A STUDY OF THE REDWOOD. 



15 



The sprout manages to survive year after year by connection witli its 

 parent, and to mal?;e a slight increment of wood. When an old tree 

 is felled, more light is let in, more nourishment made available, and 

 the sprout shoots up with all its native vigor. 



The sprout will endure an astonishing amount of shade. In stands 

 of second growth, so dense that not a ray of sunlight can enter, sap- 

 lings 6 or 8 feet high are to be found growing fi-om stumps, bare of 

 branch- or foliage except for a few inches of pale green crown at the 

 top. In very dark, damp places in the virgin forest one may find 

 clumps of shoots as white as sprouts from a potato in a cellar. 



The tolerance of the Redwood sprout depends somewhat on soil 

 moisture. On the bottoms the tree is enabled to stand so much shade 

 that other species are usually driven out of competition for the ground. 

 On the hills, where there is less moisture and more light, the Redwood 

 generally gives way to the less tolerant Fir and to such drought- 

 enduring species as Tanbark Oak and Madrona. 



ENEMIES OF THE REDWOOD FOREST. 



The enemies of the Redwood are few, and it suffers from them less 

 than other trees. The wind can scarcely uproot it, insects seem to do it 

 little harm, and fungi seldom affect it. Even fire, the great enemy of all 

 trees, though it may occasionally kill whole stands of young Redwood 

 growth, is unable to penetrate the fireproof sheathing of shaggy bark 

 with which the old trees protect themselves. 



FIRE. 



For centuries fires have run through Redwood forests. They have 

 killed young growth, made "goose pens" by burning out the litter 

 from between the roots, and scarred the bark of the older trees; but 

 the Redwood has sufi^ei'ed less from fires than has any other species. 

 In the damp northern part of the Redwood belt the forest is too wet 

 to burn. Farther south, during August and September, while the 

 trade winds are ])lowing and the land is dry from lack of rain, fires 

 are frequent. Even then, unless the conditions are exceptional, the 

 fires are seldom dangerous. But if the dry season has been unusually 

 long and the wind is very high, and a fire is driven down fi'om the 

 bald hills into the heavy timber of the flats and gulches, the flames 

 may gain such headwa}^ as to sweep from the forest all the 3'ounger 

 trees and the underbrush. Ridge fires commonly clear the ground of 

 underbrush and occasionall}^ kill small trees. In September, 19U0, a 

 ridge fire occurred near Occidental, Sonoma Count}^, where the forest 

 of Redwood, Fir, and Tanbark Oak is thin and scattering, with dense, 

 dry underbrush. The wind drove the flames over the ground as fast 

 as a man could run; fences, bridges, and farm buildings were burned; 

 young timber was killed and the growth of the old timber checked. 



