10 



line of blue gum 35 years old is surrounded by several acres of 

 younger trees which started from the seed dropped by the plant- 

 ed trees. The ^oung trees are of excellent form and are grow- 

 ing rapidly, the largest being 16 inches or more in diameter and 

 70 to 80 feet in height. In another place near Olinda blue gum 

 trees 12 years of age have produced fertile seed. 



The swamp mahogany (E. robusta) is probably not much in- 

 ferior to the blue gum so far as age of seed bearing is concerned. 

 In Makawao, on the Island of Maui, at an elevation of 3,000 

 feet, swamp mahogany 20 to 25 years old produced fertile seed 

 which has covered a small rocky ledge with young seedlings. 



No naturally sown seedlings of other species of Eucalyptus 

 were observed in Hawaii ; but this is probably due to the fact 

 that few other species have been planted long enough under 

 such conditions as favor the germination of the seed when 

 dropped from the tree. The seed will not, as a rule, germinate 

 in turf or litter, but requires pure mineral soil. Most of the 

 older eucalypts on the Islands, having been planted for orna- 

 mental purposes, are surrounded by lawns. 



The ability of Eucalyptus to reproduce itself naturally by 

 seed is unimportant commercially, when compared with its ca- 

 pacity to grow from sprouts (or ratoons). All the trees of this 

 genus reproduce themselves very rapidly from the stump when 

 cut. If injured by cattle, wind, or fire, young shoots are ever 

 ready to take the place of the injured parts. A tree blown down 

 by the wind and partly uprooted will send out numerous shoots 

 from the prostrate trunk, which may eventually form trees of 

 desirable form and quality. A grove of blue gum at Kailiili, on 

 Maui, was planted on a very windy hillside. The trees were 

 spaced 10 by 15 feet, and many were blown down by subsequent 

 storms. From the trunks thus bent to the ground numerous 

 sprouts appeared, forming a comparatively dense growth, which 

 developed into a remarkably good stand of trees. When the 

 trees were about ten years old, the grove was thinned, with the 

 result that the stand is now in excellent producing condition. 

 In this case the wind had a decidedly beneficial effect. However, 

 it is extremely unsafe to depend on the wind as a silvicultural 

 tool, and the instance is mentioned here only to illustrate the 

 wonderful sprouting capacity of blue gum. 



Other eucalypts than the blue gum have this power to an 

 equal degree. A grove of mixed eucalypts, mostly of blue gum 

 and red mahogany (E. resinifera) at Haiku Hill, on Maui, at an 

 elevation of 500 feet, produced trees 30 to 40 feet high and 3 to 

 10 inches in diameter in less than three years after the first crop 



