38 EUCALYPTS CULTIVATED IN THE UNITED STATES. 



Angeles and Compton, set in 1880 and cut for the third time in June, 

 1900, produced 1,360 cords, an average of 80 cords of 1-foot wood per 

 acre. (PI. VI, b.) The price received by the owner for the crop was 

 $2.50 per cord on the stump. It will be seen that this return fully 

 justified the using- of the heaviest of agricultural land for the growth 

 of fuel. On poorer land the yield is only a third to a half the above 

 amount. The size attained in good soil a short time after being cut is 

 often remarkable. (PI. VII.) In a grove near Pasadena, set in 1885 

 and cut for fuel in 1893, there were in July, 1900, some trees 2 feet in 

 diameter and many over 100 feet in height. 



Mr. Cooper estimates that at the rate his trees are growing he can 

 cut from his 200 acres of miscellaneous species, set largely in soil too 

 rough for tillage, 1,000 cords of wood per year indefinitely without in 

 any way detracting from the appearance of the groves or from their 

 usefulness in other ways. Judged by the known rate of growth of 

 smaller groves, the above estimate is not high. The Eucalypt is evi- 

 dently destined to be the future fuel tree of the Southwest. Even 

 when settlement in this region began the hard-wood trees were limited 

 in number, and these are rapidly disappearing under the woodman's 

 ax. In much of the Southwest the oak has been a source of hard-wood 

 fuel, but in many places the supply is about exhausted, and in none 

 can it last indefinitely. Over a good deal of the region the Mesquite 

 {Prosopis juliflora) has been the chief source of fuel, but even these 

 trees are rapidly disappearing in the vicinity of the settlements. All 

 available timber will soon be cut, and there is no known species except 

 the Eucalyptus that can take its place and at the same time supply the 

 increasing demand for hard-wood fuel. The extensive planting of 

 Eucalypts in such localities would be a wise provision for the future. 



Not only the wood of the Eucalypts is used for fuel, but in Calfornia 

 the leaves are utilized for this purpose. A Los Angeles company is 

 making for market bricks composed of Blue Gum leaves and twigs 

 mixed with crude oil, and the product is reported to be an excellent 

 fuel for domestic use. The entire tree is thus utilized. This new use 

 of Eucalypt leaves suggests the possibility of many industries growing- 

 out of the extensive planting of the trees in the Southwest. 



AS A SOURCE OF OIL. 



While the stem and branches of the Eucalypts furnish timber and 

 fuel, the leaves and twigs are the source of a very important oil. In 

 Australia many species yield sufficient quantities to enable them to be 

 utilized for oil production, but most of the oil produced there is 

 obtained from three or four species. For many years the production 

 of eucalyptus oil has been an important industry in that country. 

 One of the first investigators and producers of this oil was J. Bosisto, 



