22 BIG TEEES OF CALIFOENIA. 



of the thirty-sixth degree of north latitude, and its elevation from 5,000 to 8,400 

 feet above the level of the sea. 



The wood of the Big Tree is very light, soft, not strong, brittle, and coarse-grained, 

 but very durable in contact with the soil. It is bright clear red, turning darker on 

 exposure, with thin nearly white sapwood, and contains thin dark-colored conspic- 

 uous bands of small summer-cells and numerous thin medullary rays. The specific 

 gravity of the absolutely dry wood is 0.2882, a cubic foot weighing 17.96 pounds. 

 Slanufactured into lumber, it is used locally for fencing and in construction, and is 

 made into shingles. 



BOTANICAL NOMENCLATURE OF THE BIG TREE. 



The selection of the proper scientific name for the Big Tree has been 

 the subject of much discussion, and is a question concerning which 

 there is still considerable disagreement among authorities. Since the 

 tree first became known to botanists it has received the five following 

 scientific names: 



1. Wellingtonia gigantea Lindley. 1853. 



2. Sequoia gigantea Decaisne. 1851. 



3. Taxodium Washingtonianum Winslow. 1851. 



4. Sequoia Wellingtonia Seeman. 1855. 



5. Sequoia Washingtoniana (Winsl.) Sudworth. 1898. 



For reasons founded on the fixed principles in botanical law, the first 

 two names are permanently barred from use. The present dissension 

 among authorities centers on which of the last two names should be 

 applied to the Big Tree. It is believed, however, that Sequoia Wash- 

 ingtoniana is the correct name for this tree, as shown in Bulletin 17, 

 Division of Forestry, United States Department of Agriculture. 



INTRODUCTION OF THE BIG TREE INTO CULTIVATION. 



William L()l)b visited the Calaveras Grove in 1854 and succeeded in introducing 

 this Sequoia into English gardens. It is now one of the most universally cultivated 

 coniferous trees in all the countries of central and southern Europe, but, while it 

 has grown rapidly, it is already beginning to show that the existing climates of 

 Europe do not suit it, and that this glory of the Sierra forests need fear no rival 

 among the emigrants of its race. It has also been occasionally cultivated in the 

 eastern United States, where it does not flourish, although it has occasionally sur- 

 vived in a few sheltered or particularly favorable situations.^ 



The best examples of success in cultivating this tree in the East are 

 to be seen in the nurser}^ of Messrs. Elwanger and Barry, Rochester, 

 N. Y., where there are two trees about 35 feet high. 



OWNERSHIP OF BIG TREE LANDS. 



The ownership of the Big-Tree timber lands of California is divided 

 among the State, the Federal Government, and private individuals. 



State Holdings. 



California owns but one tract, which includes the Mariposa Grove. 

 This was ceded to California by the United States in 1865, in an act 

 known as the " Yosemite and Big Tree Grant," by the terms of which 

 the State received the Yosemite Valley proper and the Mariposa 

 Grove, to hold and protect as State parks. The extent of the Mari- 

 posa grant is 2 square miles, or, roughly, about 4 per cent of the 

 total area on which the Big Tree grows. 



iProf. C. S. Sargent, in ''Silva of North America." 



