200 



ARBORICULTURE 



The American Lumberman 



EDITORIAL IN ISSUE OF NOV. 3rD 



"Miss Santa Fe Railroad, after a 

 summer engagement with J. Catalpa 

 Speciosa Brown, now is reported to be 

 flirting with Eucalypti. This shows 

 inconsistency, but then possibly Catalpa 

 Speciosa did not make good. The rail- 

 road company has made arrangements 

 to plant 16,000 Eucalyptus trees in 

 southern California. This probably is 

 the fastest growing tree in the world. 

 Whether the rate of growth will prove 

 satisfactory to the railroads remains to 

 be seen. The Eucalyptus is said to 

 have been used for ties largely in 

 Australia for twenty-five years. Based 

 on results secured in that far-away 

 country, the experiment is being made." 



For the information of these I will state 

 that Miss Santa Fe has not taken any 

 interest in Catalpa Speciosa during the. 

 existence of the present management 

 and certainly has not flirted with the 

 editor of Arboriculture. 



Thirty-five years ago S. T. Kelsey 

 planted several groves of various forest 

 trees in Kansas for the Santa Fe under 

 a former management, and although 

 they have been greatly — yes, totally 

 neglected, the Catalpa Speciosa is 

 making an excellent showing in these 

 groves. We have made several efforts 

 to. obtain some information regarding 

 the story going the rounds of the press, 

 in which this railway was preparing to 

 plant an enormous area with Eucalyptus, 

 but have been unable to secure any 

 confirmation. 



It is extremely unfortunate that but a 

 very limited area of the United States — 

 southern California and part of Arizona — 

 are suited to the growth of tropical 

 trees such as the Eucalypti. 



Of the 300 varieties composing this 



family of trees, only a few have been 

 thoroughly tested in the United States. 

 The well-known blue gum. Eucalyptus 

 globulis, the most numerous of these 

 trees in California, is not durable in 

 contact with the soil, while some varie- 

 ties supposed to be suited to tie making 

 are of remarkabl}' slow growth. 



We have repeatedly advocated the 

 planting of the Eucalypts, and hope the 

 Santa Fe will make this experiment for 

 the benefit of the whole country. 



Along these lines we append an ex- 

 tract from a private letter from a 

 gentleman who is well informed upon the 

 subject. 



Office of the Conservator of forests 

 "Cape Town, South Africa, 



"Oct. 16, 1906. 



The points to be remembered about 

 introducing Eucalypts to California are 

 these: 



The Californian coast region where 

 the Eucalypts grow has a purely winter 

 rainfall, and to fit these conditions, the 

 Eucalypts climatically suited are those 

 from West Australia, from South 

 Australia and from Victoria, as far east 

 as Melbourne. Between Melbourne and 

 Sydney you get into a range of country 

 where there are most of the finest timber 

 Eucalypts, many of which may be grown 

 in California, but where the rainfall, 

 being pretty well distributed throughout 

 the year, gives some little climatic risk 

 for the Californian coast. However, it 

 will be sufficient to remember that for 

 Eucalypts coming from the area between 

 Melbourne and Sydney, localities where 

 there is subsoil moisture in summer 

 should be selected. 



"The best Eucalypts are the two 

 Ironbarks — Eucalyptus paniculata and 

 E. sideroxylon — and such choice timber 

 Eucalypts as E. microcorys, E. pilularis 

 and E. resinifera. 



"The dry-country Eucalypts depend so 

 much on subsoil moisture that rainfall 

 distribution does not much matter. 



"Signed, E. Hutchins." 



