FORESTRY AND CONSERVATION 419 



States command such high prices as to make their use impracticable 

 for most purposes. There is need of some hardwood that will 

 grow rapidly and produce good lumber. Of the woods so far tried 

 the eucalypts appear most likely to fill this need. True, they will 

 not endure extreme cold, but experience indicates that in consid- 

 erable portions of California and more restricted sections of New 

 Mexico and Arizona conditions are well adapted to growing them. 

 It has now been sufficiently tried in Florida also to justify planting 

 it in localities where the temperature does not fall, for any long 

 period, below 22 F., and with proper protection of the seedlings 

 even where the temperature falls as low as 20 F. As a general 

 rule, the commercial species of eucalypts may be introduced into 

 any region in which citrus fruits and the olive will grow in the 

 open. They apparently do best in a climate which permits of a 

 distinct period of vegetative rest during the year, and are capable 

 of withstanding temperature below freezing if the period of the low 

 temperature is not long sustained and if it is coincident with the 

 period of vegetative rest. The decisive factor is temperature not 

 the average temperature, but the absolute maximum and minimum 

 temperatures extremes in either of which are apt to prove fatal. 

 Precipitation is of less importance, since the tree thrives in regions 

 that have an average annual precipitation of less than 18 inches, 

 and in regions in which the annual rainfall is more than 70 inches. 



The benefits secured from windbreaks usually warrant their 

 planting without special consideration of cost. Commercial plan- 

 tations, however, should be established at the lowest possible cost, 

 in order to secure the largest possible balance of profit when they 

 are exploited. When plant material is purchased from dealers, 

 the total cost of setting out plantations and of cultivating them for 

 two years will average from $25 to $30 per acre. However, the cost 

 of planting large areas with stock grown in a well-managed home 

 nursery should not exceed $15 or $20 per acre. Careful manage- 

 ment will reduce the planting cost, but it is poor economy to save 

 at the expense of necessary care and cultivation. After the first 

 two years the only cost of a plantation beyond the rental value of 

 the land will be the cost of protection. 



Returns may be had from blue gum plantations in from four 

 to six years if they are cut for fuel wood. Merchantable saw timber 

 may be produced in from twenty to thirty years. Under favorable 

 conditions seedling groves yield, on the average, from 35 to 45 cords 

 of fuel wood per acre in eight or nine years. Fuel wood should, 

 however, be produced from sprout groves rather than from seedling 

 groves, because sprout stands grow more rapidly. In five years 

 they yield from 30 to 50 cords per acre, and in six years from 40 to 

 60 cords. The New England cord of 128 cubic feet is here re- 

 ferred to, but a short cord of 96 cubic feet is used in California, 

 and to change the yield mentioned into California cords the amount 

 should be increased one-third. 



Fuel brings about $3 per cord on the stump. The average cost 

 of cordwood manufacture is from $2 to $3, and the price of seasoned 



