REDWOOD FORESTS OF THE PACIFIC COAST 155 



tracts by a great number of persons, but a few of the lumber 

 companies have large holdings. Classifying the 280,000 acres 

 above spoken of by holdings, it appears that — 



Of a quarter section, 160 acres or less, there were. . . 6 holdings 



From } section to a section (640 acres) 7 " 



From 1 section to 4 sections 8 " 



From 4 sections to 18 sections. 11 " 



From 18 sections to a township 7 



Over a township. 3 " 



The last were tracts of 30,000, 30,000, and 27,000 acres. The 

 above are the holdings of lumber and mill companies. Whether 

 this classification properly represents the character of the hold- 

 ings of the entire belt is doubtful. It is probable that the hold- 

 ings of those not owners of mills or logging camps are smaller. 



The forest is nearly pure redwood. Occasionally spruce and 

 Oregon pine — that is, red fir — are found, forming perhaps 10 

 per cent of the forest only. The southern part of the strip is, on 

 the whole, composed of older trees than the northern part, and 

 the wood is denser and of less rapid growth. In the north are 

 some tracts covered with trees not more than 200 or 300 } 7 ears 

 old, while the age of the mature trees reaches several hundred, 

 perhaps a thousand years. The annual rings show that in the 

 north, especially in damp valleys, the growth is several times as 

 rapid as in the southern part of the strip. 



The methods used in logging are, in the main, similar to those 

 employed in the great fir forests of Washington, but with slight 

 modifications to fit different conditions. The use of animals, 

 such as oxen and mules, for dragging the logs from the woods 

 is over; so are the days for driving logs in streams. More 

 modern methods are universally employed. Indeed, the most 

 modern methods of labor saving are here in use. In every re- 

 spect a redwood logging camp and a redwood lumber mill are 

 thoroughly up to date — nay, more, they are the pioneers in labor- 

 saving devices. The trees are felled in this wise: They are 

 chopped half-way through on the side on which they are to fall, 

 and then the other half is cut with the saw. Two days' work of 

 two men is required to fell a tree five feet in diameter. The 

 felling must be done with the utmost accuracy, as the trees stand 

 so thickly that when felled they cover the ground completeh r , 

 and yet they must not be allowed to fall on one another, as that 

 would involve great loss by breakage. 



