60 REDWOOD LUMBERING. 



into water will often go to the bottom like a stone, while 

 the top logs will float like cork. It is of slow growth. Of 

 timber now being cut, the circles indicate that many of the 

 trees have been standing thousands of years. The bark of the 

 tree is very thick, soft and fibrous in character, and contains 

 no resin or pitch ; hence fires that frequently run through the 

 underbrush of redwood forests have no effect on the standing 

 timber. 



" Perhaps I can better illustrate some of the peculiar qual- 

 ities of redwood, by mentioning some of the uses for which it 

 is peculiarly adapted. Its durability above and under ground 

 causes it to be well adapted for railroad ties and posts. These 

 were formerly split, and that readily, to any dimensions re- 

 quired; but on account of the waste of timber, sawed ties are 

 now coming more into use. Shingles and shakes for roof 

 covering are all made from redwood. When a man has cov- 

 ered his house with redwood shingles, he considers that mat- 

 ter settled for life. For railroad ties and fence posts there 

 was consumed in the year 1881 not far from 6o,ooo,coo feet, 

 and for shingles and shakes about 12.000.000 feet, board 

 measure. 



" For tannery tanks it is peculiarly adapted, as the wood 

 resists the action of the tanning solution. A tannery in this 

 city has been using the same tanks for ten years, and they 

 are apparently as good as ever they were. Our wine mer- 

 chants now use redwood vats entirely, because a certain 

 insect found in the new juice of the grape, which destroys the 

 pine vat by boring through them, dislikes the taste of red- 

 wood, and lets it alone. As redwood much resembles 



