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Jepson Field Book Transcriptions · Jepson Herbarium

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17_126
Big Creek Woods
Santa Cruz Co.
[June 20, 1907]

-Torreya, bark black nearly, on adult trunks fissured into low narrow longitudinal ridges. Trees 105 feet h.
The trees stump sprout.
-All coniferous trees have a normal maximum height. Until they get to this height they will replace the leader, if last, by one or two shoots. One sees Redwood, sometimes, with two axes from midway or 1/3 up. I have seen a Big Tree with 2 giant arms like a Y, a very curious sight. Monterey and Bishop Pines lose or obscure their leader on reaching a certain height and become flat-to9pped. So may Yellow Pine but most conifers naturally retain a spire point.
17_127
[Big Creek Woods
Santa Cruz Co.]
June 20, 1907

As always I am struck by the appalling amount of waste in forest operation. Yet the operating may be economical from the standpoint of the producing company. Take tie-making as it is practiced. A tree is felled. After it is down the tiemakers find it is difficult to split and use only 1 or 2 eight-foot cuts. The butt cut of ay redwood tree will, the chances are, be hard to split. If the trunk bark shows interlocking ridges, the wood will also be crooked grained the woodsmen say. More or less of the top is broken in fall. That is waste. Thre is limbage. More waste. The parings in shaping the ties. More still when one sees all this piled up as waste he thinks of how much good
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