Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1888-06-14
REDWOOD FORESTS.
The Immense Trees Found in Certain
Sections Of California.

The Immense Trees Found in Certain
Sections Of California.
The tourist and sight-seer. as well
as the capitalist. can spend week
nowhere moro profitably than in visit
ing the most wonderful forest growth
in the world. the redwoOds of North
western California There are small
groups in Mariposa and Calaveras
counties. in the Sierra Nevada mount
aims, and more extensive areas in
Santa Cruz and Monterey counties.
along the coast south of San Fran cisco.
but the only considerable forests avail
ing purposes extend from the Oregon
line south about four hundred miles.
The belt varies in width from twenty
to a hundred miles. Oae popularity
of it is its abrupt beginning at the Ore
gon line and ending at the Russian
river in SonOma County. From this
body of timber California is mainly
supplied with building and fencing
material. and vast quantities are
shipped by steamers and sailing-ves-
sells to Australia. New Zealand, and
the islands of the Pacific. and by rail
to several sections of the United
Safes. Hundreds of saw-mills and
thousands of axe-men and loggers arc
engaged i'm the work of destroying
these forests. and converting tho
mighty trees into lumber and shingles
for the use of men vino inhabit TIM
berless regions Eureka. a seaport in
Humboldt County. and Guerniville,
the terminus of branch of the San
Francisco and North Pacific railroad
in Sonoma County, seventy-two miles
from San Francisco, are the centers
of the lum bcring industry, from each
of which many million feet of the
manufac tured article are. annually
shipped. The march Of the army
of axc-men and sawyers keeps
pace with the extension OF
railroads. Bat it will be sew
eral decades. perhaps n century, be.
fore the present growth is consumed.
and as the redwood is rapid grower
and producer. there will in that time
be sutiicicncy of younger growth to
supply local demands ut least.
A tramp through redwood forest
affects one with sense of fear. lone
illness and littleness. The writer, ac-
companied by the manager Of mill.
ing company of 6 uerniville. recently
took half-day's rambc through tho
big tree reservation, beginning one
and half mile west of that place. No
adequate idea can be conveyed of
the impressions received by 'fen-
derfOot" in the center of forest
where such gigantic trees stand in
solid phalanx. Three trees. selected
at random in different parts of tho
forest. measured respectively eighty.
Acventy-siX and seventy.four feet in
circumference six feet above the
roots. and the first branches APP
peared TO be at least one hum
drcd and fifty feet above ground. to
which point there is no apparent
diminution of size. A comparison of
those standing with others of equal
size and height that had been fel!ed
proved them to be more than three
hundred AMI fifty feet from root TO
topmost leaf. To see an isolated tire G
of such proportions is an interesting
spectacle. but TO be in a narrow path
where they are in such proximity 10
each other as to momentarily change
ones course is novel experience. We;
a strangely pleasurable one.
The redwoods are not continuous
over the territory called the Redwood
region" They occupy it in groups
aud forests, leaving wide stretches of
mountain and tableland on which
grass grows lnxuriously several
months of the year, and then curing
i'm the hot sun becomes nutritious hay.
Lands denudcd of redwood trees are
also soon covered with grass between
the stumps. Santa Rosa Cor. LOUIS.
riiie Courier-JournGl.