The wood of Fraser fir is very light. An air dry sample from Roan mountain, N. C., weighed 22.22 pounds per cubic foot. That is lighter than balsam fir, which is classed among the very light woods. It is stronger than balsam fir by twenty-five per cent. The wood is soft, compact and the bands of summerwood in the annual rings are rather broad and light colored and are not conspicuous. The medullary rays are thin but numerous. The color is light brown, the sapwood mostly white. This wood is not of much commercial value except for pulp. It is not abundant, and it is not suited to many purposes. It is suitable for boxes, being light in weight and moderately strong; but other woods which grow in the same region are as good in all respects and are more abundant, and will be used in preference to fir for that purpose. The decrease in area on account of fires, and in quantity because of pulpwood operations, indicates that forest grown Fraser fir has seen its best days. On the other hand, the United States Forest Service has acquired tracts of land on the summits of the mountains where this species has its natural home, and the growth will be protected from fires and from destructive cutting, and there is no danger that the species will be exterminated. It is an interesting tree. It contributes to the pleasure of tourists and campers among the southern mountains. The fragrance of its leaves and young branches add a zest to the summer camp. The traveler who is overtaken in the woods by the coming of night, prepares his bed of the boughs of this tree and of red spruce and sleeps soundly beneath an evergreen canopy. Pillows and cushions stuffed with fir needles carry memories of the mountains to distant cities. In one respect this tree of the high mountains is like the untamed Indians who once roamed in that region: it refuses to be civilized. The tree has been planted in parks in this country and in Europe, but it does not prosper. Its form loses something of the grace and symmetry which it exhibits in its mountain home, and its life is short. Those who wish to see Fraser fir at its best must see it where nature planted it high on the southern mountains. ARIZONA CORK FIR (_Abies arizonica_) very closely resembles forms of the alpine fir, and may not be a separate species. Sudworth was unable to distinguish its foliage and cones from those of alpine fir, but the bark is softer. Its range is on the San Francisco mountains in Arizona. It is very scarce, and only local use of its wood is possible. [Illustration] NOBLE FIR [Illustration: NOBLE FIR] NOBLE FIR (_Abies Nobilis_)