feet, furnishing a first-class wood ; shipbuilders get keels of this 

 timber 120 feet long ; besides this they use it extensively for plank- 

 ing and many other parts of the ship, and it is considered to be 

 generally superior to American Rock Elm, A test of strength has 

 been made between some Blue Gum, English Oak and Indian Teak. 

 The Blue Gum carried 14 lbs. weight more than the Oak, and 17 

 lbs. 4 ozs. more than Teak, upon the square inch. Blue Gum wood, 

 besides for ship building, is very extensively used by carpenters for 

 all kinds of out-door woi'k, also for fence rails, railway sleepers — 

 lasting about 9 years — for shafts and spokes of drays, and a variety 

 of other purposes." * 



Of the rapid growth of this species of Eucalyptus and the facility 

 with which it is propagated, most people in California who have had 

 any experience with it are familiar ; but as perhaps few persons 

 who have specimens of it growing upon their grounds or in their 

 yards are aware of its value otherwise than for ornamental purposes, 

 I have deemed it a matter of interest as well as of importance to 

 quote from Dr. Mueller's valuable paper. Having propagated the 

 Blue Gum from the seed and raised many specimens under not par- 

 ticularly favorable circumstances, I can indorse the remarks of the 

 author from whom I have quoted. An instance of rapid growth im- 

 mediately under my observation, is that of a specimen purchased by 

 me of a nurseryman, which at the time of planting (Jan. 5, 1871) 

 measured from the ground level to the extreme tip six and one 

 half feet, and in about eleven months ( Dec. 8, 1871) had reached 

 a height of a trifle over fifteen feet ; the diameter of the stalk when 

 set out was half an inch, and at the final measurement one and three 

 quarters inches. I am prepared to hear of instances far exceeding 

 my figures, but it should be borne in mind that we had very little 

 rain after this tree was planted, and furthermore that the locality 

 was upon nearly the highest ground in Petaluma. This tree was 

 occasionally, but only moderately watered during a part of the 

 time. Other trees of this species planted at the same time, also made 

 a remarkable growth ; specimens raised by me from the seed, whose 

 growth I have noted, show a gain of ten and a half inches in twenty- 

 one days, or half an inch per diem. 



*Vide " The Principal Timber Trees readily eligible for Victorian Industrial Culture, 

 etc., etc., by Ferd Von Mueller." 



