Western appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1885-18??, 1885-07-04
SOME FAMOUS BIG TREES.

"Here are the extremes of plantlife, y
said botanist, holding microscope
slide in one hand and the picture of a
great tree in the other. ssThis is diatom.
one of the smallest vegetable organisms,
invisible to the naked eye, while this, y
flourishing the picture, sis the largest
tree as to height in the world &c..
Gone of the sequoias?'' u
"No,' was the reply. "Uncle Sam
has done pretty well with trees, but
when it comes to the height the British
Lion takes the belt; as the loftiest trees
are found in the Australian dominion.
This picture is one found by traveller
in the black range of Berwick, and it is
estimated at 500 feet from the ground
to the topmost branch. Think OF it a
moment continued the speaker.
give hundred feet means a good deal.
It would dwarf the Bartholdi statue;
Trinity would look like telegraph
pole compared to it; the Brooklyn
bridge would be nowhere; Strasburg
Cathedral, the highest building on the
globe, would be ffty-four feet below
the birds nests on the top branches,
and if the giant was placed by the side
OF the pyramid of Cheops, the leaves of
the eucalyptus would still be twenty
feet above it. That's the kind of trees
they have in Australia, and they are
undoubtedly the largest on the globe,
though it is claimed that the California
specimens are more impressive from
their greater bulk. The gum trees, as
the Australian giants are called, are
comparatively modern discovery, and
for long time it was impossible to ap-
proach them, but now roads are broken,
and travellers can ride directly to the
foot of several. One of the first k 1own,
a Kanni eucalyptus Eucalyptus colos
sea- OF bOtanists, was discovered in
glen of the Warren River, western Aus
tralia. When found by party Of ri
ders, it was PROSTATE upon the ground,
and four riders abreast entered the
trunk, that was estimated at 400 feet
in length. Another species E.. Amzgda-
lima, measured by Boyle in the gloomy
forest Of Daudenong, was found to be
APO feet long, while another, now grow
ing on the Black Spur, ten miles from
is 480 feet high. These
you see, are far ahead
OF the California trees, one of the lar
gest, that / think is known as The Father
of the Forest, only measuring 4S5 feet,
and being 10 feet in circumference at
the base. The one called The Mother
OF the Forest, measures 800 in height,
with a circumference at the base Of 90
feet. When they felled the famous
Traveller in 1858, by the way, every
man that had a hand in it ought to
have been sent to Dry Fortugas, it took
five or six men nearly month to bring
it to the ground, and they had all kinds
of tools to work with, pump augurs,
wedges, and everything you could
think of.
'.For a good many years the trees
were subjected to all kinds of in
dignities, and I have a list of over
thirty names of so-called civilized
human beings that Il copied from the
bark where they had been carved.
Nearly everybody feels called upon to
do this; but the rest, who have no
knife or are too lazy, have contented
themselves with building fires around
the roots. Why continued the ex-
cited botanist, upon my word 1 would
as soon think Of carving my name on
my great-grandfather's back, or burn
ing my grandmother at the stake. as
harming these trees.
.Most all the California trees grow
in limited area, embracing about 24O
miles, and in all about 200 big trees
have been discovered, though in other
parts of the Sierra Nevadas there NAV
be many more that will be discovered
when the country is opened up
Can the age OF these large trees be
determined? asked the writer.
''Not to a certainty, was the reply.
'ln those extremely old fellows the