The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-07-19
SOME Bra TREES.
sumas Exploring Party Looking for
Giant for Worlds Fair.

sumas Exploring Party Looking for .
Giant for worlds Fair.
SUMAs, July 1s-[Special. Since Presi-
dent Cakes. of the Northern Pacific, made
the offer to haul free of charge to Chicago,
for exhibit at the Worlds fair, the largest
stick of timber that can be found in WASH
ington, much exploring has been done.
As the Douglas fir undoubtedly represents
the commercial timber of the Sound, at
tention has been given to it rather than to
cedar or spruce. John NJ. Saas and S. H.
Soule have just returned from a three
days cruise made in response to the re-
quest of E. s. Meany, press agent of the
Worlds fair commission, during which
they measured great many trees between
Sumas and the south fork of the Nooksack
river. In township 40 north, range east,
several trees were measured ranging from
eight to nine feet in diameter, rather short
in body. In township 80 north, range 4
east, the finest body of fir timber was
found. Within few rods of the Seattle,
Lake Shore d Eastern Railway on the east
side, near Licking station, stand three
trees having diameter respectively of ten,
eleven and half and fourteen feet at
height of six feet above the ground. The
trees are rather coarse barked, but are
straight to height of hundred feet or
more to the first limb.
short distance further south on the
west side of the railroad, about an eighth
of a mile from the track, stands, in all rea-
sonable probability, the finest group of fir
trees west of the Cascade mountains. The
diameter of any individual member does
not exceed nine feet, but the extreme
height, estimated by good judges to be
from 800 TO 400 feet, the symmetry and
perfection IN every way is the admiration
OF those who have viewed them. The only
easy means of access to these trees is by
an old, winding underbough Indian trail,
shut out from the sunlight and the noise of
the world. The wide spreading leaves of
the short, regular underground, minia-
ture forest in comparison, the moscow
cred limbs and trunks OF fallen monarchs
In the dusky light make scene both SOL
emn and grand. 1t is the ideal forest, the
forest prlmeval, for the lumberman,s axe
has marred neither bark nor shrub. On
one acre 1t was estimated the fir timber
would produce 4 half-million feet of lum-
Der and half as much more of cedar. A
single tree near the group rises perfectly
straight from the ground, close parked
and without blemish, full two hundred
feet or more to the first limb Its diameter
is nine feet. and its height possibly four
hundred feet. This tree would be finer
specimen of the milling timber than many
OF the larger trees which are invariably
aged, coarse-barked and usually in some
way imperfect. This tree can be easily Sc
cured as the land is level TO the railroad.
Accessibility by rail must be taken into
account, since the transportation of large
tree full length, or nearly so, in its natural
state for any considerable distance is a
very difficult and expensive task. About
four miles above Deming station, on the
north fork of the Nooksack, there is per-
feet spruce which measures fourteen feet
in diameter. Near Acme station, on the
south fork, there is cedar tree, blackened
by fire, which is twenty-one feet in diam