THE LARGEST TREES GROWING 203 



to become familiar in our eyes about the Wellingtonia, 

 and that is its thick buttressed trunk. In shape it 

 resembles, with its tapering stem, the familiar form 

 of that Dairy Company's milk-can that we all know 

 so w^ll and hear so often, to the disquietude of our 

 system and the disturbance of our nerves, rolled and 

 jangled along the platforms of our island home 

 railway stations. The comparatively small branches 

 that shoot out from the inordinately thick bole 

 make the contrast as between shoot and stem a 

 marked feature in its general appearance, and recall 

 the nursery children's description on the dispro- 

 portions of the elephant. 



When people call this beast to mind 



They marvel more and more, 

 At snch a little tail behind 



So large a trunk before. 



Where groves have been dedicated to their preserva- 

 tion, w^e are told that invariably these buttressed 

 symptoms decrease, and show^ signs, as time goes on, 

 of a more sylph-like waist measurement. 



The question which is the biggest tree covers a large 

 refought, over and over again, battle-field, and con- 

 tains the wrangles of many writers. Which is the 

 winner of the Champion Cup in this soar to the skies ? 

 Aurigation competition depends very much on the 

 conditions of the class. If it is for height alone, the 

 S. Sempervirens seems to hold the record for live- 

 tree height of 340 ft. against the S. Gigantea's 320 ft. 



But the Sequoia Gigantea has entered for com- 

 petition a dead trunk that exceeds it. The question 

 arises, Is this to be a disqualification ? A live dog is 

 better than a dead lion it may be argued, but, which- 

 ever way the stewards of the competition decide, it 

 will not alter the fact that the height, or the nearly 

 approaching height, of the tallest spire in England 



