74 THE PLANT WOKLD 



examination, over 7600 square miles, is a famous part of California. It 

 runs from the San Joaquin Yalley on the west, eastward across the 

 Sierra Nevada into the deserts of Nevada, forming a complete section of 

 the great range of California, and including a part of the great gold belt 

 or Mother Lode, groves of big Sequoia trees, the Yosemite National 

 Park, and nearly the entire areas of the Stanislaus and Lake Tahoe 

 Forest Reserves. The counties of Eldorado, Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, 

 Stanislaus, Tuolume, and Mariposa are included, in whole or in part. 

 The area slopes in a long swell from 500 feet above sea level at the 

 western edge to nearly 14,000 feet near its eastern edge. Up to about 

 3000 feet the country is covered with chaparral, with scattered oaks and 

 digger pines. At 3000 feet yellow and sugar pines appear, and the 

 forest continues to over 8000 feet, forming a belt 40 to 50 miles wide on 

 the slope of the range. 



The timber of commercial value grows best between the altitudes of 

 4500 and 6500 feet. The principal timber trees are yellow pine, sugar 

 pine, and red fir. In some areas the stand of timber will run from 

 80,000 to 140,000 feet, B. M., per acre ; the usual range is from 5000 to 

 50,000 feet per acre. 



This forest is open, with little underbrush. Three groves of big 

 Seqouia are in the Yosemite quadrangle, the Merced, the Tuolume, and 

 the Mariposa. Sequoias of all ages are to be found in the Mariposa 

 grove, many of them thrifty trees measuring from one to thirty feet in 

 diameter and 300 feet high. Mr. Fitch thinks that, with continued and 

 proper protection against fire, the Sequoias may be able to perpecuate 

 themselves ; but that reproduction is not going on to any extent, and fires 

 are not wholly guarded against. The famous Yosemite Park is illus- 

 trated in the nine plates attached to this report. The total stand of 

 timber on these two quadrangles is eleven billion feet. 



With regard to the Sequoias, Dr. Sudworth states that they grow 

 on the west side of the Sierra at from 4600 to 8400 feet above sea level. 

 Eleven isolated groves are found, which extend about 260 miles south- 

 ward from the southern border of Placer County. Two of these groves, 

 the Calaveras and the Stanislaus or " South Calaveras," are included in 

 the territory under consideration. The trunk of the big tree has an 

 enormous swell at the ground. This swell is from 2 to 8 feet greater 

 than the diameter at 6 feet from the ground. The length of clear stem 

 varies from 100 to 180 feet. The trees in the Calaveras grove range from 

 9 to 19.5 feet in diameter 6 feet above the ground, and from 235 to 325 

 feet in height. There is no reproduction of the big trees in the Calav- 

 eras grove, and reproduction is found at only two points in the Stanis- 

 laus forest where fallen timber has protected them. The seedlings are 

 from 2 inches to 4 feet high, and the saplings are from 10 to 30 feet high. 



