Notes and Correspondence 



20I 



YosEMiTE, California, November 20, 1913. 



Mr. Wm. E. Colby, 



Secretary Sierra Club, 



San Francisco, California. 

 My Dear Mr. Colby : On October 30th last there were planted in the 

 Yosemite Valley some 150 seedlings of Sequoia Washingtoniana (Gigan- 

 tea). These had been secured for the purpose by Mr. Paul G. Reding- 

 ton. Supervisor of the Sierra National Forest,, at the request of Major 

 Wm. T. Littebrant, Acting Superintendent of the Yosemite National 

 Park. In order to insure the success of the undertaking, Mr. Ernest G. 

 Dudley, a forester, experienced in the rearing of young sequoias, was 

 detailed to superintend the planting and advise as to suitable locations 

 for the trees. 



The scheme of planting, it should be understood, was by no means 

 a haphazard one, a careful survey of the Valley having first been made 

 with especial reference to soil, light, and other conditions for growth. 

 Pains were taken, also, to avoid an arrangement that might interfere 

 with the natural aspect of the Yosemite landscape. The plan finally 

 adopted was that of a gracefully winding avenue, flanked by groups of 

 sequoias. The road selected for the purpose was the one leading from 

 Yosemite Village up the middle of the Valley floor to what is locally 

 known as Kenneyville. 



Nor shall it be said that no eye was had for the future — the very 

 distant future, even — when the trees shall have attained a height of 

 some 200 feet and measure twenty feet across at the base. In no place 

 are the trees set less than eighty feet apart, while the width of the 

 avenue is 104 feet throughout. 



It occurred to the writer, for one thing, that a cluster of big trees 

 about Le Conte Memorial Lodge would be especially appropriate and 

 certain to be appreciated. The matter was laid before Major Litte- 

 brant, and he, with characteristic enthusiasm and promptness, at once 

 directed Mr. Dudley to select six particularly fine specimens to be set 

 about the Lodge. 



At half-past four in the afternoon,, a party composed of Major Litte- 

 brant, Mr. and Mrs. Dudley, Mrs. Matthes and the writer, met at the 

 Le Conte Memorial Lodge and there together laid out a crescent about 

 the building having a radius of about 100 feet. Mathematical exactness 

 of symmetry was not deemed desirable in the scheme, but rather a 

 selection of sites particularly promising for the healthy growth of the 

 young trees. Accordingly, the distances between them are not uni- 

 form, but range from sixty to 100 feet. 



Another locaHty in the Yosemite Valley that was specially favored 

 with sequoia seedHngs is the school house. The day following the 

 planting at the Le Conte Memorial Lodge, two little sequoias were set 

 out, one on each side of the school children's garden, in the presence 

 of Miss Ora Boring, the teacher, and all the children. We may rest 

 assured that these baby big trees will be well cared for. 



