160 WITH THE FLOWERS AND TREES 



borhood of the Yosemite Valley. By far the most 

 numerous tracts, however, are found to the south 

 in the basins of the King's, Kaweah, Tule and Kern 

 Eivers, in a region of wild and glorious scenery, to 

 which a principal gateway is the town of Visalia in 

 Tulare County. Big Tree timber is very similar to 

 redwood, though of greater brittleness the huge 

 trees in falling are sometimes shattered into use- 

 less fragments, splinters and dust and for a gen- 

 eration extensive lumbering operations have been 

 carried on among the groves. Fortunately, public 

 interest in the trees for their own sake has led to 

 the putting of considerable groves under Govern- 

 ment ownership, as in the Yosemite, Sequoia and 

 General Grant National Parks, so ensuring their 

 preservation. Even where the groves are being 

 lumbered, obliteration does not necessarily follow, 

 as the tree reproduces rather freely from seed, and 

 young saplings are met with even in areas where 

 fires of previous years have wrought havoc. 

 Neither has the protection of the redwood been 

 quite neglected, and near Santa Cruz and San Fran- 

 cisco there are reserves set aside forever for public 

 enjoyment. 2 



3 A State reserve of 3,800 acres (of which 2,500 are timbered) near 

 Boulder Creek, Santa Cruz County; and the Muir Woods, 295 acres 

 on the slope of Mount Tamalpais, Marin County the latter reserve 

 given by Mr. William Kent to the nation. 



