THE "BIG TREES" OF CALIFORNIA.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 20, 23 January 1877, Page 4

THE "BIG TREES" OF CALIFORNIA.

v. -f 7i '/-■-■•" T'f' s- 4^ — _J"f {;-< ] A Californian botanist has sent to thd Sural Press an account of the results] of a famous " big trees,' and a laborious Count oi tbe rings in various stumps. Thej " Father of the Forest " has been said] to have sprang from the earth soon] Sft|f thi.Pel^g^'but tM |iwgs\ifl" hia shfoMe ireji (trunk show that pis ifdlt .age! arbaielV^probafely lSOO^fartl °ki^ alleged 40ft djameter proves to be only 18ft, measured* at_ 6ft from the roots^ This correspondent adds:— "One oft-j repeated story is true, however, that os % r eaßfagaltj^oiigb;r S| "p'arf f df4jfis/bodyj large enough to admit horsemen. This passage, burnt out of his heart, com-! mences at a point 66ft from the roots,and extends 120ft, coming out where there was onee a knot-hole, now en-j iarged by relic seekers to a wide doorway. I saw several ladies ride horses; of a medium size through this wooden tunnel, and one day, while passing' rifling one of my horses and leading the other packed with bulky specimens, t turned into tbe cavity and rode safelv through. The ceiling overhead is 4ft to 6ft thick, so the grand promenade for visitors above is perfectly safe.'f He mentions another monster tree whose stump he measured with his tape-line, " held at the other end by a Puritan master builder from Boston," and the longest diameter, including baok, sft from the base was found to exceed 27ft. He says also : " Th<| South Park Grove contains about 500 trees, some of them of the largest class; One— the home of ' Trapper Smith '— j is a vast swollen trunk at base— -20ft in circuit, and 30ft in diameter. Thb "Livery Stable,' whioh bas received -22 : horses~at a time into ita hollow base! is 84.1 in circuit. A fallen tree is 15fi tnd iameter, ;9oft: from the roots. A cavity is burntanut sufficient to comfortably shelter 25 or 30 horses, or to afford ihe pa&sage of a- Concord coach with its four-hdrseteam, for over 200ft. •These - dimebsioDsl Ho! nog 1 Materially differ from sbme published statements/ but qpnnts.and estimates of the ringfc .Cither grov"es_vißUe|V*^ tiVe evidence ttiat iUddh b tl_e^durteni stops, being.pasily dete?auned,Are often greppL' JBc'cflrs&i^ "beien : generally grossly siaggajjate .U y, 1