and expanded—these dimensions far excelling any 
foreign spruce. 
Five of our firs, the Red-bark, the White-bark, 
and the Shasta firs of California, and the Grand 
and Noble firs of the region northward, become 
two or three times as large as any eastern or for¬ 
eign fir, being often 200-300 feet high, 12-18 feet 
in diameter, with cones 6-8 inches long. 
Our two world-renowned redwoods—the Coast 
Redwood and the Sierra Big Tree, rising to the 
height of 300-320 feet and enlarging, while yet 
young, to a diameter of 20-35 feet an< i growing for 
3,000-5,000 years—are not approached in grand 
proportions and regal majesty elsewhere. And 
the cones of one of our redwoods—the Sierra Big 
Tree—though small as compared with our pine 
cones, are yet, doubtless, the monsters of their race, 
the largest being the size of a hen’s egg, while the 
largest cone found in connection with fossil re¬ 
mains of the twenty-five extinct species do not 
exceed the size of a nutmeg. 
So with the 2-3 inch cones of our Alpine Hem¬ 
lock Spruce, the i-inch cone of Incense Cedar, the 
ij^-inch cone of the Monterey Cypress, the 24 - 
inch berry of the California Juniper, and the Cali¬ 
fornia False Nutmeg, all the largest cones of their 
respective families. 
WHY THIS FAVORITISM? 
This prodigality in number and size extends to 
other vegetable growths. Our oaks are numerous 
and often large, with the largest acorns and cups 
known. One of our maples bears leaves 6-10 
