Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 252, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 October 1915 — KING OF ALL OAKS [ARTICLE]

KING OF ALL OAKS

Largest Tree of This Species Is in California. It Pears a Ton of Acorns Ever Year, and. ls*Neariy Twice the Size of Hooker Oak —Sycamore Biggest Non-Nutter. Washington.—The American Genetic association has announced the award of two prizes of SIOO each for the location of the largest nut-bear-ing and non-nutbearing treps in the country. The largest nut-bearing tree is a valley oak on the ranch of B. F. Gruver, San Benito county, California, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. This lordly tree measures 37 feet 6 inches in circuml- - It is near the city of Stockton, and the natives, who declare that it produces a ton of acorns every year, take great pride in it. It is expected that the “discovery” of this tree will be at once a surprise and a disappointment to the friends of the famous Hooker oak of Chico, Cal., named for the English botanist. Sir Joseph Hooker, who, in 1872, declared that, so far as encyclopedic knowledge went, it was the largest oak in the world. Several persons sent in photographs of the Hooker oak, which, however, is only 21 feet 8 Inches in circumference, although it rises to a height of 105 feet. , The largest tree in the non-nut-bear-ing class of hardwoods disclosed by the contest is a sycamore - near Worthington, Ind. This tree is 150 feet high, after having had its height considerably reduced by lightning and wind. It has a spread of 100 feet and Its trunk one foot above the ground is 45 feet 3 inches in circumference, while its east branch measures 27 feet 8 inches around and its west branch 23 feet 2 inches. This Indiana tree is the largest known tree in all the eastern country. It does not Compare, of course, with the giant redwoods of California and some other big conifers, none of which were entered in the contest for that reason. Some of the giants of California measure more in diameter than the Hoosier sycamore in circumference.

The Genetic association received 337 tree photographs in this contest, which started in October last year and closed July 1 this year. These pictures covered trees in ali sections of the country, from a two hundred and fifty-year-old Connecticut elm, which is the pride of all the country, side, to a persimmon tree, which rises to a height of 130 feet and has a base seven feet thick, establishing a new record for its species. The persimmon tree is near Luxorar-Ark. The second largestynut-biaring tree disclosed by the contest is a chestnut three miles from Crestmont, N. C., on the main range of the Big Smoky mountains which divide North Carolina and Tennessee. This tree is 75 feet high and has a circumference of 33 feet 4 inches.

An article giving the details of the contest, in the Journal of Heredity, official organ of the Genetic association, says: “It is impossible even to mention all of the valuable records sent to the American Genetic association. Many persons, entering into the spirit of the contest, said they knew the trees of which they sent in photographs were not prize winners, but they wanted them recorded in the interest of science. Others sent large specimens of species that ordinarily reach only a small size, realizing that the prize would go to some larger species, but desiring to aid the association in getting a record of all species. Thus excellent specimens of sassafras, chinquapin, catalpa and white birch were submitted, and make highly valued additions to available information on large trees in the United States.” It is announced that the contest confirms the fact that the sycamore is the largest hardwood tree in North America. Yellow poplar ranks next to sycamore in point of size among ‘ / *

the non-nut-bearing hardwoods. One of the photographs submitted in the contest was of a yellow poplar near Reems Creek, N. C., which is estimated to be 198 feet in height and 34 feet 6 inches in circumference. The purpose of the contest was to find out in what regions the native trees attain their largest growth and under what conditions they thrive best. The Genetic association hopes that it may be possible to secure seeds, cuttings or grafting wood from the remarkably thrifty trees in order to see whether finer specimens can be propagated in other parts of the country. In this way it is hoped that some particularly choice strains of native trees may be established in legions where good specimens are not now found.