American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1875-09-25
Summer in the Sierras.

Mr.. John Muir, the California State
Geologist, in an interesting letter from
Mono Lake to the San Francisco Bulletin
gives the following picture of summer
scenes in the solitudes of the Sierras:
Throughout all this glorious region
there is nothing that so constantly inter-
ests and challenges the admiration of the
traveller as the belts of the forest through
which he passes in regular order. From
some bare, commanding hilltop We are
favored with grand outlooks over miles of
dark green woods, not planted in wide
flelded masses, but drawn out in lace-like
patterns, in curves and straight lines, that
cross and recross in endless variety of ar
rangement, with its ridges and domes of
bald gray granite between them, the area
of the naked rocks greatly surprising that
of the forests. Here and there fleck of
green meadow comes into view, or the
sparkle of stream, or mirrow-like CLEAN
of lakelet. Hooker tells US that all the
cedars of Lebanon are growing upon mo-
Aine soil; SO also in general terms are all
the forests of the Sierra. If after the re-
cession of the ancient glaciers our forests
had been compelled to wait for soil to be
rusted and crumbled from them by the
slow action of the atmosphere, they would
not at this date have scarce a shadow of
their present grandeur. Here and there
a
the glacial pavement and few groves
would find sufficient soil in shallow and
lake basins filed with sand, but these
luxuriant forest belts, forming the crown
ing glory of the mountains, would have
no existence. As it was, the glaciers fur
rowed the solid rocks, turning and mix
ing the detritus and leaving ii in just that
condition most favorable for the food of
forests, and in conjunction with climate
bringing about their present magnificence
a. a necessary result
:" Few travellers will take the time to
trace out the order of distribution or the
history of the various forests, but no one
will weary in admiring special trees.
Pinus ldnbertidna sugar pine) is the ac-
knowledged king of pines, and many
volume might be filled with the history of
its development from the brown, whirling
winged seed nut to its ripe and god-like
old age; the quantity and range of its in
dividuality, its gesture in storms, or while
sleeping in summer light, the quality of
its sugar and nuts and glossy fragrant
wood.
"There stands specimen $50 feet high,
eight feet in diameter, with smooth, pur-
plish trunk, exquisitely tapered, and
with graceful, spreading, down-curying
branches forty feet long, terminated by
cone tassels adjusted with reference to size,
distribution and color, as if made for beau
ty only. Could such a pine be carried
from its woods to wave and sing and toss
Its giant arms in some central city park,
all would flock to see it as wonder of the
world.
sit is almost universally conceded by
those who are SO happy as to have eaten
the sugar that it is the most delicious of
known sweets, far surprising the best
maple sugar. 1t exudes from wounds
made either by fire OF the ak in the heart
wood, forming white, crispy, candy-like
kernels from the size of peas to hazelnuts,
and contains just enough of spicy, bal
samic flavor to render it pleasingly and
becomingly piney.
"The largest fulLgrown cones measure
about seventeen or eighteen inches in
length, though one in my possession meas
ures two feet. A single cone yields nuts
enough to make good square meal for
an Indian. They climb the more accessi-
BILE of the trees and beat off the cones
while they are yet green, then roast them
slightly, thus opening the scales and ex-
posing the nuts but owing to the difficult
ties IN the way of climbing the trees and
branches this nut forms but . small por-
ton of their food.
Happy is the man with the will and
the time to climb silver fir in full flower
and fruit. How admirable the forest work
of nature is seen to be as one ascends from
branch to branch, all arranged in regular
collars around the trunk, one above the
other like the leaves of lilies, and with
each branch and branchlet about as
strictly pinnate as the most exact and SYM
metrical fern friend! There is also the
added beauty of the sterile or staminate
conelets, growing straight downward from
the under sides of the branches in lavish
profusion, and coloring the whole tree in
delightful purple. On the topmost
branches are found the fertile cones six
inches long, three in diameter, covered
with fine grayish brown, standing bolt
upright like small caskets, and all drip
ping with delicious crystal balsam. The
seeds are furnished with rose-purple
wings with which to fly to their appointed
growing places in the groves, and are
filled with an exceedingly pungent aro-
matte oil. The Douglass squirrel feeds
largely on these seeds, which may account
for the distinguishing energy with
which he is pervaded. Under favorable
conditions the silver fir attains to venera-
BILE old age, seldom dying before APP
preaching or exceeding $50 years"