HARDWOOD RECORD 



27 



into timber ratsina. It might I00I5 as alluring 

 as some of tlie ads of the foreign concessions 

 and in all probability will yield about as much 

 in reality. Whatever may be the trade condi- 

 tions, whether the crop season is too wet or 

 too dry and regardless of the acreage, that crop 

 you mention, the sucker crop, still continues to 

 be large. — H. C. Haner. 



An editorial in the Eecord under date of 

 April 25, 1909, referring to the Forest 

 Service report on the qualities of eucalyptus 

 as compared to other standard woods, stated: 

 In strength, hickory being used as a basis 

 of measurement and placed at one hundred 

 per cent, it was found that hard maple in 

 thimble skein wagon axles showed eighty-nine 

 to one hundred and four per cent, while 

 eucalyptus, from selected specimens turned to 

 these axle sizes, developed only from sixty- 

 eight to eighty per cent. Even Douglas fir, 

 for this purpose, ranged from sixty to seventy 

 ])er cent. In work tests — that is, putting 

 wood to the test of jar and durability of 

 service (hickory representing one hundred 

 per cent), maple showed eighty-four per cent 

 and eucalyptus sixty-six, while Douglas fir 

 showed only fifty per cent. 



A careful experiment as to the practica- 

 bility of using eucalyptus for wagon and car- 

 riage poles and shafts, handled out by an 

 expert in this line of manufacture, showed 

 even worse results. It was proven that the 

 involved and crooked grain of the wood made 

 it decidedly unsatisfactory for poles and 

 shafts, while its working qualities were re- 

 I)orted as bad, and the labor involved in 

 finishing it was much greater than in the case 

 of hickory. 



These two reports demonstrate that 

 eucalyptus forms no logical substitute for 

 hickory for carriage aud wagon making pur- 

 poses. 



As a specimen of the organized Ijombastic 

 exploitation of' eucalyptus which seems to be 

 rapidly making its way from California, the 

 following is excerpted from a long editorial 

 article entitled "A Fortune in Hardwoods," 

 which appeared in the St. Louis Star of 

 Nov. 14: 



The growing scarcity of good oaii timber has 

 increased tlie cost of everything into whicli it 

 enters. Xotwithslanding the cheapening of all 

 processes of manufacture and of other materials 

 that enter into agricultural machinery, the in- 

 creased cost of wood has prevented the reduction 

 in prices tliat should have come. 



This suggests the cultivation of oak as a 

 private iiiisiiicss venture, but it is a slow grow- 

 ing wood and few owners of land care to devote 

 it to a crop that matures so slowly, no matter 

 how great tlie ultimate profit may be. For this 

 reason manufacturers are facing a greater in- 

 crease in the cost of oak timber, with complete 

 exhaustion of the supply as a final result. Natu- 

 rally tliey are looking" about for a satisfactory 

 substitute. This substitute is the eucalyptus, 

 of which several varieties are especially adapted 

 to all the uses now made of oak. 



For years eucalyptus trees have been culti- 

 vated in California — imported originally from 

 Australia — for ornamental purposes, and by a 

 few in groves for their timber value. During all 

 that time its qualities have been tested and its 

 habits studied, with the result that it is now- 

 declared by the forestry experts of the govern- 

 ment and of C'alii'ornia to be a perfectly satis- 

 factory substitute for oak in the manufacture of 

 machinery, tool handles and furniture, for l>uild- 

 Ing purposes and inside finishing, for timbers, 

 railroad ties and firewood, and more practicable 

 for cultivation because of much more rapid 

 growth. A eucalyptus tree will attain larger size 

 in ten years than an oak will in fifty. 



itenlfzing that more money can be made from 

 an acre of eucalyptus in ten years than from 

 any other crop not requiring great risk and 

 labor, the people of California have begun plant- 

 ing thousands of acres of eucalyptus, confident 

 that the price of hardwood ten years hence will 



be even higher than now and that there will be 

 a hungry market tor every foot of good timber 

 thev caii produce. This great planting of euca- 

 lyptus was referred to by Mr. Pinchot and re- 

 ceived his indorsement as a wise investment of 

 money. Many a California man engaged in 

 other pursuits than farming is laying up some- 

 thing for a not distant future by investing in 

 a few acres of young eucalyptus trees, which 

 will grow while he works and in the end will 

 make him safe against possible want. 



And that end is not far distant, because a 

 tree beci>mes commercially valuable for firewood 

 in five years and increasingly so for other uses 

 as it gets older. 



Such a large acreage of these trees is being 

 set out that manufacturers using hardwoods 

 liave some assurance of a supply, though entirely 

 inadequate in any proportions likely to be pro- 

 duced in this way. 



It almost seems as if some eucalyptus pro- 

 moter had "seen" the St. Louis Star, 



The Record has no argument to make 

 against the value of eucalyptus for firewood, 

 medicinal uses, as a boiler compound and a 

 tanning solution, and as stated in this article 

 it appreciates the value of the wood for cer- 

 tain uses. The point which it has endeavored 

 to bring out here is that the properties of 

 the wood as a substitute for the liigh-elass 

 hardwood, in the wagon, furniture and handle 

 industries, are to say the least conjectural. 



The foregoing information from all sources 

 at hand is herewith published simply to urge 

 upon investors the necessity of viewing with 

 some suspicion the alluring and bombastic 

 announcements of promotion companies that 

 investment in eucalyptus plantations means 

 the accumulations of sudden and vast wealth. 



People unfamiliar with tree growth should 

 remember the one basic fact that nature does 

 the like thing under like conditions. Never in 

 the history of tree growth has it been demon- 

 strated that a particularly valuable wood was 

 of quick growth. Bear in mind the jiremier 

 of tree growth, the oak : 



Three centuries he grows, and three he stays. 

 Supreme in state : and in three more decays. 



It sh(ntld further be recalled that anv.fast 



growing tree has a predominance of sap and 

 for qualities of strength and longevity sap- 

 wood has small value as compared to heart- 

 wood. The sap of some varieties of wood 

 show great strength when green, but there is 

 no fast growing sapwood that has any great 

 and permanent strength when thoroughly dry. 

 Green sap maple is very strong, but breaks 

 when dry under a jar. 



The editor of the Record professes to 

 have considerable knowledge of wood physics. 

 He has examined very carefully a good many 

 specimens of various varieties of eucalyptus, 

 and he has yet failed to be able to analyze a 

 single specimen of possible high value for 

 carriage or wagon making purposes, for fur- 

 niture or kindred lines, or for remanufactur- 

 ing purposes. Its milling qualities, on ac- 

 count of its involved grain, are extremely 

 bad. It is weak in breaking strength. It 

 possesses no beauty of color and very little 

 of grain. He can conceive that eucalyptus 

 might under chemical treatment make desira- 

 able railroad ties, good telephone and tele- 

 graphic posts and fence posts, but from any 

 specimen of the wood which he has yet en- 

 countered, tills would be about its limit for 

 utilitarian purposes. 



He wishes to remark further that there is 

 nothing said in this article with the intent 

 to be unfair or even unkind to the eucalyptus 

 promotion game, to the promoters, or to the 

 wood itself. This article is written simply, 

 as has been previously stated, to warn in- 

 vestors to exercise extreme care and gain a 

 tnorough knowledge of tree growing history 

 before they invest their money on the say-so 

 of promoters, enthusiasts or strangers. 



II Hardwood Record Mail 'Bag 



I In this department it is proposed to reply 

 to such inquiries from Hardwood Kecokd read- 

 ers as will be of enough general interest to 

 warr;int publication. Every patron of the paper 

 is invited to use this department freely, and 

 au attempt will lie made to answer queries per- 

 taining to all matters of interest to the bard- 

 wood trade in a succinct and intelligerit man- 

 ner. ] 



Misinformation from a Correspon*^t 



CO.XASAUOA. POLK COCXTY, TeXX., N0». 30. 



Kditor Hahdwood Record ; In your Issue of 

 November 25. under the head of "Timber Land 

 Sales," page 3G, appears an article to the effect 

 that John C. Arbogast has sold to William 

 Whitmer & Sons of Philadelphia, Pa., some 

 70.000 acres of valuable timbered lands in Polk 

 county, Tennessee, and Fannin county, Georgia, 

 which includes all of tlie saw mills, the rail- 

 roads and about 2.5.000 acres of land owned by 

 I lie Conasauga Lumber Comijany in Polk county. 



There is absolutely no truth whatever in that 

 part of this article which refers to the Cona- 

 sauga Lumber Company. We have not sold our 

 property to the Whitmer company or anyone 

 tlse. nor do we contemplate a move of the kind. 

 To the contrary, we are now figuring on adding 

 to our present lioldings a considerable boundary 

 of timbered lands adjacent thereto, and expect 

 to increase our output considerably within the 

 next few months. 



You will readily see what a detriment to our 

 business, a report of this kind spread broadcast 

 would be, and we will ask you to do us the 

 kindness of giving as prominent a place in 

 your next issue to our denial of the report as 

 you did to the publication of same in your issue 



of the l.'.">th. COXASACGA Lr.MBEK CoMl'AXV, C. 



P. Benedict, Vice-President. 



The article referred to came from one of 

 the Record's regular correspondents, which 

 led it to believe that the information was 

 accurate. The Record takes pleasure in 

 printing this letter, which shovis that our cor- 

 respondent was at fault. The original pub- 

 lication is sincerely regretted. — Editor. 



Commends the Record's Cincinnati Issue 



Cincinnati, O.. Dec. 1. — Editor IIaudwoou 

 I;i:coiid : We wish to say that we were very well 

 pleased with the Cincinnati issue, and think it 

 was splendidly gotten up. — George Littleford. 



Released from Custody 



New York, Nov. 2:3. — Editor Hardwood Rec- 

 ord : Regarding the article your paper pub- 

 lislied about me recently from your Bristol cor- 

 respondent : When these papers were first pre- 

 sented here the magistrate seeing the nature of 

 their flimsy character immediately released me 

 on bonds, and when I presented the facts to 

 Governor Swanson of Virginia, showing that I 

 had left Virginia on March 22 to visit my dying 

 sister, and the acts were alleged to have been 

 (omniitted on March 30, and he was shown con- 

 clusively that no crime was committed, he with- 

 drew his request for extradition, and today the 

 case was dismissed. — H. I. Soei.e. 



The friends of Mr, Soble will be pleased 

 to know that the charges against him were 

 unjustified by the facts. — £-ditok. 



