110 
TIMBER 
much below 5,000 ft. nor much more than 10,000 ft, 
above sea level (Fig. 21). 
These trees are thus interesting from a scientific point 
of view, being the last living representatives of a former 
geological age. 
Eedwood is one of the few trees which are but little 
affected by fungus, thus lasting well for outdoor work or 
sleepers. Some of the oldest specimens of " big trees " 
felled were still sound at the heart when cut up. 
The average height of the Sequoia washing to ni ana is 
about 275 ft., and the trunk diameter near the ground 
20 ft., although individual trees from 300 to 320 ft. are not 
rare. After centuries the tapering stem drops the slender, 
gracefully curving branches, and the trunk, which is much 
enlarged and buttressed at the base, becomes naked for 
100 to 150 ft. ; in very old trees the bark is as much as 
2 ft. thick. 
Mr. John Muir measured one in King's Kiver Forest 
25 ft. in diameter at the ground and 10 ft. in diameter 
200 ft. above, and one can ride erect on horseback through 
the " Father of the forest," whose trunk lies on the ground 
and whose heart has been eaten out by fire, for a distance 
of 82 ft. ; it is 10 ft. in diameter at 150 ft. from the base, 
and can still be measured for a length of 365 ft. There is 
a cross section of one of these trees in the American 
Museum of Natural History, New York, 16 ft. 2 inches 
diameter inside the bark, which in places is nearly a foot 
thick, and if the annual rings are an indication of age it 
was over 1,500 years old. There is a cross section of 
another in the Natural History Museum, South Ken- 
sington, 16J ft. diameter cut at 18 ft. above the ground 
from a tree 276 ft. high. For interesting details of these 
trees see J. D. Whitney's " Yosemite Guide Book," J. M. 
Hutchins's " In the Heart of the Sierras," John Muir's 
