The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1908-07-17
THE GIANT TREES OF
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA.
The Sequoia There Grows 40o.
Feet High and 26 in
Diameter.
From the Humbolt STANDARD.

SAAS
The sequoia here in HumbolS, is the tall
est tree in the whole United States. R,.i
the tourist from the east or ives, knows III
not. What would he say to the Informal
ton that in the northwest of CalIfornia
grows a mighty continuous forest Of these
great trees and that 1t takes days to trav.
eel merely from end to end of that forest
which is longer than the distance from
Boston to New York or from Chicago to
ST. Louis. Yet such is the case.
On the ridges and flats OF Humboldt ia
the forest, and OF that forest the tree.
grow to 26 feet in diameter and tower 400
feet in the sky. Do you know what those
figures mean? Measure the room In which
you are now sitting. If 1t b a very large
roomthe longest dimensions would lust
about contain one of these great trunks.
Look out of your window and see the
people more than a city block away. That
IS the distance from which one sees thu
ttopmost bough of these st]upendous gianta-
!. The redwood of California is the great
tree OF the Pacific coast. Two thousand
acres OF 1t exist In Oregon along the
Chetco river. South of the Chetco a con-
tinuous redwood belt begirs and increases
In width from 10 miles at Del Norte county
to IS or % miles and keeps on unbroken
to southern Humboldt county. Here Is q
sap, Jul XII MGtluOClIlO ne DGll DeCOmeA
dense again and widens out to IS miles,
South OF that count the tree grows in
isolated patches.
The climate and topography Of northern
California have brought about this llmitAa
distribution. North and south along TN
coast In nearly parallel ridges lie Thea
mountains of the Coast range. steep and
rising to attitudes OF 1000 to 1000 feet. A
few large rivers, the Smith. klamath.
Mad, Eel. Russian and many smaller
streams cut through them to enter the
sea. and along their courses in places ara
broad bottom lands and gentle slopes.
West OF the Coast range the climate Is
even and moderate, with a temperaturd
running from just below freezing to ID
degrees. Snow lies on the tops of only A1s
highest ridges. Thirty to 60 inches of rain
falls in the autumn and winter; and dur.
ing the summer sea fog battles the coast.
But east Of the mountains, less than 50
miles from the sea, lie hot interior vail
'leys, never visited by fog, parchcd and
,rainless in summer and wet only occa-
,sionally by the winter transformations
100 unfavorable to permit the growth Of
dwo 1t requires very little from the
soil except that it be moist. 1t is so de-
pendent on moisture of the cir that this
factor mainly or wholly determines its dis
itribution and the eastern limits of the for
ests are determined by the distance inland
to which sea fogs may drift.
Ihere are two types of the tree--thae
which grows on the hillsides, and the sec.
ond, which grows on the flats along tho
rivers and streams. The usual type In
that of the slope: that is the growth
found on the steep sides of the coast
ranges, and side by side with the red
wood grow other trees, such as red FIR.
tanbark oak, white fir and madrone. AS
the slopes become moderate, the altitude
lower. the soil deeper the forest becomes
,denser. until on the rich flats and in the
'gulches the second type is developed. on
the best redwood flats no other tree
grows.
On the slopes 225 feet is about the maxi.
mum length and 10 feet its greatest dia-
meter, while on the flats, under better
conditions, the tree grows to be $50 feet
Mign with q diameter of 80 feet. and oc-
cas!onally giants exceed this. Most of the
redwoods are from 800 to 500 years old.
The oldest tree scientifically measured
was l,4CO years. After the tree has passed
500 years 1t usually begins to die down
from the top. 1t has a straight, slightly
'tapered runk without limbs for more than
100 feet and a crown or horizontal
branches that may occupy a third to q
half of its length. The roots strike down.
ward at a sharp angle and are SO large
and so numerous that they form a COM
pact mass. The bark is Of a reddish gray
color, fbrous in texture, gives to the full
grown tree a fluted appearance and Of
fers such a remarkable resistance to fire
that except under great heat it is not COM
bustible. Insects do it little harm, the
wind can scarcely uproot it and fungi sell
dom affect 1T.