approached, until
they rose before them like a mighty wall. Here they again met vast
forests, which covered all the higher slopes.

Beyond the Rocky Mountains they crossed a broad land of deserts where
little rain fell. The vegetation was so scanty and springs so far apart
that many of their horses and cattle died. The dreary and barren deserts
were followed by another lofty range of mountains. Entering these
mountains, the pioneers came upon the most magnificent forest that had
yet been seen upon our continent. After traveling for some days over
rugged mountains, they at last emerged from the forests upon the Great
Valley of California.

[Illustration: A forest of great trees in the Sierras, near the Yosemite
Valley.]

Scattered over portions of the valley were oak trees, giving it the
appearance of a park. When the valley had been passed the pioneers
climbed the last mountain range, and from this range looked down upon
the waters of the Pacific Ocean. Here they found forests again, some of
the trees being of enormous size. Thus we see that the eastern part of
the continent was nearly all forested, but that in the West the forests
grew chiefly on the mountains, because there is not enough rainfall upon
the plains and in the valleys.

The trees that make up most of the forests of our country are of two
very different kinds. There is one kind that has narrow or needle-like
leaves which they keep through the winter. These we commonly call
_narrow-leaved_ trees or _conifers_. The most important of the
narrow-leaved trees are the pines, firs, spruces, and hemlock. Such
trees form the forests of the greater part of the highlands of the
northern and northeastern parts of our country. The pines also find a
congenial home upon the lowlands of the Southern states. Trees of the
second kind have broad leaves, and usually their wood is rather hard.
Hence we call them _broad-leaved_ or _hardwood_ trees. Since most of
these trees drop their leaves in winter, we often speak of them as
_deciduous_ trees. By far the larger part of the lands of the Eastern
states that are now cultivated were found by the first settlers to be
covered with hardwood trees. We are familiar with many of the hardwoods
through their use in furniture and various household utensils and farm
implements. The most important varieties are the walnut, hickory,
chestnut, beech, maple, ash, oak, elm, locust, and linden.

There are not many broad-leaved trees i