316 SELECT PLANTS FOE INDUSTRIAL CULTURE 



Traditional accounts seem to have overrated the height of the 

 Mammoth-tree. In the Calaveras grove two of the largest trees, 

 which may have been the tallest of all, were destroyed ; the two 

 highest now existing there are respectively 325 and 319 feet high, 

 with a circumference of 45 and 40 feet at 6 feet from the ground. 

 At the Mariposa grove the highest really measured trees are 272, 

 270, and 260 feet high, but one of these has the enormous circum- 

 ference of 67 feet at 6 feet from the ground, while another, the 

 height of which is not recorded, is 93 feet in girth at the ground, 

 and 64 feet at 11 feet from it ; the branches of this individual tree 

 are as thick as the stems of large Elms. The height of the 

 Calaveras grove is 4,760 feet above sea-level. A stump 33 feet in 

 diameter is known at Yosemite. According to Dr. Gibbons this 

 giant of the forest has a far wider range than was formerly sup- 

 posed, Mr. John Muir having shown that it stretches over nearly 

 200 miles at an altitude of 5,000 to 8,000 feet. From the Cala- 

 veras to the King River it occurs in small and isolated groves, but 

 from the latter point south to Deer Creek, a distance of about 70 

 miles, there are almost unbroken forests of this noble tree. Growth 

 of the tree about 2 feet a year under ordinary culture, much more 

 in damp forest glens. Both Sequoias produce shoots from the 

 root after the stem is cut away. The genus Sequoia can be reduced 

 to Athrotaxis, as shown by Bentham and Hooker. 



Sesamum Indicum, Linne. 



The Gingili. Southern Asia, extending eastwards to Japan. This 

 annual herb is cultivated as far as 42 north latitude in Japan. 

 The oil, fresh expressed from the seeds, is one of the best for table 

 use ; free of any unpleasant taste. It congeals with more difficulty 

 than olive oil. There are varieties of this plant with white, red, 

 and black seeds ; the latter is the earliest and richest, but gives a 

 darker oil. Yield 45 to 50 per cent. oil. Nearly a million acres 

 are under cultivation with this plant in the Madras Presidency. 

 The export of the oil from Bangkok in 1870 was valued, according 

 to Simmonds, at 183,000 ; the market value is from 25s. to 35s. 

 per cwt. The plant succeeds still at Malta and at Gaza, and is 

 much grown in Turkey. Parched and pounded, the seeds make a 

 a rich soup. In Greece the seeds are often sprinkled over cakes. 

 One of the advantages of the culture of this plant consists in its 

 quick return of produce. The root of the oil is used for China-ink. 



Sesbania aculeata, Persoon. 



The Danchi. Intra-tropical and sub-tropical Asia, Africa and 

 Australia. This tall annual plant has proved adapted for desert 

 regions. It yields a tough fibre for ropes, nets and cordage, valued 

 at from .30 to 40 for the ton. Several congeneric plants can be 

 equally well utilised. 



