The  tree  growth  of  Nevada,  except  in  a  portion  of  Douglas  county,  in  the  extreme  M'estern  part  of  the  state,
which  the  forests  of  the  California  sierras  just  reach,  is  confined  to  the  low  ridges  of  the  central  and  southern
part  of  the  state.  The  most  important  of  these — the  Humboldt,  Toiyabe,  Monitor  Creek,  Timpiute,  Hot  Creek,
Kawich,  and  probably  others — bear  near  their  summits,  in  sheltered  ravines,  scattered  patches  of  stunted  white
pine  {Pinus  flexilis)  of  sufficient  size  to  furnish  saw-logs.  The  lower  slopes  of  the  mountains  of  this  region  are
often  quite  thickly  covered  with  small  nut-pines  and  groves  of  the  mountain  mahogany  {Cercocarpns),  here  attaining
its  greatest  development.  Below  the  nut-pine  low,  stunted  junipers  cover  the  foot-hills,  often  extending,  in  the
•eentral  part  of  the  state,  across  the  narrow  eleX^ated  valleys  which  separate  the  low  mountain  ranges.
The  great  development  of  the  mining  interests  of  Nevada  has  already  nearly  exterminated  its  scanty  and
stunted  forests.  The  white  pine  has  been  cut  in  the  neighborhood  of  mines  from  all  the  mountain  ranges,  and
the  most  accessible  nut-pine,  juniper,  and  mountain  mahogany  have  been  converted  into  cord- wood  or  made  into
charcoal.  The  forests  of  Nevada  are  nowhere  reproducing  themselves,, and  a  scarcity  of  fuel,  even  for  domestic
purposes,  must  soon  be  felt.
A  considerable  amount  of  lumber  is  manufactured  in  the  neighborhood  of  lake  Tahoe,  in  Douglas  county,  and
sent  in  flumes  down  the  eastern  slopes  of  the  sierras  to  supply  Carson  City  and  Virginia  City.  The  lumber-
manufacturing  interests  of  the  remainder  of  the  state  are  necessarily  small  and  unimportant.  Their  entire
extermination,  with  the  forests  which  furnish  them  material,  cannot  be  long  delayed.
