GIANT TREES.

Taranaki Daily News, 22 February 1922, Page 3

GIANT TREES.

CALIFORNIA HOLDS WORLD’S RECORD. Tn the Sequoia National Park, California, U.S.A., there exists what is claimed to be the largest tree in the world. This monarch the woods, which is known as General Sherman, is 279 ft. 9in. high and 36ft. sin. in diameter, and its massive trunk and branches are estimated to contain about 1,000,000 feet of lumber. If placed closely side by side, 36- of these immense trees would cover an acre of ground. Its age is calculated at about 4000 years, so that it was a seedling in the year 2080 B.C. Other notable trees in the vicinity are Abraham Lincoln, 270 ft. high and 31ft. in diameter, and William M'Kinley, 290 ft. high and 28ft. in diameter. Just within the southern boundary of .the park lies the famous Mariposa Big Tree Grove. Here stands over 600 fine specimens of the Sequoia Gigantea, which to-day grow only in the Sierra of California, and the highest of which, the Mary Twain tree, measuring 331 ft., is reputed to be the world’s tallest tree. Other fine trees are Grizzly Giant, 93ft. in girth at the base; La fayette, Washington, Columbia, Nevada, and Wawona. Some idea of the size of the lastmentioned can be gauged by the fact that for years it has had a 26ft. roadway cut through its trunk for motor traffic, without in any way impairing its vitality.