The record-union., 1899-10-01
THE FORESTS
OF CALIFORNIA.

The cOnlfer0uS trees greatly preponder-
ate over the dicotyledonous varieties,
and it is estimated that fifty genera,
exclusive of shrubs find their habitat in
the Sierras and Coast Range.
This forest growth ceases at from
10000 to 11,OO0 feet altitude, and on
Mount Shasta all large trees disappear
at an elevation of about 5000 feet
The sequoia is found only in Califor-
MIA, and of this species the sequoia
gigantea is limited to a few localities.
Three groves of these mammoth trees
are in Mariposa County, one in Gala
veras, one in Tuolumne, and one or two
in Tulare-the trees in the latter coun-
ty are scattered over a wide extent
of country and may be considered one
grove or many. The seeds of the Sc
quota gigantea are not more than a
quarter of an inch long, a sixth of an
inch wide, and SO thin that it requires
10000 of them to weigh a pound. The
cones are about the size of hens eggs
and grow in pairs or not more than
three together on long pedicels. The
bark is deeply corrugated longitudinally
and of reddish brown color. The
wood is soft, elastic, straight grained,
in color, bearing a close resemblance to
red cedar. The sequoia grows in
deep, fertile soil and is invariably sur
rounded by a dense growth of other
evergreens, including various species
of pine, fir, spruce and California cedar.
The larger of the standing trees in
the Calaveras grove, range in size from
275 to 3G6 feet in hight, and from 50
to 64 feet in circumference. One of
the trees in the Tulare grove measures
JOG feet in circumference at the base
and is 216 feet high. These groves of
sequoia have been reserved by the
United States Government within the
areas of national parks and the timber
is therefore not to be considered of
commercial value.
The redwood (Sequoia sempervirens)
discovered by Menzies in 1896, is Sec
ond in size to the sequoia gigantea, and
first Of the California trees in COM
mercial value, though not much su
perior to the sugar pine in either re-
spect. The redwood belongs exclusive
ly to the foggy regions of the Coast
Range, and it's roots strike deep in the
underlying metamorphic sandstone.
From the northern boundary of the
State to the head of Tomales Bay
southwark, the redwood forest is con-
tinuous. At Tomales Bay the forest
is interrupted by a small bed of lime
stone. On the Alameda and Contra
Costa hills a small grove Of these trees
is growing and south of Belmont in
San Mateo County a narrow forest ex-
tends along the tops and western slope
of the hills to a point a few miles be-
low Santa Cruz. From near the mouth
of the Salinas River to the head of
Carmelo Valley the tree ceases owing
to the character of the soil which is OF
a bituminous slate formation. South
of Carmelo Valley, as far as San Luis
Obispo, the southerly limit Of the
growth, the redwood is found in scat
tered groups but nowhere sufficiently
extensive to deserve the appellation of
groves.
The roots of the redwood are inde-
structible, and as soon as the tree is
cut they sprout and cover the soil rap
idly, to the exclusion of every other
species. The tenacity of life in this
species, manifests itself also in its re-
sistence to the effects of fire. Trees
bereft completely Of their branches by
forest fires, cover themselves entirely
in a few years with young sprouts.
The circumstance that the wooden
houses of San Francisco. are built of
redwood is a salient reason advanced
for the immunity Of that city from
great coniagrations, a moderate dash
of water upon burning building being
sufficient to extinguish the blaze. An
other property peculiar to this species
is the great power it possesses in con-
densing fogs and mists. A heavy fog
is always converted into rain by the
redwood, wetting the soil thoroughly
and supplying living springs during the
dry season; wherefore, springs in or
near the redwoods are seldom empty
and the crops of the Coast Range are
unfailing owing to the moisture con-
stantly condensed from these forests.
The wood of this tree is invaluable
for every kind of building and the finer
work of the cabinet maker, receiving
as it does a polish superior to that of
any other in commercial use. The mass
of wood contained in a tree of thia
species twenty-five feet in diameter, is
equal to 10000 cubic feet
According to the classification of Pro-
fessor Bolander, the pines of Califor-
MIA are divided into sixteen true
species. 1t is worthy of remark that
all the conifers of the Pacific Coast
exhibit a symmetry and perfection of
figure as we'll as a healthfulness and
vigor of growth, not attained by SINH
lar trees in any other part of the world
The sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana)
is the most magnificent of it's species
The mature tree sometimes reaches a
hight of $50 feet and a diameter of
twelve or fifteen feet, but it rarely ex-
ceeds a hight of 30 feet The sugar
pine conspicuously exhibits one of the
most general and striking characteris-
/ tics Of the conifers-the great devel-
opment of the trunk at the expense of
the branches. The foliage is not dense.
The cones are large sometimes eigh-
teen inches long by four inches thick.
The wood is similar to that of the white
pine-white, soft, homogeneous. clear.
straight-gralned and free splitting. 1t
furnishes the best lumber in the State
for the inside work" of houses. and
is the chief building material for this
purpose.
| The sugar pine is never found below
| the altitude of 5000 feet nor above
/ 1880 to 5000 feet, and attains it's per-
feet development at a hight of about
1900 feet. The sugar pine forests are
confined for the most part to the plat
eau regions of the high Sierra. This
| tree requires deep soil, hence the
country best adapted to it's growth is
| level Many of the best sugar pine
regions are not yet economically ac-
cessible and the Government has in