Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1865-10-13
Biz Treas.
ifron csifornia cerEespondeat Of the Chics.o IN


if'01 CaAornia Correspondent of the ChIcsrO Trf
bune
for some years It was supposed thA; The grove
N Caisveras county vas the OILY locality where
those nonarchs Of the vegetable kingdom were
ioana Eight years ago the Mariposa grove was
discovered oy our host. Mr.. Galen Clark, and
Since tnen be has found another large grove 10
Fresno county. SboGt Gig t miles south OF those
We are about TO visit. We are informed by Prof.
Olmstead that scattered groves have been dis
covered growing in higher -altitades as you 20
south, yearly down to Mexico. There is. there
fore, 10 immediate danger Of the species becom-
Ing extinct, az was at frat feared, though the
hres which ofsen rage through the mountains
have made sad work with the Mariposa grove
With Mr. Clark, very intelligent and capital
gentleman tor our guide, We wind up the sides Of
mountains Tor six miles South OF his residence
some 5OO feet. and {, 500 feet above the sea
where We ind ourselves among the objects Of
our visit. No one need point them out. Their
CHINA ZION colored bark and majestic trunks,
crowned with bright green foliage, towering far
above the huge pines and oedars by which they
are surrounded, at once divert the eye 20 them
as the undisputed soyereigns OF the vegetable
kingdom Their form is so symmetrical. and in
most cases their dsasc cone like crown of foliage.
commencing e hundred feet or more from the
root, Is so beautiful and regular that il takes
careful study for several hours, aud even days,
to appreciate The magnitude and glory Of these
trees
Let us take sober facts aud figures to assist US
IN forming correct ideas in regard 10 them There
IS tree. the top of which is still green and beau
uful, and the centre Of which has been burned
out by successive fires Our entire party of IF
teen Oh horseback tide ia aud are sheltered be-
| meath il, aud there is room for at least three
four, while twice as many unmOunted men might
recline under the centre OF the tree, where il is
not burned high enough to admit one on horse
back. We brought with Us from San Francisco
ball of druggists twine. and with it let US
measure the diameter of this one, which, per-
haps. has lain PROSTATE for hundred yeass, for
quite a large tree is growing on the line where
| il lies. Ii requires quite a smart jump 10 get OIL
projecting section of it, and then some effort
to Chamber upon the top. The bark, which on
| the living tree ayerage from eighteen inches TO
two feet thick, is all burned off, and yet the solid
trunk is twenty seven feet in diameter Stretch
| the cord around another Just above the ground
1t measures ninety feet; that is, the tree is thirty
feet in diameter. Draw il around the tree as
! high as you can reach, and still il measures
eighty five feet. There lies one OF medium size
not yet burned up, scores of his fellows have
been. Stretch the cord from top to root. Ii
measures two hundred aud twenty-seven feet
and We can therefore readily believe that trees OF
/ the largest size, growing in favorite localities
reach height of nearly four hundred feet Mr.
| Clark informs US that an analysis OF the bark
aud sap Of the tree shows that they contain a
larger per centage OF fannie acid than those OF
any other tree; TO which he attributes their great
tenacity OF life ADD gigantic size.
The cord by which these measurements are
made are carefully marked, we intend to bring
home with US, to confound all skepticsm in re-
! gard TO the size Of these trees But here we are
in the presence of the grizzly giant whose first
limb, eighty feet above the ground, as proved by
careful measurements, il six feet in diameter
/ The tree itself must be at that height Is to 20
feet 10 diameter, taperlng gradually and beauti-
fully up from the base The age of these trees
| has been carefully estimated by men of science
The lowest result is two, and the highest about
three thousand years Standing in their pre-
sence, awe steals over the mind "a one thinks of
the vast ages that have passed since they were
/ the young of the forest. Then David fed his
fathers flOcks and Saul was found among the
prophets. When the Saviour dwelt among men
/ and gave his life for tho redemption of our race
these trees lowered up in solemn grandeur upon
the mountains How many nations Of men have
risen TO wealth and power, and then passed away
forever, since the reeds from which these trees
grew were planted by the hand of the AImig hty?
But why further pursue this subject7 We pass
on, hoping again TO see these trees, as we trust
hundreds of our readers will, very soon after the
Pacific Railway is completed
Ii may be worth while here 10 remark that no
range of mountains. to- our knowledge. Is covered
with so varied and magnificent trees as are the 81
ezra Nevada They do not begin to show them
selves till height of several thousand feet is
reached ,andwhere other mountains become barren
and forbidding. tho Serras are crowned with the
glories of the vegetable kingdom. The cause
must be sought, in our judgment, in the peculiar
climate of California The winds from the vast
Pacific Ocean, as they reach the Sierra Nevada
Mountains, are doubtless tempered and laden
with that precife amount of moisture essential to
produce this great wealth and beauty-arboreal
life-the wonder alike Of all who sec it,