A STUDY Ob' THE KEDVVOOD. 



13 



where the tree grows, is a .sandstone, coniplicated at did'ei-eiit places 

 with a Uiter .stratum, and the .soil has a cla^ye}' to sandy consistency, 

 greas}' when wet, 3'ellowish in color, and with a capacity for holdinj;*' 

 much water. Moi.sture available for the roots is the hrst need of the 

 Redwood, as any hilly tract of forest will .show. Wherever a small 

 gully, or bench, or basin is so placed as to receive an uncommon amount 

 of seepage, or wherever a creek flows by, there the trees are sure to 

 be largest. Even if the soil be not rich, ])ut merelj' gravel, and it 

 contain much moisture, the Redwood will grow more a))undantly there 

 than on richer ))ut drier ground. 



THE REDWOOD FOLLOWS THE FOGS. 



While moisture of the soil atlects the development of the Red- 

 wood, moisture of the atmosphere regulates its distribution. The 

 limits of the sea fogs are just about the limits of the tree. The fogs, 

 unless scattered by the winds, flow inward among the mountains. 

 W^estern exposures receive most of the mist they carry, except those 

 higher ridges above their reach, which support, in consequence, only 

 a scattering growth of Redwood. Eastern and southern slopes, where 

 the sun is hot and the mists strike only occasionally, show few Red- 

 woods, and these are short and limliy. 



THE QUALITY OF THE WOOD VARIES. 



The wood of the Redwood varies greatly. The softest and best trees 

 usuallj' grow in the bottoms; the "flinty" timber occurs on the slopes. 

 But this rule does not alwa^ys hold good. Such fine tracts as those on 

 the Crescent City flats show all sorts of unexpected and unaccountable 

 differences in the quality of the timber. A soft, fine-grained tree will 

 be found close beside one ' ' flinty and less valuable. Even the practical 

 logger is never sure until he cuts it what kind of lumber a Redwood 

 will j'ield. The tree's vitality is so great, it endures so mav vicissi- 

 tudes, and suffers from so man}^ accidents in the centuries of its exist- 

 ence, that the grain of its wood becomes uneven in proportion as its 

 life has been eventful. Most Redwoods become windshaken, or, if 

 they escape this, the wood fibers formed under diftercnt rates of 

 growth sometimes set up a tension so great that when the log is sawed 

 the wood splits with a lovid report. 



THE LARGE REDWOODS OUTNUMBER THE SMALL ONES. 



Tlje Redwood forest is of the selection type; that is, it contains trees 

 of widely varying ages in a single mixture, and keeps itself stocked by 

 reproduction under its own shade. But while in the usual selection 

 forest of other species the young trees far outnumber the mature ones, 

 in a virgin Redwood forest as much as 72 per cent of the trees have 

 been found to l)e above 20 inches m diameter. 



