This mighty tree belongs exclusively to the foggy regions of the Coast Ranges and the underlying metamorphic sandstone, for wherever either of these conditions is wanting, this tree does not exist. From the northern boundary line of the State down to the head of Tomales Bay it forms a continual forest, increasing in width northward. At Tomales Bay the chain is interrupted by a small bed of lime-rock. The interruption extending from the lower foot-hills of Tamalpais down to Belmont, is undoubtedly owing to the lowness of the hills. A connecting link is found, however, on the Oakland hills. That grove of redwoods, now almost entirely destroyed, affords the strongest evidences of the dependency of that species on the prevalence of heavy mists. From Belmont to a few miles below Santa Cruz is another narrow continuous chain, occupying mainly the leesides of the most western ranges and the deeper gulches eastward. From near the mouth of Salinas River to the head of Carmelo Valley, another long interruption is caused by a bituminous slate. The absence of redwood in this long interval can hardly be ascribed to any other cause, for it is known that Monterey and the adjacent regions are subject to heavier fogs than Santa Cruz. Pinus insignis and Cupressus macrocarpa occupy here those portions naturally belonging to the redwood and Tsuga Douglasii. Further south, from the head of Carmelo Valley to San Luis Obispo, the most southern limit, redwood occurs but sparingly, forming nowhere extensive groves. Associated with the redwood we find Tsuga Douglasii, a tree of a wide range, Torreya Californica, Arbutus Menziesii, Quercus densiflora, and in Mendocino County Abies grandis Dougl. There are also some shrubs and herbaceous plants truly characteristic to them, the shrubs increasing as underwood northward, belong mostly to the Ericaceous family. It is a noteworthy fact that the arborescent growth of the leeside of the first range of hills generally consists, almost exclusively, of Tsuga Douglasii, and that this tree forms the outskirt east and particularly westward. In Mendocino County Abies grandis unites with it for the same cause; there both trees form a dense belt, facing the ocean, and are encroaching fast on the redwood. In fact, the western portion of those redwoods show this encroachment most strikingly by a total absence of young redwood, and a dense, almost impenetrable, undergrowth of the two-mentioned species. The order of things is, however, reversed wherever the redwood has been cut. Its roots are imperishable, and as soon as the tree is cut they sprout and cover the soil rapidly to the exclusion of every other species—none being of so rapid a growth. The indestructibility of the roots prevents the clearing of such land; even large trunks cut down cover themselves, within two or three years, so completely with sprouts that they are hardly seen. The entire after growth now found on the Oakland hills, is owing solely to the indestructibility of its roots and stumps. The tenacity of life in this species, which is rather of rare occurrence in coniferous trees, shows itself also in the resistance it offers to fire, so frequent in those woods. Trees that have been bereft completely of their branches by fire, covered themselves in a few years entirely with young sprouts, giving the trunks the appearance of a pillar, or remind one of those old trunks covered with Rhus toxicodendron in the East. Fire is destructive to the young trees only; after they have obtained a thickness of two or three feet they are not liable to perish.
Another great beneficial feature in this species is the great power it possesses in condensing fogs and mists. A heavy fog is always turned into a rain, wetting the soil and supplying springs with water during the dry season. Springs in and near the redwoods are never in want of a good supply of water, and crops on the Coast Ranges are not liable to fail. The year of 1864 has proved my assertion beyond doubt; this fact is generally known—a great deal of land has been taken up since. It is my firm conviction that if the redwoods are destroyed—and they necessarily will be, if not protected by a wise action of our Government—California will become a desert, in the true sense of the word. In their safety depends the future welfare of the State; they are our safeguard. It remains to be seen whether we shall be benefited or not by the horrible experience such countries as Asia Minor, Greece, Spain, and France have made, by having barbarously destroyed their woods and forests. But with us here it is even of a more serious nature; wise governments would be able to replace them in those countries, but no power on earth can restore the woods of California when once completely destroyed!
Regular Meeting, November 6th, 1865.
Dr. Kellogg in the chair.
Eight members present.
Donations to the Cabinet: Specimen of Pinus ponderosa, Abies Douglasii, Taxus brevifolia, Larix occidentalis, Pteris aquilina, and Abies Menziesii; presented by Mr. Dunn.
Regular Meeting, December 4th, 1865.
President in the chair.