DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY 1916 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. Price, 20 cents....

Remittances for these publications should be by money order, payable to the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., or in cash. Checks and postage stamps can not be accepted. Features of the Flora of Mount Rainier National Park, by J.B. Flett. 1916. 48 pages, including 40 illustrations. 25 cents. Contains descriptions of the flowering trees and shrubs in the park. Mount Rainier and Its Glaciers, by F.E. Matthes. 1914. 48 pages, including 26 illustrations. 15 ce

The remarkable development of the forests about the base of Mount Rainier results from climatic conditions peculiarly favorable to tree growth. The winters are mild and short. The ocean winds that pass through the gaps of the Coast Range are laden with moisture which falls in the form of rain or snow on the west slope of the Cascades. The trees are nourished by this moisture through a long season of annual growth, and form an evergreen forest which is, in some respects, the most remarkable in th

Photograph by A.H. Barnes. Notwithstanding the shortness of the summer season at high altitudes, the subalpine forests in some parts of the park have suffered severely from fire ( fig. 1 ). The bare white trunks of fire-killed amabilis and alpine firs bear witness to numerous fires which occurred from time to time before the regulations governing the park went into effect. The little resin pockets in the bark of these trees blaze fiercely for a short time and the heat separates the bark from the

Trees grow more rapidly at low altitudes than at higher and cooler elevations. Under similar conditions some species increase in size faster than others, but the rate of growth depends principally upon environment. The average increase at the stump in valley land is about 1 inch in 6 years. A Douglas fir growing along the stage road between the park boundary and Longmire's, at the age of 90 to 120 years may have a breast diameter of 20 inches and yield 700 feet of saw timber. But many of the tre

The Douglas fir ( figs. 2 , 3 , 4 , and 5 ) is the best known and the most important timber tree of western North America. It is found from British Columbia southward to northern Mexico. The finest forests occur in Oregon and Washington at low elevations. The Douglas fir is common in the park up to 3,500 feet, sometimes in nearly pure stands, but more often mixed with other species. It grows in all situations. In the higher mountains it prefers warm southern exposures and is seldom found on wind