THE SEQUOIAS OR BIG TREES 45 



heit, so little that is precise can be deduced with respect to the 

 geological climates that fossil sequoias indicate. 



The wood is a brilliant rose-purple red when first cut becoming 

 somewhat duller later. It is very light and brittle, coarse for the 

 first four or five hundred years of early more rapid growth, becom- 

 ing somewhat finer grained with age. It and the bark, which is 

 enormously thick, contain very large amounts of tannin, which 

 explains why prostrate trunks will He on the ground for centuries 

 without decay affecting anything but the sapwood, and I have 

 already called attention to this imperishabihty as a factor in fossili- 

 zation. The wood is much sought after by lumbermen, passing in 

 the market as "redwood," although Hghter and more brittle. In 

 fact the big tree wood is so brittle and the tree so large that when 

 it goes down its enormous weight often almost completely de- 

 molishes it. According to the records of the forestry bureau in 

 no case is more than 25 to 30 per cent of saw timber obtained, so 

 that lumbering it is not only a crime against civilization but wanton 

 wastefulness. 



Fortunately some of the groves are on reservations and receive 

 protection, but constant vigilance of patriotic citizens is reguired, 

 since as recently as the 1922 congress, a bill ostensibly to bring more 

 areas of big trees under government control by changing the bound- 

 aries of the big tree park, has been attacked as a gerrymander to 

 make available for lumbering some choice protected groves w^hile 

 adding areas of no or few trees to the reservation. This is denied, 

 however, and must be viewed with due reservation. 



Huge as the big trees are, their size is less wonderful than their 

 longevity. Under a thousand years of age they are youngsters. 

 Huntington counted the rings of 79 that were over two thousand 

 years old and 4 that were over three thousand. Estimates of the 

 still standing giants place the age of some of them at from four to 

 five thousand years, but Sudworth states that it is doubtful if any of 

 the standing trees are over four thousand years old. The only good 

 that has come out of lumbering the big trees has been the oppor- 

 tunity it has given scientists of measuring the annual rings and 

 thus getting a climatic record of local accuracy covering a two to 



