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Show tion, ESphrata etayon rey b divided inte five VAMtfttiOB bolts. The upper ami lower limits of their belts vary, of Q0Uft6 on the BOtttfaOfD Hint northern exposures. ex-posures. Oil the southern slopes the upper up-per limit will extend to r higher eleva lion thnu on the northern slopes. Wherever h certain vegetation is found it may be Indicative or one or another natural timber belt, irrespeeti e Of the altitude or exposure. These five belts riiav be thus .Mussed: (1) the lower timber! tim-ber! ens holt ; (2) the vellow june belt; (3) the Douglas fir belt; (4 the En-Celmann En-Celmann spruee belt; (51 the upper tim-berles tim-berles belt, or above timber line. The lower (imberless belt is i harne-terized harne-terized by sage brush, rabbit brush, wild apple, ehoat brome and pinvon edar. where these species form the dominant 0OV6T planting of timber trees should never hp attempted. The vellow pine belt at its lower limit is eharaoteri7.od by rose bush, June berry and deer brush, at its middle extension by manzjmita, biroh and bar berry, and at its upper limit bv Gambell oak, purshifi. mountain lnahngRnv and sumar, which is a very clear indication that , wherever those species forni the dominant domi-nant cover western yellow pine may be planted, even though there be no other indication of its naturnl occurrence. What Species Indicate. The lower limit of the Douglas fir belt is characterised by a greater ahun-dance ahun-dance of bar berry, deer brush and mountain elder. At the middle, the aspen as-pen and mountain myrtle are the most characteristic species' while the upper limit is characterized by the diminishing amount of mountain myrtle and aspen. These species, when found in abundance, abun-dance, indicate a suitable area for the planting of Douglas fir, EngeTmaan spruce coincides largely with the upper limit of the Douglas fir belt and is characterized by the occurrence occur-rence of deer brush and a medium stand of aspen and mountain myrtle. The optimum of the Kngelmann spruce type is characterized bv the abundant occurrence oc-currence of cone flower and mountain currant. At the upper limit the cone flower greatly diminishes, but the mountain elder is still abundant and A luine fir is verv much in evidence. Where these species are common, Engelmann En-gelmann spruce will also grow. The upper timberless belt is characterized charac-terized ov vellow brush, limber pino and dwarf willow, all of which indicate that the belt is such that solid bodies of forest are no longer possible. Scattered groups of Kngelmann spruce and Alpine fir may occur here and there in sheltered places." but on the whole this entire belt is characterized by Alpine meadows, in which several species of wheat grasses and wild timothy are mostly found. Some Recommendations. Commercial planting of forest trees is not recommended for this belt, but for the prevention of erosion protection planting of species like elder, gooseberry and several of the Alpine grasses could be tried. In addition to the five belts mentioned men-tioned above there is a lodgepole pine belt. This type does not occur naturally natural-ly in Ephraim canyon, and wore any planting of this species attempted, ft would properly belong to a transition belt between the Douglas fir and Eugel-mann Eugel-mann spruce belts. The same is true of yellow nine. There is hardly any western west-ern yellow pine in this canyon, which may be due to the prevalence of limestone lime-stone formation, but there are indications indica-tions from the lower vegetation, so characteristic of yellow pine and so much in evidence, that the possibilities of establishing this species are very 'strong. While these belts were established estab-lished in Ephraim canyon, they are undoubtedly un-doubtedly equallv characteristic of the other canyons of" the west slope of the Wasatch" range and possibly of even a much wider range. The main point to remember is that the native shrubs and herbaceous species really hold the key to the solution of the problem, "What species to plant and where. ' S I GIVES MICE ON REFORESTATION pert Shows What Species f Tree to Plant in Certain Cer-tain Localities. !k JIDES ARE INDICATED nclusions Based Upon Observations Made in Canyon at Ephraim. By RAPHAEL ZON, is connected with the department silviculture in the national forest service. he selection of sites suitable for iting in a region which has been de-K de-K of its natural timber is among most perplexing problems which (gt'ient themselves to the forest ser- i Where there is a remnant of the p in forest still left, it may serve as lide in selecting the species to plant " t the given site. Even then, however, e is a possibility of an error iu the - --.tion. 'jfc may be almost axiomatically stated ; a given forest type, when cut over aj and burned, forms in most cases a e favorable planting site for the 'ies which constituted the forest type iw it than for the species which orig-lv orig-lv occupied the ground. In other ds, it is necessary that some species t first prepare the ground for an i 3T species. If a Douglas fir stand j ut and bnrned, the site is more fa-ible fa-ible for planting yellow pine than Douglas fir. Later on. after the ow pine has been established, an un-planting un-planting of Douglas fir may prove iessful. Similarly, the Engelmann ice type, once cut over and ourned, nore frequently a better site for jepole pine and Douglas fir than it is 5 Engelmann spruce. The Engelmann ice may, however, be later introduced er the shade of the species already ited. With this as a guide, the old - 2 nps or the few individual trees, the nant of the virgin forest, may serve safe and practicable indicator of species most suited to the area. )blem Sometimes Difficult. - Then, as in the case of the Ephraim yon and several other canyons on the ati national forest, the original vir-stand vir-stand of timber has nearly disap-red, disap-red, as the result of severe burns or zing, aand has been replaced by jfc.ibs. herbaceous vegetation and wide Jntches of aspen cover, extending over Iharea originally occupied by several .est types, the question of deciding Wit species to plant on such a site betes be-tes very difficult indeed. In cases of . nature, it is found that the clew for 'ing the problem is furnished by the lbs and herbaceous vegetation, as 1 as the 'aspen. This vegetation. lAch occurs throughout the canyon, can Hjused to advantage as an indicator of jl moisture content of the different jVs. and. therefore, for prognosticating kind of timber the Eite can best sup-L sup-L The native shrubs and herbaceous etation are not merely forerunners of forest type that will eventually de-A de-A p on a given site. They are also j :ciate-s and are characteristic of the I erent types as their typical under-j under-j wtb, being useful in deciding upon species to plant, not only where the rinal forest has entirely disappeared, also on sites where there are still le traces of the original stand. Be-se, Be-se, however, of the change in the (sical condition of the site, brought vut by clear cutting or burning, it -v better support a species which nat-k nat-k U,--.V grows at a somewhat lower ele-1 ele-1 Jjion. Since the native vegetation is , aggregate effect of the climatic, soil, ographic and other physical charac-sties charac-sties of the site, it is by far a safer erion than a single individual f ac-If ac-If a certain vegetation which in-ites in-ites water requirements is fouud. it 7 be taken as a safe indicator of the sture content of the planting site, ir- pective of what its exposure, soil or er features may be. "or the purpose of artificial reforestra- I ' 1 1 |
