Nashville daily patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1855-1857, 1856-08-28

The Mighty Cedars of California.

Rev. Or. Bushnell of Hartford writes from Cali
fornia to the New York Independent a graphic &C
count OF the i'll meuse cedars of California, the great
est trees in the world. One of them, which had
been elled he ascertained by counting the grains
of the stump, TO De twelve hundred and eighty
wears old When NJ ohammed was at nurse, this
tree was sproutIug. Says the reverend gentleman:
ut is forest, yet nothing that we mean by forest
There is no undeTgrOwth, scarcely anywhere rock
the surfaces are beautifully turned as il shaped
by a landscape gardener, and dotted all over by
nyriads of flowers more delicate, if not more va
rous than any garden ever grew. Moving along
these surfaces, rounding over HILL or galloping
through some silent valley winding here among the
native oaks casting their round shadows, and here
among tall pines and cedars drawing their huge CO.
nical shapes on the ground, we SEEM in fact to be
riding through some vast park. Indeed, after we
have seen the trees aud taken their impression we
could think of nothing hut to call it the park of the
Lord Almighty. The other trees We observed were
increasing in size neared the place ill fnal-
ly, defending gently along western slope among
the files of little giants, We came to the gate of the
real giants emerging into the cleared ground OF the
Big Tree Hotel, between the two senInels, which
are 200 feet high and stand only far enough apart
for the narrow road to pass between. These were
the first of the Washington cedars we had seen; il
C.
And yet they we're only medium specimens.
'Cose by the house lay the first cut OF the Big
Tree par eminsnce the remaining part, or top, had
been split up and removed Near this first cut stood
the stump, about six feet high, with an arbor mount
ed on the top, which had been squared down for
this purpose the posts Of the arbor standing out in
the line Of the largest circuit at the ground and the
space between them aud the circuit OF the top fill
ed in by hocr OF short boards. The diameter of
he Inn nv emf AZ fac opa ,vay
and twenty. three and half feet the other The
diameter at the ground, was thirty feet They
all included in q space of fifty acres, and are
only about ninety in number. The ground occu.
pied is a rich wet bottom and the foot of the moist
nothern slope adjacent covered also with an under
growth And why they here, just here, and
nowhere eseG This confess, Is TO me the great.
est, stangest wonder of all, that nowhere in the
whole earth is there another known e1pampc of
these AuAkims Of the forest. Ninety seeds alone
have been started; ninety and no Il there,
no other iece Of ground but just this in the whole
world, that could fifty take the seeds Of such a
growth Why have they spread why has
no seed of the myriads they sprinkle every
year the earth, ever started 10 any other loca-
~
'And what a starting il is, wher such a seed of
life b gins to grow. Little did that tiny form Of
matter about the size OF parsnip seed, aud look
ing more like IL then any other, immsgine what il
was going to do, what feelings TO excite, when il
started the hrst sproutipgs OF the Big Tree! Wa
measured enormous sugar pine felled. Sixty feet
from the ground il SIX feet in diameter, and
Il Was two hundred and forty feet high We meas.
ured one Of the PROSTATE giants, aud two hundred
and 'orty feet from the ground il was elk ieet 10
diameter The top vas gone, but IL could rot have
teen less than three hundred feet high And vet
this tree ives only eighteen feet in diameter where
the Big Tree was twenty, i've. II the Big Tree
we're followed, one might drive the largest load Of
bay through il without even a brush Of contact
MANY Of the trees ard all the largest Of them
that remain greatv injured by Gre. Their tine
Is, therefore, shortened and long time will be res
quirsd 10 bring the smaller ones TO their maximum
Of growth. That man ns,igated.by the internal love
OF money, should have down the biggest OF them
aud skinned the nett one hundred and twenty feet
upssrds from the ground (viE the mOthsr) that be
might show sell the bark OF Der body both sound
as rock Al the heart and good for thousand years
oome-ol is surpasses all contempt And yet D.
see shls giant mother st growing up ss before,
bearing her fresh foliage, ripeping her seeds and
relssaHg TO die; hiding stl her juices and working
her pamps IN The deep OF her baFkless body,
Whleh the sun OF tso whole yesrs has poG been
able 10 throagh dead a. it L. and wheatheF-
cracked vthOat-iI y sight 30 grand az almost 20
compensate Tor the loss We safer BY the baseness
Of the heusE scamp"