110 TIMBER 



much below 5,000 ft. nor much more than 10,000 ft. 

 above sea level (Fig. 21). 



These trees are thus interesting from a scientific point 

 of view, being the last living representatives of a former 

 geological age. 



Redwood is one of the few trees which are but little 

 affected by fungus, thus lasting well for outdoor work or 

 sleepers. Some of the oldest specimens of " big trees " 

 felled were still sound at the heart when cut up. 



The average height of the Sequoia washing to ni ana is 

 about 275 ft., and the trunk diameter near the ground 

 20 ft., although individual trees from 300 to 320ft. are not 

 rare. After centuries the tapering stem drops the slender, 

 gracefully curving, branches, and the trunk, which is much 

 enlarged and buttressed at the base, becomes naked for 

 100 to 150ft.; in very old trees the bark is as much as 

 2 ft. thick. 



Mr. John Muir measured one in King's River Forest 

 25 ft. in diameter at the ground and 10 ft. in diameter 

 200 ft. above, and one can ride erect on horseback through 

 the " Father of the forest," whose trunk lies on the ground 

 and whose heart has been eaten out by fire, for a distance 

 of 82 ft. ; it is 10 ft. in diameter at 150 ft. from the base, 

 and can still be measured for a length of 365 ft. There is 

 a cross section of one of these trees in the American 

 Museum of Natural History, New York, 16 ft. 2 inches 

 diameter inside the bark, which in places is nearly a foot 

 thick, and if the annual rings are an indication of age it 

 was over 1,500 years old. There is a cross section of 

 another in the Natural History Museum, South Ken- 

 sington, 16 ft. diameter cut at 18 ft. above the ground 

 from a tree 276 ft. high. For interesting details of these 

 trees see J. D. Whitney's " Yosemite Guide Book," J. M. 

 Hutchins's " In the Heart of the Sierras," John Muir's 



