THE SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK 



By John R. White, Superintendent 



STUDENTS of any subject are always intensely inter- 

 ested in the finest exanii)les to be found in their par-' 

 ticular line of work. The architect dreams of the day when 

 he can sec the Parthenon or the Taj Mahal ; the volcano- 



Photograph by George F. Belden 



THE PILLARS OF HERCULES 



The Giant Forest. Sequoia National Park, contains in an area 

 of 3,200 acres 5,000 sequoia trees, over 400 of which exceed lU 

 feet in diameter. The General Sherman Tree, 36.5 feet in diam- 

 eter, is the largest and oldest living thing in the world. 



logi-st turns his stq)s toward Vesuvius or Mauna Loa ; the 

 lover of waterfalls seeks the Yosemite ; the big game 

 hunter goes to East Africa or the Canadian Rockies. 



The forester, or even he who merely loves trees, fol- 

 lows therefore a natural instinct when he turns longingly 

 towards the Sequoia National Park for it is there that 

 the mightiest forest in the world has been preserved ; it 

 is in that Park that the largest trees in the wprld are to 

 be found. Sequoia yigantea or Washingtoniana is best 

 studied at Giant Forest where the Big Tree of California 

 is found not only in many groves but in true forest 

 growth. Elsewhere in California the Big Trees occur in 

 isolated groves as at Calaveras, Marijxjsa and Tuolumne. 

 But ill the Sequoia National Park they are spread over 

 many miles so that the forest lover may wander among 

 them and find mammoth trees rarely if ever visited and 

 may study them "far from the maddening crowd." 



It is conceded by dendrologists and travelers that the 

 forests of this Park surpass any other of their kind in the 

 size and beauty of trees and in the number of species 

 rei)resented. As well as the Big Trees, almost limitless 

 ;n number, size and age, there are not less than lo species 

 of i)ine, two of true firs, the cedar, and the so-called 

 nutmeg, 6 species of oak, 2 each of alder, cherry, maple 

 and dogwood, and many others. 



Another feature which commends this Park to the 

 forest lover is the possibility of reaching the Big Trees 

 at any season of the year. Only in the region of the 

 Sequoia National Park is it possible to actually see the 



Photograph by George F. Belden 



THE "ABE" LINCOLN TREE 



Height, 270 feet; diameter, 31 feet. The Sequoia tree is the 

 crowning achievement of the vegetable kingdom in size and ma- 

 jesty and age. 



