ESSAY UPON REDWOOD. 9? 



Earthquake Committee, to examine the wood foundations of 

 certain Front Street buildings damaged thereby, exhibited the 

 folly, as stated previously, of choosing timber for important 

 purposes simply by name. No one at all familiar with ship- 

 building would be likely to make these mistakes. It is true, 

 our own knowledge and experience is far from being equal to 

 solve all queries with regard to this or any other timber of 

 the coast ; Lut, as in duty bound, we may possibly assist 

 others towards their solution. If the question, for any reason, 

 should arise whether the stump-spurs were equal in durabili- 

 ty with the best heart-wood of the trunk of a chosen tree, we 

 would not feel altogether able to answer it with such absolute 

 certainty as to suggest to any one the utterances of the an- 

 cient oracles. Although some of our statistics are borrowed, 

 and certain statements quoted, they are believed to be proxi- 

 mately correct. We know trees twenty feet in diameter 

 there may be trees larger we hope to be able to photograph 

 them. We have spoken of stumps cut twenty feet from the 

 ground, because we have seen them, although at our northern 

 limit of the forests, two to fourteen may be the range ; or, at 

 Humboldt Bay, where larger trees abound, five to sixteen, or 

 even more. The largest board, we believe, brought to San 

 Francisco is 13x7 feet, and three inches thick. If for any 

 reason a larger were required, this could be greatly exceeded. 

 This Humboldt Bay specimen is to be seen at Kentfield & 

 Co.'s pier, 9 Steuart Street, San Francisco. Some of the 

 larger trees are reported as yieleing 65,000 feet of lumber, 

 amounting, at market rates, a single tree might be valued at 

 $ i ,000. 



