1906 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



455 



east slope of a ridge, having an eleva- 

 tion from 6,800 to 7,300 feet above 

 sea level. The total number of Se- 

 quoias in the grove was found to be 

 170, and these are scattered irregular- 

 ly along the gentle slopes on either 

 side of the small streams flowing 

 through the' grove, the entire grove 

 covering an area of some 50 acres. 

 The stand is composed almost entirely 

 of large, old sequoias ; only in three 

 restricted localities is any ' young 

 growth to be found and this ranges 

 from seedlings a few inches in height 



tree, is the cause of the scarcity of 

 sequoia reproduction within the grove. 

 This was clearly shown in one locality 

 where a fire had destroyed the fir and 

 pine on an area of a few square rods 

 and here, on a plat 16^2 feet square, 

 550 sequoia seedlings were counted, 

 from two inches to one foot in height. 

 Two other patches of sequoia young 

 growth were found, one of sapling 

 growth from 4 to 15 feet in height, 

 scattered among a fairly dense cover 

 of chaparral, but overtopping it and 

 making good growth. The other lo- 



Reproduction of Bigtrees, Averaging 3 feet tall and 15 years old. Grown up after 

 Fire. Dinkey Bigtree Grove, Sierra Forest Reserve, California. 



to pole growth with diameters of 8 

 to 18 inches. The large sequoias are 

 found as single trees, in twos, or in 

 groups of three or more. In one case 

 a group of seven large trees is found 

 growing very near together and the 

 group has been named "The Pleiades." 

 With the bigtrees, forming an un- 

 derstory, is found a large quantity of 

 sugar and Jeffrey pine, white fir and a 

 small quantity of incense cedar, rang- 

 ing in height from 100 feet to 150 

 feet. The density of this growth, to- 

 gether with the intolerance of the big- 



cality contained much larger growth, 

 from 6 to 20 inches in diameter. In 

 all three cases these stands were found 

 in small openings among the fir and 

 pine. 



Seed of the bigtree in this grove 

 seems to be borne in abundance, judg- 

 ing from the large number of cones 

 beneath the trees, but, owing to the 

 heavy litter on the ground and the 

 shade of fir and pine, the species can 

 succeed in germinating and getting 

 started only in the very few, small, 

 open spots within the grove. On the 



