COLLECTION OF SECTIONS. 47 
could not be identified at all, chiefly owing to large numbers of com- 
pressed rings in the last 500 years or more, and to several heavy fire- 
sears and its generally complacent character. In 1919 a short radial 
sample was cut from another part of the stump and a complete and 
satisfactory identification obtained. It shows very fine rhythmic growth 
in places. No. 13 was not included in the final averages, because its 
rings were very complacent and perfect identification was not obtained. 
Nos. 14 and 15 were obtained from the northern side of the valley and 
their identification was entirely satisfactory. The agreement which 
they give with Huntington’s “‘first year of tree’’ has already been quoted. 
The three groups whose collection has been described above showed 
on examination certain interesting relationships to the location in 
which they were found. The first group was obtained high up on a 
hillside, where the slope of the ground was 15° to 25°. It was not very 
far from the top of a sharp ridge and there was no opportunity for 
moisture to collect and remain for long periods on the soil. Therefore 
one would expect these trees to show variation related to the amount 
of snowfall each winter, if any did. The growth of some of these trees 
was large but full of constant variation, and they were therefore of the 
type which I have called “‘sensitive.’”” They do in fact show best of 
any the relationship to precipitation which will be described in a later 
chapter. The second group came from a characteristic feature of the 
country, namely, a basin with thoroughly water-soaked soil. 
The luxuriance of vegetation in these basins before lumbering was 
wonderful. The sequoias grew often within a few feet of each other, 
and even between them were pines, firs, and cedars. Lumbermen 
often point out the bottom of a basin and say that such a place ran 
over 1,000,000 board feet to the acre. To-day nearly all the trees are 
gone and débris and rubbish are scattered about everywhere. The 
constant supply of water in the basin made the trees less dependent 
upon the annual precipitation and they show, in fact, large rings with 
very slight variation from year to year. They are typical examples 
of the “complacent”’ habit. Complacent trees contribute much less 
to a knowledge of climatic variations, and some of them have to be 
discarded because of uncertainty in the dating of their rings. 
The third group, Nos. 12 to 15, came from Indian Basin, where 
logging had been done about 1903. Its outlet, like the others, was 
toward the northeast. It had, however, a much larger flat area, now 
covered by extensive fields of hay and by forage. The characteristics 
of the trees found here were the same as in the groups already described. 
No. 1 (with a 7-foot radius) was first counted and marked with 
provisional dates. The rings were coarse and the numbering seemed 
promising, but proved later to have 6 to 8 errors in the last 700 years. 
No. 5, which was the tree cut down during my visit, was then dated 
