THE FOKESTS 191 



Sequoia, presenting a simple and instructive illus 

 tration of the struggle for life among the rival 

 species; and it was interesting to note that the 

 conditions thus far affecting them have enabled 

 the young Sequoias to gain a marked advantage. 



In every instance like the above I have observed 

 that the seedling Sequoia is capable of growing on 

 both drier and wetter soil than its rivals, but re 

 quires more sunshine than they ; the latter fact be 

 ing clearly shown wherever a Sugar Pine or fir is 

 growing in close contact with a Sequoia of about 

 equal age and size, and equally exposed to the sun; 

 the branches of the latter in such cases are always 

 less leafy. Toward the south, however, where the 

 Sequoia becomes more exuberant and numerous, the 

 rival trees become less so ; and where they mix with 

 Sequoias, they mostly grow up beneath them, like 

 slender grasses among stalks of Indian corn. Upon 

 a bed of sandy flood-soil I counted ninety-four 

 Sequoias, from one to twelve feet high, on a patch 

 of ground once occupied by four large Sugar Pines 

 which lay crumbling beneath them, an instance of 

 conditions which have enabled Sequoias to crowd 

 out the pines. 



I also noted eighty-six vigorous saplings upon a 

 piece of fresh ground prepared for their reception 

 by fire. Thus fire, the great destroyer of Sequoia, 

 also furnishes bare virgin ground, one of the con 

 ditions essential for its growth from the seed. Fresh 

 ground is, however, furnished in sufficient quantities 

 for the constant renewal of the forests without fire, 

 viz., by the fall of old trees. The soil is thus up 

 turned and mellowed, and many trees are planted 



