Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1871-04-21
THE BIG TREES.


the forest giants of California is given
by Rev. Dr. Newman is one of his letters
to the Methodist. We copy it entire
1t is an old saying that the traveller
should not relate all that he has seen,
for the faith of the people will not be
equal to the marvellousness of his story.
Indeed, it is almost worth mans repu-
tation for truth and veracity to recite
the facts of the vegetable kingdom of
| the Far West. Yet the fora of the Pa
| cific slope presents many striking and
original features. Trees, shrubs, plants,
| fruits, flowers, MOSES, and ferns never
| fail to attract the travellers attention.
| The MOSES which cover the rocks and
| adorn the limbs of the oak, as well as
the flowers by the wayside, are as beau
tiful as they are rare. The rapid growth
of vegetables is something remarkable.
Within fortnight the appearance Of a
given section of country is so changed
| as to surprise the visitor on his return.
| The fuchsia, which is here cultivated
with so much painstaking, there has q
trunk as large as mans arm, and
climbs on to the house-top. Geraniums
make hedges SO thick as to turn cattle
from their attempt to cross them. The
passiOnthO covers the house all over,
producing thousands of the most charm
ing blossoms ever seen by mortal eye.
"The fruits are the largest and most
luscious in the world. Apples are there
| raised fifteen and half inches in cir
cumference; peaches four inches in
diameter pears three times and plums
four times larger than the largest ever
seen in the East. The pear tree grows
to the height of one of our ordinary
forest trees, bears fruit for seventy years,
and each year yields hundred bushels
of that delicious fruit. A single farmer will
raise forty thousand bushels of wheat in
a season. Beets are found which weigh
a hundred pounds each a squash will
grow as large and weigh as much as q
barrel of flour; and a cabbage-head will
grow as big as Elijah's juniper-tree, and
the traveller can sit beneath its fragrant
shade.
"But the pride and glory of the flora
of California are the ,Sequoia G;ga,s-
tea, or the famous big trees. In 1852, a
trapper was hunting in the valley of
Calaveras, and accidentally came upon
these giants of the forest. Returning
to his companions, he related his dis
covery, but the story was too marvellous
for them to credit. On his return from
a second visit, he assured them that he
had wounded the biggest grizzly bear
he had ever SEEM and asked their help.
The game was sufficiently tempting to
induce them to accompany him, and
upon arriving at the spot, he pointed to
one of the largest trees, saying There,
boys, is the biggest grizzly I ever saw
"There are seven groves of these
mammoth trees, located in different
portions of the State, two of which
visited-the one at Calaveras, and the
other at Tuolumne. Taking the stage
coach at Calf, we travelled for one hun
dred miles over rough, dusty prairie
through valleys gloomy with the shad-
ows of overhanging cliffs, and over
mountains, the prospect from which
filled the mind with delight The hun
dred trees of Calaveras are in beautiful
valley, five thousand feet above the
| level of the sea, surrounded by grand
and lofty mountains. The soil is soft,
deep, and fertile, and remains moist, as
the sunlight rarely penetrates the deep
surrounding foliage. The Sequoia O.
gayatea expand greatly at their base, and a
tree measuring 100 feet in circumfer-
ence at its roots, measures but rs feet
at a point not twelve feet from the
ground. The seeds are very small, not
more than half an inch long, the sixth
of an inch wide. and almost as thin as
writing-paper. 1t takes fifty thousand
of them to weigh pound. The wood
is soft, elastic, straight grained, and
ola cinnamon color. The bark is spongy,
is formed in layers, and measures
eighteen inches thick. The cones are
not larger than hens egg, and the
leaves are small and of bright green
| color. The height of these trees is
enormous-some are one hundred feet
| higher than the dome of our national
Capitol.
"As we entered the grove, we saw on
our left an octagonal building upon the
stump of tree which was cut down IN
1853 In its prime and glory, that tree
must have been not less three hundred
feet high and ninety feet in circumfer-
ence. Within that building and on
that stump, sinners dance on weekdays
and saints worship on Sundays. The
building is sufficiently large for a newly
married couple, giving them comforta-
BILE parlor, dining-room, kitchen, two
bedrooms, pantry, two clothes-presses,
and room to spare. 1t required five men
twenty-five days to fell that tree. 1t was
accomplished by boring it off with pump
augers and yet, such is the breadth of its
base, the body of the tree remained up
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