16 CALIFORNIA TANBARK OAK. 



PROVIDING FOR SECOND GROWTH. 

 SPROUT REPRODUCTION. 



For the maintenance of the supply of tanbark on the Pacific coast 

 the second growth on cut-over areas offers by far the most hope. 

 Sprout reproduction must be encouraged, since the tree sprouts very 

 readily and with great persistence. Sprouts grow from trees of prac- 

 tically Siuy age and under a wide variety of conditions. Of greatest 

 economic significance are those which spring up from the stumps of 

 trees felled for peeling. The sprouts arise from conical woody buds 

 which are formed under the bark at the base of the tree, and which 

 vary in number from a scattering few to crowded thousands. The 

 sprouts themselves vary in number; as many as 1,400 have been 

 counted on one large stump. The practice of peeling the tree down 

 as far as possible, often below ground level, in order to obtain all the 

 rich and heavy rump bark, exposes the buds and prevents sprouts, 

 but peeling can safely be carried down to the surface of the ground 

 if the peelers ring the bottom of the first run instead of stripping off 

 the bark as far down as it can be torn. The original number of 

 sprouts is reduced by natural processes in 30 years to from four to 

 eight of the most vigorous poles. The rate of height growth is about 

 2 feet a year. By proper thinning this rate could be accelerated. 



Sprouts also come up freely about the base of fire-injured and even 

 fire-killed trees, which is a great advantage where there are frequent 

 forest fires, as in the tanbark oak regions. They even grow vigor- 

 ously from the stumps of old trees which have been weakened by 

 dry rot or fire and have fallen. The Stumps of such fallen veterans 

 may be a yard or two in diameter. Circles of sprouts about the rims 

 of such stumps which have disappeared are often found in the woods, 

 and the trunks of these sprouts are sometimes 2 feet in diameter at 

 4 feet from the ground. Sometimes sprouts will start from the base 

 of living trees, though this habit is of slight commercial importance. 



Nothing can better illustrate the vitality of tanbark oak than the 

 longevity of standing trees which have been peeled. Peeling is 

 usually done before flowering time, and for the first year afterwards 

 the growth of the tree is so decidedly checked that it does not fruit. 

 The second year the tree bears a full crop of acorns often an exces- 

 sively large crop. The woodsmen call this the "last kick" of the 

 tree, since in the third year it usually dies. If the tree stands exposed 

 to the full heat of the sun it will probably die the first season. Yet 

 there is abundant testimony that it may continue to live for a long 

 period even 10 or 15 years. The apparent anomaly of a tree con- 

 tinuing its life functions with a complete band of bark removed from 

 its trunk can be explained by a study of "jayhawked" trees in the 

 field. Such trees were peeled either so early in the season or so late 



