seasoning defects, such as checking and warping, are liable to occur unless properly guarded against. It weighs 29.30 pounds per cubic foot, ornearly three pounds less than Douglas fir. It is used for rough lumber, packing boxes, bridge floors, interior house finish, and fuel.Shasta Red Fir(Abies magnifica shastensis) is pronounced by George B. Sudworth to be only a form of red fir (Abies magnifica) and not a separate species. The principal difference is in the cones. The Shasta form was discovered on the mountain of that name in northern California in 1890 by Professor J. G. Lemmon. It was supposed to be confined to that locality, but was subsequently found on the Cascade mountains in Oregon, and also at several points in northern California. It was later found in the Sierras five hundred miles south of Mount Shasta.Lovely Fir(Abies amabilis) is known by a number of names, red fir, silver fir, red silver fir, lovely red fir, amabilis fir, and larch. The last name is applied to this tree by lumbermen who have discovered that fir lumber sells better if it is given some other name. The range of this species extends from British Columbia southward in the Cascade mountains through Washington to Oregon. It is the common fir of the Olympic mountains and there reaches its best development, sometimes a height of 250 feet and a diameter of five or six; but the average, even in the best part of its range, is much under that size, while in the northern country, and high on mountains, it is a commonplace tree, averaging less than 100 feet high, and scarcely eighteen inches in diameter. When this fir stands in open ground, the whole trunk is covered with limbs from base to top; but in dense stands, the limbs drop off, and a clean trunk results.Some of the largest trees rise with scarcely a limb 150 feet, and above that is the small crown. The bark of young trees is covered with blisters filled with resin. The bark is thin and smooth until the tree is a century or more old, after which it becomes rougher, and near the base may be two and a half inches thick. It is of very slow growth, and a century hardly produces a trunk of small sawlog size. The leaves are dark green above, and whitish below. They are much crowded on the twigs, those on the underside rising with a twist at the base, and standing nearly erect. They are longer than those on the twig’s upper side. The purple cones are conspicuous objects on the tree, are from three and a half to six inches long, and bear abundance of seeds which are well dispersed by wind. However, the reproduction of this tree is not plentiful. The species holds its own, and not much more. When artificial reforestation takes place in this country, if that time ever comes, lovely fir will receive scant consideration, because of its discouragingly slow growth. It ranks with lodgepole pine in that respect. Nature can afford to wait two hundred years for a forest to mature, but men will not plant and protect when the prospect of returns is so remote. The wood is light, weak, moderately stiff and hard. The heartwood is pale brown, the sap nearly white. The summerwood appears in thin but well-marked bands in the annual rings, and the medullary rays are large enough to show slightly in quarter-sawed lumber. Growing as it does, interspersed with really valuable woods, the lovely fir is not highly thought of from a commercial standpoint. However, it is exploited in conjunction with the other species and turned into lumber and general structural material. A considerable quantity finds a market as interior finish and other millwork. It has many of the properties which fit it for the manufacture of packing boxes, particularly those intended for dried fruit and light merchandise. It bears considerable resemblance to spruce. The utilization of this and similar speciesof western fir for pulp has been suggested, but little has been done. It has been planted ornamentally in parts of Europe, but there is no comparison between the decorative appearance of this fir and its associated species, the others which are in cultivation being much superior. Removal from the old habitat militates greatly against its natural beauty and reduces it to the level of the ordinary.Alpine Fir(Abies lasiocarpa) is so called because it thrives on high mountains and in the far North. It grows in southern Alaska, up to latitude 60°, and southward to Oregon and Colorado. Its other names are balsam, white balsam, Oregon balsam, mountain balsam, white fir, pumpkin tree, down-cone, and downy-cone subalpine fir. It grows from sea level in Alaska up to 7,000 feet or more in the South. It is not abundant, and not very well known. However, its slender, spirelike top distinguishes it from all associates and it may be recognized at long distances by that characteristic. It endures cold at 40 degrees below zero, and summer climate at 90 degrees. Trees are usually small, and the trunks are covered with limbs to the ground. On high mountains the lower limbs often lie flat on the ground, and the twigs sometimes take root. Under very favorable circumstances this fir may reach a height of 160 feet and a diameter of four, but the usual size is less than half of it, even when conditions are fair, while on bleak mountains mature trees may be only three or four feet high, with most of the limbs prostrate. The sprawling form of growth makes the tree peculiarly liable to be killed by fire. The bark is thin, smooth, and flinty; and in color it is ashy gray or chalky white. Leaves are one and a half inches or less long; the purple cones from two to four inches. Trees bear cones at about twelve years of age. The seeds are equipped with violet or purplish wings, and they fly far enough to find the best available places to plant themselves. The wood is narrow-ringed, light, soft, and in color from pale straw to light yellowish-brown. It is fairly straight grained, and splits and works easily; but trunks are very knotty. Its best service in the past has consisted in supplying fuel to mining camps and mountain stock ranges.Grand fir branch

In California, Oregon, and Idaho this tree is called white fir, but it has several other names, silver fir and yellow fir in Montana and Idaho. In California some know it as Oregon fir, western white fir, and great California fir. Grand fir is more a botanist’s than a lumberman’s name.

The range extends from British Columbia to Mendocino county, California, and to the western slopes of the continental divide in Montana. The coastal growth lies in a comparatively narrow strip. In the mountains an altitude of 7,000 feet is sometimes reached, the soil and moisture requirements, however, being the same. The largest trees are found in bottom lands near the coast where trunks 300 feet tall and six feet in diameter are found, but the average is much less. In mountain regions at considerable altitudes a height of 100 feet and a diameter of two or three is an average size. The leaves are about an inch and a half in length, occasionally two and a half. They are arranged in rows along the sides of the long, flexible branches. Cones are from two to four inches long, and bear winged seeds three-eighths of an inch long, the wings being half an inch or more in length. The bark of old trunks may be two inches thick, but generally is thinner. It is unfortunate that the wood of the large western firs lacks so many qualities which make it valuable. It is generally inferior to the woods of Douglas fir, western hemlock, Sitka spruce and the western cedars, sugar pine, and western yellow pine. The wood of grand fir is light, soft, weak, brittle, and not durable in contact with the soil. Its light color and the abundance of clear material in the giant trunks are redeeming features. These ought to open the way for much use in the future. It cannot find place in heavy construction, because it is not strong enough. That shuts it from one important place for which it is otherwise fitted. Box makers find it suitable, as all fir woods are, and large demand should come from that quarter. Trunks that will cut from 15,000 to 20,000 feet of lumber that is practically clear, and of good color, and light in weight, are bound to have value for boxes and slack cooperage. Trees grow with fair rapidity. Annual rings are usually broad, and the bands of summerwood are wide and distinct. This guarantees a certain figure in lumber sawed tangentially, but it is not a figure to compare in beauty with some of the hardwoods, or even with Douglas fir, or the southern yellow pines. It ought to be a first class material for certain kinds of woodenware, particularly for tubs, pails, and small stave vessels, and as far as it has been used in that way it has been satisfactory. It cannot be recommendedfor outside house finish, such as weather-boarding, cornice, and porch work, because of its susceptibility to decay; but it meets requirements for plain interior finish, and tests have shown it to be good material for cores or backing over which to glue veneers of hardwood.

While the eastern states have not yet wakened up to the fact that this tree is of value in ornamental planting, its decorative qualities in open stands have been recognized for some time in eastern Europe, where trees of considerable size, promising to attain almost primeval proportions, are already flourishing.

Red Fir(Abies magnifica) is the largest fir in America. At its best it attains a height of 250 feet and a diameter of ten, but that size is rare. It has several names, magnificent fir, which is a translation of its botanical name; redbark fir, California red fir, and golden fir. The reference to red which occurs in its several names, is descriptive of its heartwood. Its range lies on the Cascade mountains of southern Oregon, and along the entire length of the western slope of the Sierra Nevadas in California. It is common in southern Oregon and sometimes forms nearly pure forests at elevations of 5,000 or 7,000 feet. It is plentiful in the Sierra Nevada ranges at altitudes of from 6,000 to 9,000 feet. In southern California it ascends 10,000 feet. On old trees the limbs, regularly whorled in collars of five, are usually pendulous or down-growing and are regularly and precisely subdivided into branches and twigs, the short, stiff blue-green leaves, which persist for ten years, closely covering the upper side of the latter. Its cones are the largest of the firs, are dark purple in color and grow erect on the branches.

The cones are six or eight inches long, and three or four in diameter. They present a fine appearance as they stand erect on the branches. The seeds are large, but their strong wings are able to carry them away from the immediate presence of the parent tree. The wings are extremely beautiful, and flash light with the colors of the rainbow. Old trees are protected by hard, dark-colored bark five or six inches thick. A forest fire may pass through a stand of old firs without burning through the bark, but young trees are not so protected, and are liable to be killed.

A study of the wood of the red fir reveals rather more favorable qualities than the other firs afford. Sap and heartwood are more easily distinguished than in the other species, the sapwood being much lighter in color than the reddish heart. Contrary to the general rule among the firs, this wood possesses considerable durability, especially when used for purposes which bring it in contact with the soil. It is, however, light, soft and weak, but has a close, fine grain and compact structure. Seasoning defects, such as checking and warping, are liable to occur unless properly guarded against. It weighs 29.30 pounds per cubic foot, ornearly three pounds less than Douglas fir. It is used for rough lumber, packing boxes, bridge floors, interior house finish, and fuel.

Shasta Red Fir(Abies magnifica shastensis) is pronounced by George B. Sudworth to be only a form of red fir (Abies magnifica) and not a separate species. The principal difference is in the cones. The Shasta form was discovered on the mountain of that name in northern California in 1890 by Professor J. G. Lemmon. It was supposed to be confined to that locality, but was subsequently found on the Cascade mountains in Oregon, and also at several points in northern California. It was later found in the Sierras five hundred miles south of Mount Shasta.

Lovely Fir(Abies amabilis) is known by a number of names, red fir, silver fir, red silver fir, lovely red fir, amabilis fir, and larch. The last name is applied to this tree by lumbermen who have discovered that fir lumber sells better if it is given some other name. The range of this species extends from British Columbia southward in the Cascade mountains through Washington to Oregon. It is the common fir of the Olympic mountains and there reaches its best development, sometimes a height of 250 feet and a diameter of five or six; but the average, even in the best part of its range, is much under that size, while in the northern country, and high on mountains, it is a commonplace tree, averaging less than 100 feet high, and scarcely eighteen inches in diameter. When this fir stands in open ground, the whole trunk is covered with limbs from base to top; but in dense stands, the limbs drop off, and a clean trunk results.Some of the largest trees rise with scarcely a limb 150 feet, and above that is the small crown. The bark of young trees is covered with blisters filled with resin. The bark is thin and smooth until the tree is a century or more old, after which it becomes rougher, and near the base may be two and a half inches thick. It is of very slow growth, and a century hardly produces a trunk of small sawlog size. The leaves are dark green above, and whitish below. They are much crowded on the twigs, those on the underside rising with a twist at the base, and standing nearly erect. They are longer than those on the twig’s upper side. The purple cones are conspicuous objects on the tree, are from three and a half to six inches long, and bear abundance of seeds which are well dispersed by wind. However, the reproduction of this tree is not plentiful. The species holds its own, and not much more. When artificial reforestation takes place in this country, if that time ever comes, lovely fir will receive scant consideration, because of its discouragingly slow growth. It ranks with lodgepole pine in that respect. Nature can afford to wait two hundred years for a forest to mature, but men will not plant and protect when the prospect of returns is so remote. The wood is light, weak, moderately stiff and hard. The heartwood is pale brown, the sap nearly white. The summerwood appears in thin but well-marked bands in the annual rings, and the medullary rays are large enough to show slightly in quarter-sawed lumber. Growing as it does, interspersed with really valuable woods, the lovely fir is not highly thought of from a commercial standpoint. However, it is exploited in conjunction with the other species and turned into lumber and general structural material. A considerable quantity finds a market as interior finish and other millwork. It has many of the properties which fit it for the manufacture of packing boxes, particularly those intended for dried fruit and light merchandise. It bears considerable resemblance to spruce. The utilization of this and similar speciesof western fir for pulp has been suggested, but little has been done. It has been planted ornamentally in parts of Europe, but there is no comparison between the decorative appearance of this fir and its associated species, the others which are in cultivation being much superior. Removal from the old habitat militates greatly against its natural beauty and reduces it to the level of the ordinary.Alpine Fir(Abies lasiocarpa) is so called because it thrives on high mountains and in the far North. It grows in southern Alaska, up to latitude 60°, and southward to Oregon and Colorado. Its other names are balsam, white balsam, Oregon balsam, mountain balsam, white fir, pumpkin tree, down-cone, and downy-cone subalpine fir. It grows from sea level in Alaska up to 7,000 feet or more in the South. It is not abundant, and not very well known. However, its slender, spirelike top distinguishes it from all associates and it may be recognized at long distances by that characteristic. It endures cold at 40 degrees below zero, and summer climate at 90 degrees. Trees are usually small, and the trunks are covered with limbs to the ground. On high mountains the lower limbs often lie flat on the ground, and the twigs sometimes take root. Under very favorable circumstances this fir may reach a height of 160 feet and a diameter of four, but the usual size is less than half of it, even when conditions are fair, while on bleak mountains mature trees may be only three or four feet high, with most of the limbs prostrate. The sprawling form of growth makes the tree peculiarly liable to be killed by fire. The bark is thin, smooth, and flinty; and in color it is ashy gray or chalky white. Leaves are one and a half inches or less long; the purple cones from two to four inches. Trees bear cones at about twelve years of age. The seeds are equipped with violet or purplish wings, and they fly far enough to find the best available places to plant themselves. The wood is narrow-ringed, light, soft, and in color from pale straw to light yellowish-brown. It is fairly straight grained, and splits and works easily; but trunks are very knotty. Its best service in the past has consisted in supplying fuel to mining camps and mountain stock ranges.

Lovely Fir(Abies amabilis) is known by a number of names, red fir, silver fir, red silver fir, lovely red fir, amabilis fir, and larch. The last name is applied to this tree by lumbermen who have discovered that fir lumber sells better if it is given some other name. The range of this species extends from British Columbia southward in the Cascade mountains through Washington to Oregon. It is the common fir of the Olympic mountains and there reaches its best development, sometimes a height of 250 feet and a diameter of five or six; but the average, even in the best part of its range, is much under that size, while in the northern country, and high on mountains, it is a commonplace tree, averaging less than 100 feet high, and scarcely eighteen inches in diameter. When this fir stands in open ground, the whole trunk is covered with limbs from base to top; but in dense stands, the limbs drop off, and a clean trunk results.

Some of the largest trees rise with scarcely a limb 150 feet, and above that is the small crown. The bark of young trees is covered with blisters filled with resin. The bark is thin and smooth until the tree is a century or more old, after which it becomes rougher, and near the base may be two and a half inches thick. It is of very slow growth, and a century hardly produces a trunk of small sawlog size. The leaves are dark green above, and whitish below. They are much crowded on the twigs, those on the underside rising with a twist at the base, and standing nearly erect. They are longer than those on the twig’s upper side. The purple cones are conspicuous objects on the tree, are from three and a half to six inches long, and bear abundance of seeds which are well dispersed by wind. However, the reproduction of this tree is not plentiful. The species holds its own, and not much more. When artificial reforestation takes place in this country, if that time ever comes, lovely fir will receive scant consideration, because of its discouragingly slow growth. It ranks with lodgepole pine in that respect. Nature can afford to wait two hundred years for a forest to mature, but men will not plant and protect when the prospect of returns is so remote. The wood is light, weak, moderately stiff and hard. The heartwood is pale brown, the sap nearly white. The summerwood appears in thin but well-marked bands in the annual rings, and the medullary rays are large enough to show slightly in quarter-sawed lumber. Growing as it does, interspersed with really valuable woods, the lovely fir is not highly thought of from a commercial standpoint. However, it is exploited in conjunction with the other species and turned into lumber and general structural material. A considerable quantity finds a market as interior finish and other millwork. It has many of the properties which fit it for the manufacture of packing boxes, particularly those intended for dried fruit and light merchandise. It bears considerable resemblance to spruce. The utilization of this and similar speciesof western fir for pulp has been suggested, but little has been done. It has been planted ornamentally in parts of Europe, but there is no comparison between the decorative appearance of this fir and its associated species, the others which are in cultivation being much superior. Removal from the old habitat militates greatly against its natural beauty and reduces it to the level of the ordinary.

Alpine Fir(Abies lasiocarpa) is so called because it thrives on high mountains and in the far North. It grows in southern Alaska, up to latitude 60°, and southward to Oregon and Colorado. Its other names are balsam, white balsam, Oregon balsam, mountain balsam, white fir, pumpkin tree, down-cone, and downy-cone subalpine fir. It grows from sea level in Alaska up to 7,000 feet or more in the South. It is not abundant, and not very well known. However, its slender, spirelike top distinguishes it from all associates and it may be recognized at long distances by that characteristic. It endures cold at 40 degrees below zero, and summer climate at 90 degrees. Trees are usually small, and the trunks are covered with limbs to the ground. On high mountains the lower limbs often lie flat on the ground, and the twigs sometimes take root. Under very favorable circumstances this fir may reach a height of 160 feet and a diameter of four, but the usual size is less than half of it, even when conditions are fair, while on bleak mountains mature trees may be only three or four feet high, with most of the limbs prostrate. The sprawling form of growth makes the tree peculiarly liable to be killed by fire. The bark is thin, smooth, and flinty; and in color it is ashy gray or chalky white. Leaves are one and a half inches or less long; the purple cones from two to four inches. Trees bear cones at about twelve years of age. The seeds are equipped with violet or purplish wings, and they fly far enough to find the best available places to plant themselves. The wood is narrow-ringed, light, soft, and in color from pale straw to light yellowish-brown. It is fairly straight grained, and splits and works easily; but trunks are very knotty. Its best service in the past has consisted in supplying fuel to mining camps and mountain stock ranges.

Grand fir branch

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