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Redwood
The Encyclopedia Americana Redwood of California
Reed, Andrew
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Edition of 1920. See also Sequoia sempervirens on Wikipedia, and the disclaimer.
1364127The Encyclopedia Americana — Redwood of California
REDWOOD OF CALIFORNIA, thegreat cypress-like forest tree (Sequoiasempervirens) of the Pacific Coast. It is of the samegenus with the big trees (S. gigantea), botanicallydescribed under Sequoia; the latter occursin scattered groups on the west slope of theSierra Nevada, while the redwood forms denseforests on the west slopes of the Coast Range,where it forms the most important timberresource of the State. The forests werethoroughly studied by the government bureau offorestry in 1902, whose report furnishes thefollowing facts: The redwood is popularly thoughtto occupy a strip of country 10 to 30 miles wide,from the Oregon line to the Bay of Monterey,but these boundaries do not cover its actualdistribution. Two thousand acres of redwoodexist in Oregon along the Chetco River. Southof the Chetco a continuous redwood belt begins,and increases its width from 10 miles, at DelNorte County, to 18 or 20 miles, and keeps onunbroken to southern Humboldt County. Hereis a break, but in Mendocino County the beltbecomes dense again, and widens out to 35 miles.South of that county the tree grows in isolatedpatches as far south as the Santa LuciaMountains.
The climate and topography that havebrought about this limited distribution of theredwood deserve attention. North and southalong the coast, in nearly parallel ridges, lie themountains of the Coast Range, steep and risingto altitudes of 1,000 to 2,000 feet. A few largerivers and many smaller streams cut throughthem to enter the sea, and along their coursesin places are broad bottom lands and gentleslopes. West of the Coast Range the climate iseven and moderate, with a range from justbelow freezing to 80° F., and a yearly averageof from 50° to 60°. Snow lies on the tops ofonly the highest ridges. Thirty to 60 inches ofrain falls in the autumn and winter, and in thesummer sea fog bathes the coast. But east ofthe mountains, less than 50 miles from the sea,lie hot interior valleys, never visited by the fog,parched and rainless in the summer, and wetonly occasionally by the winter rains — conditionstoo unfavorable to permit the growth ofthe redwood. The forest may be considered intwo types — the “slope” and the “flat.” Thecommon type is the “slope” — that is, the growthon the steep sides of the Coast Range, which isa mixture of redwood, red fir, tanbark oak andwhite fir, with an occasional madroña orhemlock. As the slopes become moderate, the altitudelower, the soil deeper and the water supplybetter, the redwood steadily gains on theother kinds and the forest becomes denser, untilon the rich flats and in the gulches the secondtype is developed; on the best redwood “flats”no other tree grows.
The redwood grows to a greater height thanany other American tree, but in girth and inage it is exceeded by the big trees of theSierras. On the slopes 225 feet is about themaximum height and 10 feet its greatest diameter,while on the flats, under better conditions,it grows to be 350 feet high, with a diameterof 20 feet, and occasional giants exceed this.Most of the redwoods cut are from 400 to 800years old. After the tree has passed the ageof 500 years it usually begins to die down fromthe top and to fall off in growth. The oldesttree scientifically examined began life 531 A.D.The tree, when normal, has a straight, slightlytapered bole, clear for more than 100 feet, anda crown of horizontal branches that mayoccupy from a third to a half of its total length.The roots strike downward at a sharp angle,and are so large and so numerous as to forma compact mass of wood, in shape like aninverted funnel. The bark of the tree offerssuch a remarkable resistance to fire that exceptunder great heat it is not combustible. It isof a reddish-gray color, fibrous in texture, andgives to full-grown trees a fluted appearance.The tree, however, assumes many shapes.
The redwood requires little of the soilexcept that it be moist, and those trees in a gullyor along a creek are larger than their neighborson the ridges. It is, however, so dependent onmoisture of the air that this factor mainly orwholly determines its distribution, and the easternlimits of the forests are determined by thedistance inland to which the sea fogs may drift.
The enemies of the redwood are few, and itsuffers from them less than other trees. “Thewind,” remarks Fisher, “can scarcely uproot it,insects seem to do it little harm, and fungiseldom affect it. Even fire, the great enemy ofall trees, though it may occasionally kill wholestands of young redwood growth, is unable topenetrate the fireproof sheathing of shaggy barkwith which the old trees protect themselves.”A large area of redwood forest in Santa CruzCounty has been reserved as a nationalforest-park.
Reproduction. — The redwood forest consistsof a mixture of trees of widely varying type,and keeps itself stocked by reproduction underits own shade. Seeds grow up very seldom, theseed itself seeming to have little vitality andthe opportunities for its germination beingrarely present, because it demands plentifullight. Hence new growth is almost exclusivelyby suckers, which supported and nourished byfull-grown roots and stems, thrive under shadein which seedlings would wither. They thussurvive and grow slowly, with little or no sun,until an old tree falls, lets in the light and theyshoot up in rings about the stump into strongyoung trees. In 30 years, under favorableconditions, trees will result 16 inches in diameterand 80 feet high; and it is certain that it willbe profitable to hold cut-over redwood landsfor future crops. This second-growth timberhas not the density and fine quality of theoriginal, but is useful for many purposes, andlarge quantities have already been utilized.
Quality of the Wood. — Redwood is fitted formany uses. In color it shades from light cherryto dark mahogany; its grain is usually straight,fine and even; its weight is light; itsconsistency firm; yet soft. It is easily worked,takes a beautiful polish and is the most durableof the coniferous woods of California. Itresists decay so well that trees which have lain500 years in the forest have been sent to themill and sawed into lumber. It has no resin,and resists fire, a fact which has recommendedit as material for house-building, especially inSan Francisco. Insects seldom injure it,because of an acid element its lumber contains.In sea water, however, the marine teredo eatsoff redwood piling as readily as other timber.Redwood is used for all kinds of finishing andconstruction for shingles, railroad ties, electric-lightpoles, paving blocks, tanks and pipestaves. As a tie its average life, under heavytraffic, is six to eight years; as shingles it willlast as long as 40 years. The chief difficulty inworking redwood lies in the seasoning process,to dry it thoroughly being a slow and difficultprocess.
Lumbering. — The cutting of redwood formarket began about 1850, and has steadilyincreased since with the market demand andgrowth of means of transportation. Its use ismainly confined to the State, and the greatestdemand is from the southern counties.Occasional cargoes are sent across the Pacific, but itis rarely sent East, on account of the expenseof transportation. It has never been a businessgiving extravagant profits. Several hundredthousand acres have already been cut over. Alarge part of this area has been completelycleared and cultivated or used for pasture butmuch remains as wild brush, believed to beuseless; but it is now known that ordinarily aprofitable second growth will arise, so that theanticipated extinction of the tree is no longerto be feared.
Felling one of these enormous trees is anoperation requiring great experience and skillon the part of the woodsman, who must causethe vast trunk to fall precisely where heintends it to lie, and must take care that it isnot split or broken by the concussion, toprevent which a bed is smoothed and prepared forit. A platform is first erected surrounding thetrunk from six to eight feet above the ground.With a long saw in the hands of two men anundercut is made through the trunk, not quiteto the centre, and from the opposite side acrosscut is sawed, ending a foot or two abovethe undercut and leaving a section of solidwood between. When the exact place wherethe tree is to fall is selected, the choppersascend the platform and with axes hew outan angular-shaped piece having the undercut asa base. When this cut is made the second orcrosscut is wedged till the tree topples over andfalls to the ground, the solid section of thetrunk, not pierced by the cuts, supporting thetree till the centre of gravity is passed, andthen the mighty frame falls on its prepared bedalmost intact.
The next operation is performed by the“ringers” and “peelers.” Every 12 or 14 feet,as required, a ring is cut around thecircumference of the bark, and afterward the peelerswith crowbars and wedges "peel" the bark fromthe prostrate trunk. All of the trees arestripped but surrounded with an immenseaccumulation of debris of bark and branches,which must be removed before the trunks canbe sawed into suitable lengths for conveyanceto the mill. The ground is cleared of thisdebris by fire, precaution being first taken toplug up the “splits” in the trunk with clay sothat the fire may not reach the interior of thetree. A foggy day is chosen and a still one.Fire is started and in a short time the tractis burning with a fierce heat that quicklyreduces the piles of bark and brush to ashes, andleaves an unobstructed field for the removalof the solid timber which has been scarcelycharred by the intense heat to which it hasbeen subjected.
The trunks as they lie are then sawed intostated lengths, and then follows the arduoustask of conveying these enormously heavysections to the railroad. Temporary skidways arelaid down and roads constructed. Chutes downwhich the logs pass have to be planned, and onthese, guided by the skilful woodsmen, theunwieldy logs at last reach their destination. Thework is assisted by donkey engines on sleds,which are hauled to the top of the steep banksand into seemingly impossible situations.
The yield of virgin redwoods on thenorthern flats varies from 125,000 to 150,000board feet per acre. About Humboldt Bay itwas from 50,000 to 75,000 feet per acre; and onslopes like those in Sonoma County, from20,900 to 30,000 feet. The redwood cut of 1916was 491,000,000, the largest recorded, beingabout 35 per cent of the entire lumber cut ofthe State. The amount of timber got out of aredwood forest is only a small proportion ofwhat the stand contained. At least a quarterof the timber is destroyed in felling and inthe burning that follows, and of what remainsall the broken and misshapen logs are left onthe ground.
Bibliography. — Fisher, ‘Report onRedwood,’ Bureau of Forestry (Washington1903); and authorities on California, especiallyMuir, and on forestry. See Forestry.