The fact that the Sequoias in the northern part of their range show lack of reproduction is not due to a loss of viability of their seeds, but to other causes. Wherever the thick layer of leaf mould is stripped away exposing the mineral soil and the proper amount of sunlight is sifted down, plantations of thrifty seedlings promise renewal of the race. But where the overhead shade is unbroken and the litter on the forest floor undisturbed, the seedling succumbs long before its tiny roots can reach down through the decaying vegetable matter to the soil beneath. In the southern groves where the ravages of the lumber mill and fire have been extensive enough to open up the dense shade, tearing the ground and baring it to the sunlight, the Sequoia has displayed an admirable ability to seed over the desolated areas. But in the northern groves where sunlight and soil conditions are unfavorable to the development of seedlings, reproduction is practically at a standstill. In the Calaveras Grove Sudworth found a few seedlings “where storm had made an opening in the forest and a ground fire had exposed a little mineral soil. Apparently good use had been made of the first opportunity for reproduction,” he goes on to state, “for young big trees were vigorous in the full enjoyment of the sun.” The same may be said to be true of the Mariposa Grove. Reproduction, as a whole, is always evident when proper conditions obtain, for numberless seedlings may be found growing on spots bared of the forest litter and open to the sun. With continued protection these bid fair to replace the old giants of the present. It is also of interest to note that seedlings are the exception throughout the Redwood belt. This is not due to sterility of the seeds, but to the same causes which have conspired in Big Tree forests to prevent reproduction. The dense shade and the heavy ground litter present conditions most unfavorable to germination. Indeed, were it not for the Redwood’s unique habit of sprouting shoots from stumps and old roots, they, too, would be as completely splendid in their poverty of young trees as the northern groves of the Giant Sequoia. The causes, then, of the death of seedlings, especially in the northern parts of the Sequoia’s range, are not, as was first commonly supposed, due to the drying out of the climate, the loss in vitality of the race, or the fact that the Sequoias are being vanquished by competitive and more lusty species. Given favorable soil and light conditions the tree “still possesses that strong inherent reproductive power that permits survival of the fit.”