A THOUSAND-YEAR PINE 



ring was well started, something, per- 

 haps a cold wave, for a time checked 

 his growth, and as a result the wood 

 for that one year resembled two years' 

 growth; yet the difference between 

 this double or false ring and a regular 

 one was easily detected. Old Pine's 

 "hard times" experience seems to 

 have been during the years 1804 

 and 1805. I think it probable that 

 those were years of drought. Dur- 

 ing 1804 the layer of wood was the 

 thinnest in his life, and for 1805 the 

 only wood I could find was a layer 

 which only partly covered the trunk 

 of the tree, and this was exceedingly 

 thin. 



From time to time in the old pine's 

 record, I came across what seemed to 

 be indications of an earthquake shock; 

 28 



