The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-10-25
No NEED TO LOSETHE REDWOOD.
We Can Grew Two or Three Crops PrOnts.
bly, In q Century.

We Can Grew Two ar Three Crops ProNta.
bly, In Century.
In contradiction to the many reports.
during the past few years. that the redwood
forests of California are threatened with
speedy determination, IL is now said on
authority that there is enough merch tn,able
virgin redwood lumber still standing 10
supply the present demand for many CEN
turtles. and that the redwood forests are
able to reproduce themselves abundantly
In commercial quantities. IL reasonable
care is exercised in their numbering. two
or three crops may be profitably gathered
in the course of century. Almost without
exception redwood is the only merchantable
lumber which will naturally reproduce IT.
self In paying quantity and quality.
After a series Of observations which have
followed closely the well known capacity
OF the redwood for reproduction by seed
lings. sprouts or suckers, the Bureau OF
Forestry has decisively announced that 1t
does pay to hold cut-over lands for future
crops, In reaching this decision the Bureau
OF Forestry considered. among other things,
the economy Of protecting the young growth
in numbering operations and from fires
It has been believed. even by those who
live among the trees, that efforts toward
the reproduction OF the redwoods would
be futile, as conditions under which the
trees started, thousand or more years
ago, no longer exist. This idea only holds
true In 30 far as that future generations OF
the redwood will never attain the superb
dimensions Of the pltriarchs Of the virgin
forest, for the simple reason that the sawmill
man cannot afford to wait 80 long; but it
has been demonstrated by Mr.. r. T. Fisher
OF the Bureau Of Forestry that in thirty
years, under fair conditions. a second
growth Of redwood should yield 1000 feet.
board measure, to the acre. The trees OF
the virgin forest are bound to be cut be-
cause it pays to handle them, and only
those patriarchs in parks and reservations
will be saved. This, however. will not
necessarily mean the destruction Of the
redwood as merchantahle commodity.
The redwood is popularity thought to
occupy a strip Of country. ten to fifty miles
wide, from the Oregon line to the Bay of
Monterey, but these boundaries do not cover
its actual distribution. Two thousand
acres of redwood in two separate groups
are growing in Oregon along the Chetco
River South of the Chetco n continuous
redwood belt begins. Following the river
valleys and lowlands, and increa sing in
width from ten miles in Del Norte county
to twenty miles and more, it keeps on in a
superb, unbroken, primeval wilderness
to southern Humboldt county, with a width
in some sections of thrty-five or forty
miles. Here for about township it thins
out, but becomes dense again. Six miles
north of the Mendocino county line and
after entering that county, it widens to
thirty-five miles.
The redwood belt practically ends in
Mendocino county, although few stretches
Of second and third growths and a number
Of groves kept for pleasure and exhibition
purposes are found throughout the Santa
Cruz Mountains and as far south as Sal
mon Creek c; non, in the Sc nta Lucia Noun
tains, Monterey county, 500 miles from the
northern limit Of the tree along the Chetco
River.
The commercial redwood grows to 4
greater height than any other American
tree. though it is exceeded in age and cir
conference by the big tree. The most
complete specimens are $50 feet high and
twenty or more feet in diameter Most
Of those being harvested at present are
upward Of 500 years old, the oldest being
about 1875 years. When normal the tree
has a straight, slightly tapered bole. clear
for 100 feet OF more with crown of com
paratively short horizontal branches
which occupy from onehalf to one-third
the total length. 1t has no taproot, but
the other roots strike downward a sharu
angle. forming a woody, compact moss
we'll adapted to securing water.
The Redwood suffers less from fire than
any other species. The thick serrated
bark forms practically fire proof covering
ana thoroughly protects the older trees from
any flames which may go through the forest
while the absence Of resinoUs gums makes
the wood fairly fire resistant. IT is only in
cut-over lands where the lumbCrman is
looking for second growth of timber that
the necessity ofaverting forest fires becomes
imperative.
The enemies of the redwood are few and
the tree suffers little from them. The dam
age from wind is inConse1uential DR..
Herman Won Schrenk has found tnat fungus
seldom attacks it and does it little injury
A brown rat effects some damage at the base
Ol tIf tItes, DuJ ut"S It't d1Ittt IneIn Tor
any great length, and the trees remarkable
immunity from all forms of decay has en-
abled it to reach great age. DR. A. ID.
Hopkins has found that the damage
from insect enemies is insgnifct mt
Man is the greatest enemy of the red
woods. But even now. with the growing de-
mand for redwood lumber, numbering opera
tons are carried on with a small margin of
profit, as the size Of the trees and the diff
Guilty in getting them to the mills entail
methods of numbering on n gigantic seal e
Steam is the medium used throughout the
process. On fats and bottoms, where the
trees average from five to fifteen feet in
dia meter, the stand is very dense. and to
get the redwood out of the forest without
breaking other trees is not an easy task
Choppers who can save a good percentage
OF the trees felled must be experienced men
II the tree is not so felled as to strike
throughout most of its length AT the same
time, the brittle wood will break nd splinter
badly, while everything within its path of
$50 feet is destroyed
A"lay-out" is usually levelled for the tree
to fall upon. Even then the whole Of the
crown and at least one-fourth Of the le
are demolished and strewn upo n the & cum.
The mass Of broken branches may lie
shoulder deep, and from this tangled wreck
age the logs must be got out. Logs are
on fire. Then the yarding crew with a
bull donkey engine and tackle gets the lox
under way for the mill. As it goes plough
ing and ploughing along, scarcely tree
near 1t is left uninjured, while young growths
are completely demolished.
Two precautions are necessary to insure
a profitable second growth from cut-oyer