The Perrysburg journal. [volume] (Perrysburg, Ohio) 1853-1861, 1859-10-13
The His Trees or CnsiCornsn.
nv BosAer oaEkLrs.

Mr.. Whselet found by careful rfessufemtne
.be die snstsf Of one of these trees 100 feet above
the ground to be 20 feet, while iu hmt hsh.
which put OF at that height. he'd diameter Of
6 feet. Just think OF q twig 9 feet through ~
that elevation! He obtained these results kf
the tree's shadow, which I need
hardly remark was probably narrower Z, sn she
tree itself. He he'd several tspe-lina measure
menu Of Msriposss trees over 100 feet in cis-
cumference but one Of the Cslsverss tiees In
claimed TO be on..ionr,h lurger thsa this. No
mstter--those 81 either county are big enough.
We went up 20 the Mariposss Trees early
next notnins. The trail crosses a meadow u
most luxuriant Wild gfsss, then strikes eastward
up the hills, aud rises almost steadily, bet in
the r,sin net stseply, for hve miles, when itss.
tiers aud ends in slight depression or valley,
nearly on ,hs top Of this particular mountais,
where the Bly, Trees have been qsis,y nestled.
Tor dare not say how many Thousand years.
Che, they were Of very substantial size when
David danced before the Ak, when Solomoa
laid the toundsiions Of he Temple, when The.
wus ruled IN Athens when Eaess a-d from the
buining wreck oi vanquishvd Troy, when S-sos.,
iris led his victorious Egyptians into the nesyt
VI Asia, have no manner oi dJubt.
The big trees, OF course, do not stand slons.
| spprehend that they could not so stand st pse.
sent, in view OF the very moderate depth ~
which they are anchored to the earth Had ihey
Stood on an unsheltsred mountain top, OF svss
an exposed hill side. they would doubtless have
been prostrstsd-ss | presume thousands ihs
them were pros,rsted, by he hurricanes Of cen.
tures before Chris''s Advent But the locality
of these though probably 25o0 feet above ,hs
South Merced, snd some 4 $40 above the sea, is
sheltered aud tranquil. though several OF these
| trees have msnifrstly fallen within the prcs-ns
century. unauss ionaby, they are pas, tbeis
prime, though to none more than to them 10 sp.
plicsbetthe complimentary characterization Of
"a green old aye"
LIT me try TO give ss clear en- idea Of thess
forest masiodons as eau, though know that
VIII be but poor one; -
| In measuring trees, it is so easy to sIaggeFats
by running your line around the roots rather
than tho real body, tina, ! place little dsp.e.
| dence on the reported and recorded measurements
! Of parties under no obliy ,tiOas 10 preserve .
| Judicial impariality. But beIieyea fair ulaa
surement of the largest trees stsmding in This
grove would make them not less than 100 feet
IN circumt-rence, aud over 80 in diameter, al a
height ol feet from their respective b.ses. sn1
that several Of them have sn altitude Of more
than 500 feet. ! believe the one that was %
uprooted measures a little over 800 feet
But these relics of more bounteous and mag.
nifcent world s'emed destined to speedy e1,inc.
iioa. deem them generally emf ebled BY age
and the rackiny and wrenching OF their roo 10 6y
The blasts that sweep through their ;ops. These
mplign inhurnees they might withstand for ages,
h"w-ver. were il not for the damage they hsvs
already sustained and are In danger Of hereafter
sustaining. through the devastating agency of
fire. For these glorious evergreen forests. though
the ground bentath them is but thinly essssc4
with inaammable matter. are YET suhj.e, TO Be
overruu every second or third year by hre. For
the earth, TO depth OF several feet, even 10 dry
assu ash heap. from July 10 October. sad tho
hills are so steep that fire ascends them with
wonderful facility. And thu, the Big Trees srs
SCARED aud gouged, as the Effects Of successive
lre', one Of which, originating FAR souihwsrd.
ran through this locality so latr as last Hutumn,
burning one of the forest kings that il hss SIM eS
fallen, half destroying another already PROSTATE
through the hollow Of which two hosssmsa
(not G P. K. James, I trust.) were accusto omed
TO ride abreast tor IL distsnee of fully 100 fsss,
and doing serious damage to very MANY othsFs.
ID the village OF Manposas, ths County or the
State OF California does not Immediately pro-
vide Tor the safety Of those trees. I shall deeply
eplore the infa tuat on, sud believe that these
. giants might have been mofs happily located.
The Big Trees are usually accounted Red " ood,
hut have strong rrsembl blsnce TO the Cedar iami-
/, ". so that my intelligent guide plsusibly insist
ed that they are identical in species with tfeis
probable CO. temporsries. the famous C-dss Of
Lebanon. The larger Cedsrs in their vicinity
A bear decided resemblance &C. the smallest Of
them and yet there ore quite obvious diyeren-
2 ces between them. The CedsTs limbs ere by
far more Numerous. and oome Far down the
, trunk they are also relatively smaller. The
= Cedars bark is tte more deeply creased up aud
down the trunk. while the foliage Of the Biz
/, Trees is nearer allied to that OF certain Pinss
than TO the Cedsrs. The bark Of the Big frses
10 very thick-in some instances, over two feet
and is OF dry. light quality, rrssn'blisa
cork hence the total facility of damage By
running fires. The wood Of the Big Trees 10 ef
light red color, seeming devoid alike Of sep
and resin. and TO burn about M r. ely white lte
tree lives as year or more after lis death. Ua-
less in the C-dsrs of Lebanon. ] suspec. tbess
msmmoths OF the vegetable world have no sOun-
terpdrts out Of California.
. They arc of course not ell OF extraordinary
. size. yet cennot remember one that would gisth
81 little as 20 feet al height oI two yards is0sR
tl1 eurths surface, which is the proper poiRI
, for horizontal measurement. Hardly one r. sn-
tirrly free from the marks OF fire a. lie TooI,
while several have been burned al least nslf
through, AMI gre 80 followed that tree eighs
t-et in diameter wonli rCbahly hnd ample room
in It's cavity. Aud. while many are still hale
and thrifty I did not peIoris single young
one coming forward TO take the place ut the de-
cay ing patTisrchs. believe these irers now bear
no seed cone or nut. whatever they may hays
done ia Sci pios or Alextnder's time. snd that
there is no known me us OF propagsting thoiE
kind and deeply regret that there - not.
though stsrling tree lha, would come to its
n maturity in not less than 4 900 year, would seem
rather slow business TO tho last aye in which il
is our fortune TO live Possibly. the Big Twss
are a relic Of some by-gone world-some PEST
geologic pariod--coteunporsrirsO Of tn gigantic,
Iuxuiant ferns whereof our Mineral Coal is ths
rssiduum. am sure they will b. more priz.d
and treasured thousand years hence than now.
! should they, by extreme care aud caution. b.
preserved 30 long. and thai ,hossallis will then
visit them. over smooth snd sp' cioas TOsds. foe
c, cry one who now tells over the ragged path b.
which reached them. Meantime il 10 = CON
fort to know that the Vaidsls who bor d down
!, with puinp augers lhs largest of thr Cslkssfsa