The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1880-08-25
CALIFORNIA; BIG TREES.
A Vivid Description of these Monarchs OF
tho Forest.

CALIFORNIA; BIG TREES.
A Vivid Description of these Monarchs OF
tho Forest.
A correspondent Of the Chicago
Tribune, writing from San Francisco,
says: / havejust returned from trip
among the famous big-tree groves OF
California. So far rs known there are
eight or nine separate groves in the
State, and these are found on the western
slope of the Sierra. The altitude is from
5000 to 5000 feet above the sea, and
they are always associated with a
greater number of other trees. The
wood is soft, light, elastic, straight
grained and looks like cedar. The bark
IS deeply corrugated longitudinally, and
go spongy as to be used for pin-cushions.
The branches seldom appear below 100
or $50 feet from the ground. and shoot
out in every direction from the
ground. The leaves are of
two kinds-.those of the younger
trees and of the lower branches
of the larger set in pairs opposite each
other on little stems; and those growing
on branches which have flowered, trl-
angular in shape, and lying close down
to the stem. The cones are remarkable
for their diminutive size, being not much
larger than hens egg, while the cones
of much smaller conifers are larger than
pineapples. The seeds are short and
thin as paper. it is said that it takes
SO, 900 of them to weigh pound. The
two most soutberly groves-those on the
south and north forks of the Tule river,
have rs yet been but little explored; !;
but they are known to contain many
trees scattered over considerable area.
The next grove to the north, that be-
tween Kings and Kaweah rivers, is one
of the most extensive in the State. there
being thousands Of trees scattered over
a belt eight or ten miles in length by
four or FIVE in width, but most Of the
trees being small, averaging scarcely
more than ten feet in diameter or about
thirty feet in circumference near the
base. Two trees in this group, described
by Professor Whitney, are scarcely in
size elsewhere surpassed, and their d.
mensions are the wonder of all who have
seen them. The one near Thomas mill
has height of 276 feet, and circumfer-
ence, twelve feet from the ground, of
seventy-five feet. The tree at the ground
is badly burned, and the circumference
originally was over 100 feet. Into the
other tree, which is PROSTATE and
burned hollow, three horsemen can ride
abreast for a distance of thirty feet, the
height and width of the cavity being
about eleven feet. At a distance of
seventy feet the diameter of the cavity
is still eight feet, while l69 feet from the
base the diameter of the tree is nine
feet.
The Fresno group has lately become
accessible by the open ng up Of the Ma
deira route to the Yosemite, and is said
to contain q number of trees, noG far
from 600. The Merced grove is north
of Mariposa, and fully twenty-five of
the trees are from forty to eighty feet in
circumference at the base. In passing
through this grove only few davs ago,
with three companions, we saw snow
in some places ten feet in depth. and
this, coupled with the magnificent pro-
portions of the trees and the awful soil
tude of the forest, gave an almost SUBJ
lime grandeur to this part of the
Sierra. The Tuolumne grove is situated
almost due north of the Merced, and is
on the Big Oak Flat trail to the Yose-
mite. There are about thirty trees In
the group, and these are excellent rep
resentative, of the seq lola family. The
Siamese Twins, growing from the same
root, and uniting few feet above the
base, are thirty-eight feet in diameter
and ia feet in circumference at the
base. A unique piece of road-making is
here seen. In the construction of the
highway for coaches and wagons to the
Yosemite, the engineers suddenly found
themselves face to fa:e with one OF
those monster trees, and, not choosing
to build around it, they cut through it,
thus forming tunnel, the like of which
can scarcely be found elsewhere in the
world. The diameter of the tree being
over thirty feet, there remained an abun-
dance of material on each side of the
cut 10 retain the tree in standing po-
sition, and the whole, ten feet high by
twelve feet wide, is sufficiently large to
allow the passage of any coach or team.
A Yosemite teamster, while chatting
one evening with our party few miles
from the spot, remarked that he had
noticed, when passing through the tree
with q four-horse team, that the heads
of the front pair of horses emerged from
the one side of the tree about the same
time the rear part Of the wagon entered
the other, or, in other words, that the
diameter of the tree was about equal IN
length to his four-horse team and gon.
This grove is about six miles in a
northwesterly direction from the South
Park grove, which is, in turn, the next
grove in northwesterly direction from
the Tuolumne. The South T ark grove
contains 1880 big trees, and these, IN all
sorts ofpostures and conditions, become
almost bewildering. One tree here, ITO
feet from the ground, has o diameter OF
twelve feet; another named the Grand
Hotel" will hold forty persons within
its hollow trunk; another has held SIX
teen horses; q fourth named Eve," has
a breast-like swelling, sever feet in di-
ameter, $50 feet from the ground. and
the circumference of another, named
" Adam" is said to be l03 feet at a dis
lance of three feet from the ground. An
indefinite number of other trees of SINH
lar proportions might be named. The
Calaveras grove is the most northerly
one vet discovered, and is the one best
known. 1t is situated on the Stockton
and Calayeras trail to the Yosemite, and
is distant l64 miles from San + Flnncisco.
1873 from Sacramento, 73 from Stockton,
and lQ2 from the hotels in the Yosemite.
The number of trees of larger size Is not
far from 100, with many smaller ones on
the outskirts. Most of these have been
named, and tables have been published
giving the exact height and dimensions
of each. Here are at least twenty five
trees above $50 in Leight, and thirty
trees over 23O feet in Height. The four
highest trees in the grove, and perhaps
on the American continent, are the
"Keystone State" General Jackson
mother of the Forest" and Daniel
Webster" The height of the tirst-named
is 325 feet; of the second, 3l9 feet; OF tue
third, 3l5 feet, and of the fourth, 3O7
feet. While column might be filled
with q description Of such like monsters
as the " Husband and Wife," a pair of
trees gracefully leaning against each
other, $50 feet high, and each sixty feet
in circumference; "The Hermit" a
solitary specimen of great proportions;
"The Old Maid" q disconsolate- looking
spinster, fifty-nine feet in circumference |;
THE Old :Bachelor," a rough, unkempt
old fellow, nearly three hundred feet in
height: THE Beauty of the Forest" "
with graceful foliage and symmetrical
trunk: "Uncle Toms Cabin, in the in
terror of which twenty-five persons can
be seated comfortably only brlet
mention of two or three of the most
prominent can herewith be appended.
"Thc Father of the Forest " is pros
ill LIZ Llnne and ,uifhnllt