LECTURE UPON CALIFORNIAN CONIFEROUS TREES.

Globe, Volume I, Issue 30, 4 July 1874, Page 2

LECTURE UPON CALIFORNIAN CONIFEROUS TREES.

The following lecture was delivered on Thursday evening by Mr W. Wilson at the monthly meeting of the Christchurch Horticultural Society : Mr Chairman and Gentlemen—During l»6t winter I delivered to the members of the Christchurch Horticultural Society three lectures on the cultivation, habits of growth, and character of the timber of the now highly popular Californian, Indian, and European coniferous trees, all of which, front

their thorough adaptability In the cljinnloof New Zealand, their remarkable rupiilily of growth, as well as the numerous purposes of utility to which their timber can lie applied, afford abundant material for a long sciiiw of interesting and instructive lectures, which as president of this society I shall feel it. my duty to deliver whenever called upon l>y its members.

In resuming, therefore, a subject so congenial to my own predilections, 1 don't know that I could invest the subject with a greater interest than by describing the source from whence the seeds of very many of these varieties of trees arc obtained, the difficulties which have to be encountered iu their collection, and the large demand which has arisen within the past few years for these greatly prized seeds. In doing so, I am, of course, necessarily indebted to the experience of others for much of my information. I shall therefore quote freely from a communication I had some few months ago from San Francisco, part of which information obtained publicity in our own newspapers at the time. The subject, however, is of sufficient public interest to bear a partial repetition. " The business of collecting the seeds of the coniferous trees and plants indigenous to the Pacific coast, has expanded at a surprising rate during the past three years, in response to orders from Europe, Australia, and New Zealand ; and at certain seasons of the year furnishes remuneration, through arduous and wearisome labor, to many hundreds of persons. One firm in San Francisco (special dealers in tree and shrub seeds) has its representatives in Oregon, Washington Territory, California, Nevada, and even in the heart of Arizona, from whom are received valuable consignments of Beeds at stated periods—generally in the autumn and winter months. The mountain tree seeds of this coast —especially those of California—are deservedly popular on account of the beauty of the trees and the comparative ease and rapidity with which they grow. The procurement of these seeds is always attended with a great deal of hard work and not a little hazardous adventure.

The gatherer must possess a certain amount of botanical knowledge, both theoretical and practical, and as well, a fair share of nerve and muscle. His calling often brings him to the very summit of lofty and rugged mountains, where no other footsteps, save his own and those of his associates are known ; along giddy trails, across mountain torrents, over treacherous snow banks, on the verge of loaning craga inaccessible to any one but an experienced mountain-climber, in fact wherever the coniferjb abound he must go in order to Becure his harvest of seeds. These venturesome men of the mountains seldom come within the actual confines of civilization, and more rarely reach the bustling cities or even the large towns. They learn to love the grand old mountains, they roam about and after a few years, have no desire to take up a permanent residence at any point near the sea level. One of these men of the mountains, an intelligent and adventurous young fellow, lately narrated at length his experiences during his various expeditions after seeds. It appeared that with his father and several brothers he removed to the valley of the Yosemite, in 1867, and still makes ljis home there.

It was during that year that the flood occurred, which caused the only material change in the. appearance of the valley that has been known since its discovery by the whites.

Up to that time the |bed of the valley was covered by a beautiful green sward that stretched as a carpet from end to end. The heavy fall of snow melting in the spring came rolling down the valley in the form of a broad sheet of water, bringing with it particles of disintegrated rock and a debris that cut up and covered the grass and left the bed comparatively barren. Regarding the collection of seeds, the mountaineer said that his party, numbering four or five white men and fifteen Indians, who were provided with thirty horses and mules, made its excursions in the autumn, generally occupying several weeks for the round trip, though, at times, protracting their absence to a couple of months. The cones are cut from the trees with pruning knives attached to long poles. The pastoral suggestiveness of these implements, which greatly resemble in appearance the shepherd's crook, is dissipated by the sight of sundry bowie-knives and revolvers distributed about the persons of the bearers, and the ponderous Kentucky rifles in hand, or slung across the packs upon the animals. One of these trips netted five hundred sacks of cones. After the cones are gathered they are often exposed to the sun for three weeks or a month, according to their condition, thongh at times they ripen in a few days. The ripening of the cones to a nicety requires considerable botanical knowledge on the part of the operator. If he makes a mistake in his calculations and fails to remove the seeds at the proper time he will find them worthless. And here a question of honor arises. He could send the seeds to market and sell them as being healthy without fear of immediate detection. But eventmally the fraud would be detected, A few years ago, certain persons, either through ignorance or indifference palmed •ff a lot of inferior Californian tree aeedß that never matured, and thereby worked a serious injury to the business, sometime elapsed before confidence could be restored among the seed-dealers abroad on account of the deception, and of course the then growing demand abated for a time. Under more favorable circumstances, however, the trade has brightened up, as already stated, and orders are now pouring in thick and fast. My informant expiated on this point at considerable length, and expressed an irrepressible enthusiasm in his calling. The party of which he is7a member ranges from the " Big Tree Grove" in Mariposa to the eastern base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, at altitudes of from 4000 to 18,000 feet above the level of the Of the tree seeds most in demand among the Europeans those are the Wellingtonia Gigantea, which is best known as the big tree of California. The English botanist Lobb is supposed by many to have first met >ith this tree near he source of the Stanislaus Kiver in Calaveras County, though other writers attribute its discovery to Douglas in 1831 ; in 1865 Mr Sontag sold two pounds of the seeds of hia tree for 125 dollars per pound. Other favorite conifera are the "Pinus Flexilis,' a hardy tree found at the height of 13,000 ft.; the" Pinus Insignis," a lovely grass green pine, of rapid growth ; the " Cuprcssus Macrocarpa," the " Thuja Gigantea," jtnown as the gigantic " Arborritse," a noble

tree, with a straight and very Tobust stem, fn color the foliage is a remarkably bright green, and the blanches are long, flat, and frond like. These, and great numbers of other fin. pines, cedars, and cypresses, constitute the conifenc of California, proudly preeminent nmoni; which is the noble "Abies PouyJnsii ;" a Handsome tree, which attains to a height of 'J2o!'t. willi a stem of 60ft in diameter, and straipht as an arrow. The foliage is of a dark green color, the cones are of a large size, and from the great height of the full grown trees, the seed is very difficult to obtain in quantity ; hence the reason why young trees of this pine are seldom procurable in sufficient abundance and at such a price as would enable them to be extensively planted. The timber of this tree is of a pale yellow color and being resinous in character it is very enduring, and is applicable to numerous purposes of general utility. It grows moderately fast, and from growing specimens which I have seen in several directions, it is evidently well adapted to the climate and soil of New Zealand, and whenever it can be had in sufficient abundance will be extensively planted. A melancholy interest will ever attach to this tree in Europe at least, because of the unfortunate end of the distinguished botanical explorer Douglas, who had but a very short time sent homo to England this noble pine which bears his name, when the sad intelligence soon after followed that his dead body had been found transfixed on poisoned spears placed in a concealed pit made by Californian hunters to entrap wild animals, his remains having been discovered through the wailing of his faithful dog, which had evidently remained for many days on the margin of the treacherous pit which closed the career of one whose name will ever be honored as one of the most valued contributors to botanical science.

Next amongst Californian pines in poiutof merit isjthchandsome PinusMuricata,a tree of rapid growth, of a beautiful grassy green color, strongly resembling the well known " Piuus Insignns," slightly more rigid, however, in the character of its branches and general outline. It stands our winter perfectly, and impatient for the return of spring, it bursts into renewed growth so early as the end of July, when most other trees continue dormant. In its native wilds it grows to a height of eighty feet, and its timber is reported to be of a very excellent and enduring character. Its seeds are readily obtainable ; they bear the voyage well from California, and even from England, from whence our firßt supplies were obtained, as sthe numerous young trees of this valuable pine now in the province fully establishes,

©ne handsome specimen I may briefly refer to, which stands in the grounds of the hon H. J. Tancred on the Windmill road. This tree has been some nine years planted ;it stands over thirty feet high ; its habit of growth is pyramidal in character, with a fine clean tapering stem, rivaling in rapidity of growth—in handsome form and beautiful color a noble Pinus inBignua of equal size close at band, the two trees being so much alike it requires a practical eye to detect the difference. And now in conclusion gentlemen—l have endeavored to lay information before you, in part obtained from well informed sources, the mode of collecting pine seeds in California, the risks and hardships which are endured by those who devote their Hveß to this employment—the source from whence supplies of seeds may be obtained —their after culture and relative values forornaments, for shelter, and for the purposes of utility. And now, Jest I should appear tedious, I shall conclude by thanking you for the attention you have given me, and if on any future occasion I am called on by the society I shall have much pleasure in resuming the subject, for as you are aware, coniferous trees embrace over 400 genera, sub-genera, and varieties — the subject is therefore practically inexhaustable, affording abundant material whereon to invest with increasing interest the history of the noble pine, for no order of trees can be named of more universal importance to mankind than this, whether we view it with reference to its timber, or its secretions, gigantic in size, rapid in growth, noble in aspect, robust in constitution, clothing alike the lofty cloud capt mountain top with majestic grandeur, the shaded dell, or wide expanding plain.