The new enterprise. (Madison, Fla.) 1901-1908, 1902-10-16

% H%HHe%NHN~VNNe
parts OF the country, but few dec
AIDES, in Iowa hardly thirty years. Sucl
trees seem 70 reach certain maturity
and then die for no appreciable reason
| Some OAKS have similar constitutional
Tendencies. The back oaks are said ia
be less enduring than the white oaks
Some species Of the black oak group
die at fifty TO seventy years. The oaks
Of Europe are apparently longer lived
than those OF North America. The ia
nous oak at Cozes, In southern France,
Is certainly more than 1000 years old.
Caesar may have stood beside it.
We reckon a trees years by the num-
Der Of its rings as seen upon its Sec
ton. Every year, certain as the sue
cession Of seedtime and harvest, wit.
nesses for the tree the increment Of
ycrnal and autumnal wood, 50 that in
case Of a fallen tree or Of a tree any
part Of whose section can be seen we
may count the rings OF growth and
know with very great exactncss the
number Of It's years. The only excep-
tons are found in the case Of very
young shoots or trees, where some.
times more than one ring Is formed
in q single year. So also on oder trees
after Academia, loss or foliage D sec.
ond feeble ring is sometimes added.
But as a rule the rings OF tree are a.
it, years.
by counting thus the ria-s on a 500.
ton ana comparing The radius, half
the trees diameter We easily obtain
the thickness o. the average aunua.
increase and So may estimate the ago
u other troes os tl' sane sort whose
diameter is knowa, Thus la the case
Of the French oak referred 20, q Block
eighteen inches thick. taken about toy
feet from the ground. show, -Uu a@.
ugu, rings A. the diameter 90 the
tree at that .nyr. Is about '1'r'y fna'.
the tre' is evidently a.Ost -,EDN years
Old. The interior o, ta.s t,.n, wa.,h
was perfectly sound, ld- .oaa shaped
into d.a'3- room. where Around
center table twelve hungry utyengs
may be served at oaro. As O., trao
atains such hoary a-, tho rate OF
growth becomes ever s'UVr. The
amount of eGlcieAt foliage is generally
prOportlOnately smaller while tan sur
face over which the auaall a'cumu.l.
ton must be spread is wider year by
year, There lies before Us the see.
ton of an oak which n snyt0ty-ayc
years attained diameter Of oae foot.
The next inch OF the radius. counting
outward, cost the labor Of twenty-five
years, 50 that the Increase 10 diameter
at the last was less than a line q year.
Dr. Gray estimates the growth ~ our
southern cypress after the FIRST three
or four hundred years to be no more
than one-lhird Of q line per annuni
1t is easy. therefore. for Us to be.
lieve that very large trees are very
old. Some OF the great trees in Cal
iforna have been cut down 10 make
grapevine stakes. and on their stumps
the rings have been counted On one
the number rises TO 900. Nay. more,
John Muir tells us that IN the Kings
river forest he counted 1000 rings on
. single stump.
But the oldest tree on the continent
is thought to be the Oaxaca cypress.
The circumference OF the tree is given
at III feet as the minimum Putting
the annual increment in diameter at a
line a year, which is certainly far IN
excess or the truth, we have 5.l24
years as the age OF the Oaxaca tree.
TO appreciate this let any one get down
h's history Of the world aud see to
what date this number carries him
back in historic time.
Perhaps the most curious aud won
derful illustration Of the longevity OF
trees is that referred TO by Dr. Gray
In his essay on this particular subject.
\ dragon tree stands on the island OF
Tencrife which has been known aud
made matter Ofrecord since I402. It's
structure Is different from that OF our
common trees and Its growth exceed
ingly slow; ia fact, In the 500 years
since its discovery it has changed al
most not at all. In the year 1919 II
was badly wrecked by storm and once
again in the year 1869. But IL still
continues to grow, Its surviving
branches "still annually crowned, as
they have haau aaoh .o.,,..t.... -