The morning call., 1893-05-28
THE BIG TREES.

HE bEd NLEOs
California Is ure-emmertly land of contra
diciious Yet while foreign iguorami may doubt
the extent of our marVelS from their very dll-
ference from each otner aud everything else 10
any one STA E, still there are things here which
are uuiYeI sally acknowledged TO be woTld-wOn-
deIs.
Pc haps the most widely known Of these are
our Mammoth or Big I ees (Sequola eigantea).
some of them, over 100 feet n girth and from
800 10 400 feet higb, these mighy V mOnaicnS OF
the forest kiuedOm nave stuOd Tor 2500 years
watching over The development OF tie region
destined 10 become the favored garden Of the
world.
Already at the beginning of the Christian era
some Of these rees We're hundreds of years Old,
aud the fancy aScribes 10 the picturesque sub
lmy OF their taprring length the character OF
solemn Witnesses to the futiIy of mortal effort
to ay The growth Of eternal progress.
While Tie Sequoia is found only IN California,
IN" SeQouia gigautea, or big tees, are found
only ID a few localities OF California
There are bui SIX seven gro YES, so far as
known, IN be entire State.
Three of these groves are in Mariposa
County. one in Tuolumne and one or TWO in
TuIare County.
The Calaveras mammoth grove was the first
discovered and attracts many visitors. 1t is
situated on The divide between the middle fork
OF the Stanislaus and the Calav ras rivers,
abou twenty miles east OF Mokeumne Hill and
at an elevation Of 4759 feet above the level Of
the sea.
The number Cf these trees in this grove Is
ninety-two. ten of which are at east thirty feet
in diameter; eighty-two having diameter
ranging from fit en- TO thirty fe I. Their height
as they now stand ranges from $50 TO 327. the
tops Of many of the more aged having been
broken of by tempe,tN or snow.
The oririnal nplubt Of SOna iS bAiavad m
have been over $50 feet. and their diameter at
least forty feet.
;hfuugh the brussFate t}UnE OF one Of these
trees. which has been followed out by fire.
man can ride OF horseback for a distance Of
seventy-fYe feet.
Some ago one OF The largest Of the group
then standing was cuI down WITH view OF Sc
curing transverse sections of The trunk for eX-
htbition. Il was DineIy-twO feet IN circu infer
euce and 800 ieet high, and II required the CON
slant labor of five tIen for twenty-five days &c
fell ii. 5
BY carefully counting the concentrlc rings
denotng lie annual growth of hese trees. thei
age is found to vary from 1900 to 2500 years
In some places these trees are separated by
spaces Of several rods, while In others they
tand quite lose together, some being united
at the roots and having grown almost into one
which. when they first sprouted, we're twenty
or thirty feet aSun0er.
Near Cranes Fla, thirty miles southeast o
the town OF Marirosa. is another grove con
talning 42T- trees, at an altitude of nearly 600t
feet above sea level, scattered over 900 acres
The remains Of prOstrage tree, now nearll
consumed by fire, indicate that it must have at
laiaed diameter OF about 40 and a height O
400 feel. Nem this large grove are two others
the one containing eghiy-Six and the othe
thirty-fye trees, the average size of which il
bout The same IS OF thoSe ln the principa
grove.
About ferty-six miles northeast OF Visalia ant
at an elevation of be ween COCO and 1000 fee I
occur great numbers of big trees. not standing
in groups and SOl TED gi0ves. as in Galayefa.
and Mariposa counties but scattered through
our the forests all tin way from Kings River tC
the Kaweah, a distance Of at least forty miles
These are about the same Size as hose already
described.
Ther Is also one gtoye in Tuolumne County
containing ten trees, ohe or TWO of which are
as much as thir1y-tive feet in iameter.
One REGULARITY of his tree consists In it,
bearing TWO kinds OF le ayes-tboSe on the yOunl
tree and on the lower branches of III largei
one being about fv -eighths of an inch long anC
oue-eIghth widr. hey are set in pairs oppo
site ach other, on l!tlle stems. The other kinC
OF leaves grow on tie branches that have borne
flowers. triangular in shape, about al
eighth of an incn long, and lie close down Il
the stem.
=
on long pedcels. are not much larger than
hens rgg, whereas he cones of many smaller
conlfers of the coast are larger than pine
apnles.
The seeds of the Sequoia Pigantea are not
more than a quarter of an inch long sixth
wide and almost as thin as writing paper il
taking bout 10000 OF them to weigh pound
TIL baik is cUnst'u ucted on a different plar
from that Of most other trees-t being deeply
corrugated longiiudinally The corrugated
lyers are of ha der texture and the inter
stlces ate packed with an elastic, spongy sub
stance. II is reddish brown IN color, generally
very ihck-on the large trees not less than
eighteen inches
The wood is soft, elastic. straight grained
free-sultiiug, Hight when dry and red in color
bearing close resemblance TO red cedar. hu
tile grain is not quite so even, and is very val
uabl
TIE bic tree grows in deep. fertile soil and
is always surrounded by dense growth o.
othrrpvergreens comprising the various species
or pine, fl. spruce nd California cedar.
~ ny young trees OF tHe Sequaia giga ntes
produced from The seed are growing in gardrn
in California, in HE Eastern States and II
Europe.
That the big trees belong 10 an almost com
pletely dIssoriated age is practically conceded
AT meeting of the California Academy o
Sciences ii was credlbly sialed that among tht
remains OF fnl0cene plants toupd IN Inc COD
beds Of Gfeenland were fossilized portions o
The Sequata or big ire Shat egion being nov
covered with almost constant snow aud lee.
these majestic Cali iofnia growihs share viii
the Monterey cypress The distinction oil beint
original examples Of our fora such a. eanno
be du Heated el,ewbeie Al the same time il
may be said tnaI such is the wondious climatic
diffe nee 10 be found here that there is sea cely
cereal, truit. Jlant or tree, wherever Tie place
of its nativity, hat cannot be grown aud ma
tured in lie oren air in some part OF California
One of The most striking features IN the Gail,
foruia building OF me Worlds Fair now IN
progress is section OF one of these enormous