r the making of paper. Red and white fir, which are
practically useless for lumber, are found to make excellent wrapping
and tissue papers, and thus, from being unremunerative products of
our forests, become sources of income. After planing off the bark, the
wood is made into small chips, about a half inch square, and an eighth
of an inch thick. These chips are then "digested" by a process of
mixing with acids and cooking, through which it becomes "wood pulp."
Different processes produce different pulps, two of which are mixed
together, allowed to flow out on a very fine wire screen nine feet
wide, revolving at a rate of 300 feet a minute, with a "jigging"
movement from side to side. This makes all the fibers lie flat. They
are then sent through steel rollers, the water squeezed out, and
finally carried over and around twenty-five revolving steam-heated
cylinders which completely dry the paper and put the needed gloss or
finish on it.

The rainfall on the Tahoe Reserve averages about fifty inches
annually, the most frequent rains occurring between October and May.
Necessarily there is much snow-fall on the higher regions. Further
down the snow disappears in the early spring, say March, but in the
upper altitudes it remains until late June, with perpetual snow in the
sheltered portions of the topmost peaks.

Agriculture, owing to the average high altitude, is a negligible
industry in the Reserve, little more being done than to raise a little
fruit, grain and vegetables, mainly for home consumption. Naturally
there is a fair amount of grazing, almost the whole area of the
Reserve being used for this purpose during the summer months. Many
portions of meadow-land are used for dairy-herds, most of the hotels
and resorts on and near Lake Tahoe having their own herds and meadows.
Bands of beef-cattle are also pastured, together with large bands
of sheep, the two kinds of stock often grazing in common, the cattle
using the meadows and the sheep the ridges and timber-lands. In taking
the trail-rides described in other chapters I invariably came across
both cattle and sheep, and all the near-by meadows are occupied by
the dairy-herds belonging to the hotels. Patented lands of private
ownership within the bounds of the Forest are often also leased to
cattle- and sheep-men. Last year it was estimated that there were
47,000 head of sheep, and about 6000 head of cattle on the Reserve.
Under the protection of the rangers grazing con