8 CALIFORNIA TANBARK OAK. 



however, the tanbark oak belt pushes through the great transverse 

 break in the redwood belt at that point, and an arm extends north- 

 ward over the Wilder Ridge country to the Rainbow Range. This 

 extensive and excellent virgin body borders the redwood belt on the 

 outside and covers a considerable portion of the Mattole country 

 lying between the redwood belt and the ocean. 



In the region around Eureka the redwood stand is so exceedingly 

 dense that it practically occupies the whole country to the exclusion 

 of tanbark oak. In the redwood forests along the main Eel River, 

 on the Mad River, and on Smith River tanbark oak grows not at all 

 or merely as tare individuals. Here it is necessary to pass through 

 the redwood belt, or, what is usually the same thing, to gain the 

 summits of the ridges at the headwaters of the coast streams, to 

 find tanbark oak. To the south this is not the case. In Mendocino 

 County tanbark oak occurs throughout the redwood belt. There, 

 however, tanbark oak trees in the main redwood stands areisually 

 small and scattering, and it is only on the summits above the redwood, 

 and particularly on the inner summits and ridges, that the trees are 

 abundant and of large size. 



ASSOCIATES. 



Tanbark oak never forms a pure stand. The tanbark oak belt 

 consists of a mixed forest of broadleaf and coniferous trees. Its 

 most common associates besides redwood are Douglas fir, which, 

 except in Santa Barbara County, occurs with it throughout its 

 range; madrofia (Arbutus menziesii), its most common associate, 

 which reaches very large dimensions in the tanbark oak belt; Oregon 

 post oak (Quercus garryana), the most abundant of the true oaks in the 

 whole tanbark oak belt; California black oak (Quercus calif ornica) , 

 on all the higher ridges, or high, fertile hill slopes; and western 

 chinquapin (Castanopsis chrysophylla) , an associate in the regions of 

 its best development. 



THE PRODUCTION OF TANBABK. 

 CENTERS OF THE INDUSTRY. 



The Santa Cruz district has been, from the first, one of the most 

 important sources of tanbark, because the tanneries at Santa Cruz, 

 San Jose, Santa Clara, and Redwood City could be supplied by 

 wagons direct from the woods, and this obviated long and costly 

 shipment by rail or water. Seventy-five per cent of the original 

 stand has been peeled, but recently second-growth trees have begun 

 to furnish a bark which is acceptable to tanners. Sonoma County 

 has been an important source for 30 or 40 years, and its status 

 now is about the same as that of the Santa Cruz district. For the 



