The Cordova daily times., 1922-10-30
LUMBER ASSN.
 WILLPRESERYE
 ANCIENT TREES

part of private numbering companies toward the preservation of the nations timber supply was announced by the National Lumber Manufacturers As sociation. The Union Lumber Con- pany, the Pacific Lumber Co.,, and the Mendocino Lumber Co.,, the principal | private companies owning the Cali fornia redwood forests have agreed hereafter to conduct their numbering operations on the principle of continu- ous production and maintenance of the | forests as whole.
 This decision, says a statement of the National Association, means that the redwood forests, made up of the largest trees extant, and the oldest | living things, the sequoa of the sem | pervivens species, will be maintained infinitely as an economic factor in the life of the nation and as one of the wonders of America.
 The method of preservation of the forests, it is understood, includes cut | ting of timber in more scattered stands, while every precaution is taken against ground and high fires, and reforestation will follow upon the steps of the cutters.
 Ample areas of the forests will be preserved forever in the same state of aged maturity as they have been ever since the coming of the white man and possibly for thousands of years before. The state of California has bought areas of these forests for parks, and | the lumber men themselves have do- mated areas bordering much travelled roads.
 The redwood region should not be confused with that of the Sierra se- Quoias which are not numerous enough to be of any great importance, it is said. It consists of a narrow strip of land along the northern coast of California and overlapping into Ore | miles wide. It covers about 1,350,O00 acres, of which only about one-third has been cut over the remainder being virgin. The total amount of standing timber is estimated at between 6O,- 0OOOOO,OO0 and 5,O0OOO0,OOO feet. of which S5 per cent is redwood.
 Many of these trees are more than 1000 years old; some have been cut that are authentically known to have been 1878 years of age; and some may be as old as 2,O00 years. At the pres ent rate of cutting, about 600 100000 feet year, the stand is expected to ! last about century
 The redwood is among the most in- teresting of the tree family. Although one of the longest living things the i redwood grows very rapidly and at tains a height of 150 to 200 feet with a diameter of three feet in the first fifty years. The stands of ten run l to 10000 feet to the acre. Mature trees attain height of $50 feet-as high as a thirty-story building-and a diameter of 25 feet
 It is very persistent, highly fire re- sistant, and especially adapted to re- growth because it reproduces from sprouts, from stumps and from roots. It has been found practically impos- sible to exterminate the tree except where agriculture is maintained, and little of it's habitat is said to be suit able for farming. The tree has no 1 very destructive insect or fungus ene'- mics, and decays very slowly. As lumber it possesses some qualities which make it highly prized. It is slow burning and strongly resisting to decay. It is soft and easily worked, finishes well with a pleasing color and grain and has an agreeable fragrance.
 If all the lumber companies in this area that are at present interested in the 'perpetual numbering" idea, agree to adhere to it, all but IA per cent of the California redwood will thus be protected, it was said. With the present large supply of virgin timber to work Of, it was declared the pres ent production can be kept up indef- initely, while the redwood at the same time comes back to possession of pratically all of the original 1,360,O00 acres, except about 100000 acres suit able for cultivation.
 The method of reforestation is es- sentially that of protecting and en- couraging the natural and persistent ,j d rfh st ;r