Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1905-09-29

/
another with your finger tips. The root
system is not extensive nor Is 1t deep.
1t Is extraordinary that the trees have
lived for so many centuries and have
grown so large with so little soil and 80
little moisture. Botanists say that they
can live almost on the nourishment
from the air, and that Is where they
have an advantage over human beings.
supporting the trunks Of monster trees
in eastern forests but they rise out Of
the soil without showing their roots
in most cases and stand squarely over
their own center Of gravity. They do
not die or decay like other trees, and
although you will find hundreds Of them
burned out at the bottoms, so that the
gap will shelter a score Of men or q
squadron of cavalry. yet the upper
trunk and the branches will be as firm
and healthful as nature could make
them: and professional foresters, like
John Muir, will tell you that, among
more than five thousand Of these giants
scattered along the slopes Of the Sierra
Nevada Mountains, they have never
| seen but one sequoia tree which died
natural death. That Is famous. 1t
lies on the bank Of Boulder creek. and
was evidently starved to death. The
rocky ravine where nature imprisoned
II furnished insufficient nourishment
and inadequate moisture, but 1t grew
and grew, until 1t became greater than
any other tree = the neighborhood;
until It could look over the tops Of the
forests around 1t. Then, one day, II
fell from its own weight and perished
Worms and other pests do not affect
the sequoias. They seem immune from
all the diseases and dangers that aff1ict
ordinary trees, and even fire finds 1t
difficult to destroy them. The foresters
say that the large trees are more than
four or five thousand years old. and
that the largest-those which have
passed height of 300 feet and diam
eter Of thirty feet-may be as old as
seven or eight thousand years. They
were full grown when Moses was taken
from the bullrushes: when Eneas was
"toting' his infirm father away from
trouble In Troy; and were already aged
when the morning stars sang that won
derful song at Bethlehem.
On the banks Of the Nile visitors are
shown a sycamore under which Joseph
and Mary and the Boy Jesus rested
while they were fleeing into Egypt from
the wrath Of Herod; in India they show
the decrepit trunk Of an ancient be tree,
under which Buddha-the light Of Asia
once preached, and in the garden Of
Gethsemane are groups Of gnarled. rag
ged and rotten olive trees under which
our Savior Is said to have wept. Doubt
Is cast upon the truth Of these repre-
sentations. Skeptics assert that trees
will not live as long as the Christian
era has lasted. But here. in six or sew
en- distinct groves, are trees which,
reckoning by the accepted rules, must
have attained an ordinary size long
before Abraham left the home Of his
fathers And what do you suppose hap
pened to them during the flood? The
botanists will tell you that, II they
are let alone. II these magnificent for
ests are only protected, they will sur
vive another 10000 years.
There Is great danger from fire, how
ever. The air Of all the country In this
section Is darkened with smoke from
forest fires every fall. They are burn
ing today all around the Yosemite VAL
ley, and within a days walk Of the big
trees I have been telling you about.
These fires occur every year. There Is
colony Of soldiers here, whose duty
Ia to put out the fires, but they are not
doing anything, and the citizens seem
20 be Indifferent. Experts estimate that
California loses more than $1,000,OOO
during the month Of September each
year from forest fires. which not only
destroy the timber but eat up surface
covering Of mulch. which Is indispen-
sable both to the health and the repro
duction of the trees and to the regular
i:y of the water supply. This damage
cannot be repaired. The trees destroy
ed cannot be replaced In a hundred
years.
Most of the fires are started by the
carelessness Of campers and herders or
sheep and cattle. who kindle mass
of brush and logs at night for cooking
and warmth, and in the morning leave
them burning when they go from camp.
The present fire that Is raging around
the Yosemite. whether accurately or
not, is attributed to a passenger on
ore of the stages who threw burning
match to the ground after he had light
ed his cigar. The stage driver saw him
do 1t and afterward remembered that
the act was done exactly at the place
where the fire started. The soil Of the
forests Is covered with thick mating
of dry leaves and pine needles, dead
twies that have fallen from the trees,
strips of bark that have sloughed on
cones that are saturated with pitch ana
turpentine-the most infiammable ma
terial you can imagine-and over all
of 1t Is growing grass, wild oats ana
other plants that become dry In the
fall. Thus II match is thrown or II
burning cigar or cigarette happens
to fall where the lighted end comes In
contact with the ground, the dead
leaves and pine needles are instantly
afiame and the fire spreads as 1t would
along a powder train.
Experienced foresters contend that
the live large trees and the vigorous
small ones would not be Injured, but
rather benefited, II the ground was
burned over every year or two, as the
Indians did 1t. But II the infiamma-
BILE debris is allowed to accumulate for
several years It makes so fierce hre
that the standing timber is burned to
death. They say that there are more
fires on the forest reserves nowadays
than before they were withdrawn from
settlement First. because when cattle
were allowed to Craze on the lands they
kept down the grass and wild oats;
secondly, because campers and herds
men are more careless than they used