k 



A STUDY OF THE REDWOOD. 21 



This contrast between the indifference with which second-growth Red- 

 wood of large size is regarded in Crescent City and the readiness 

 with which much smaller stuff is used in Sonoma County, where there 

 is a market for it, is significant. It is one of the signs which go to show 

 that second growth has a future, and that better times for the Redwood 

 are near at hand. 



A BETTER MARKET NECESSARY. 



The important matter is that the market should improve; and the 

 market is improving. The northern country is opening up; railroads 

 are entering where the large trees grow, and buyers are learning more 

 about the good qualities of the Redwood lumber. All this makes it 

 the more worth while to the lumberman to plan for a second crop on 

 his Redwood lands. 



A STUDY OF SECOND-GROWTH REDWOOD. 



To learn the rate of growth of second-growth Redwood a stud}- was 

 made of some of the largest of such stands. The investigation began 

 with the timber near Crescent Cit3\ In that place logging operations 

 have so far been confined to the coastal plains between the sea and Smith 

 River, a plain once forested with a heavy growth of Redwood, Spruce, 

 and Hemlock. 



THE TRACT AT CRESCENT CITY. 



The second growth studied near Crescent City was on the crest of a 

 small rise, just above sea level, where the original stand of timber was 

 cut off" in 1873-1875. The trees covered 6 acres; they had suffered no 

 burning since the first crop was logged, and there had been no other 

 interference with the reproduction. The age of the stand was 25 to 

 30 years. 



TRACTS AT EUREKA AND ARCATA. 



Two small tracts were studied near Eureka and Areata. They were 

 on good soil, 200 to 300 feet above sea level, on rolling ground. At 

 Eureka 20 per cent of the forest was Red Fir; at Areata 15 per cent 

 was Red Fir and White Fir. The Eureka stand was 35 years old; that 

 at Areata, -10 to 45 years. 



THE redwood's FIGHT FOR THE GROUND. 



The stands at Crescent Cit}^, Eureka, and Areata represent the best 

 conditions for the growth of suckers. When the okl Redwood i^ cut 

 the stumps sprout abundantly; a few Spruces and Hemlocks seed up 

 the gaps; and these three species, with the help of small shrubs, soon 

 form a dense thicket. In a few 3^ears the Spruce and Redwood and 

 other fast-growing trees, like Alder, begin to overtop and shade out 

 the brush and small plants; the dead vegetation deposits a leaf muck, 



