1904 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



67 



Mr. T. P. Lukens, of Pasadena, during 

 a fog in that city placed a pan under a 

 Eucalypt, and during one night obtained 

 one- fourth of an inch of water which 

 the tree had condensed. At Garden 

 Grove, in early September, a road which 

 passes beneath a grove of Eucalypts 

 was as wet in the morning as if there 

 had been a considerable shower during 

 the night. 



The Blue Gum grown in a forest pro- 

 duces a long, fairly straight bole, with 

 practically no limbs large enough for 

 fuel. The tree prunes itself. The dead 

 limb is severed underneath the bark, 

 and drops off, leaving a slight hole, and 

 no protruding portion, which gives the 

 tree a very clean appearance. 



There are two seasons for blooming, 

 one being in the early summer and the 

 other in early winter. Different trees, 

 however, differ widely, so that flowers 

 may be obtained almost any time. The 

 fruit ripens about the same time as the 

 tree blooms. This point is a fair test of 

 ripeness when looking for seeds. 



The Blue Gum is easily raised from 

 seed. The seed should be sown three 

 to four months before it is desired to set 

 out the young plants. One of the easiest 

 and best wa) 7 s is to plant the seeds in 

 patches about two inches apart (plant- 

 ing several seeds in each patch) in boxes 

 of sandy loam and then cover with one- 

 quarter inch of beach sand. The boxes 

 should be three to four inches deep. A 

 convenient size is fifteen by thirty inches; 

 such a box would contain one hundred 

 patches. After the young plants have 

 reached a height of one inch they should 

 be thinned out, leaving one strong plant 

 in each patch. The plants thinned out 

 might be transplanted to other boxes or 

 seed beds, placing them again two inches 

 apart. The seed boxes should be kept 

 constantly moist. 



The seed will sprout in about two or 

 three weeks, and should be six to ten 

 inches high in three or four months, 

 which is the best size for planting. The 

 field which is to be planted should be 

 well prepared. As soon as the rains 

 begin it should be plowed deeply, say 

 six to ten inches, and then left to give 

 the weeds a chance to sprout ; it should 

 then be plowed again lightly and broken 



up with a harrow. If the grove is be- 

 ing planted for fuel, 8 x 8 feet is probably 

 the best distance to separate the trees. 



The trees should be cultivated for two 

 or three years, until the ground cover 

 is well established. The ordinary rule 

 is to cultivate five times the first year, 

 three times the second year, and often 

 enough afterwards to keep the weeds 

 out. The matter of cultivation is ex- 

 ceedingly important, and unless it can 

 be thoroughly done it would be better 

 not to try to raise Blue Gum. As an 

 example of the results of neglect, there 

 is at Santa Fe Springs a small grove 

 which was planted and cared for the 

 first year until the rains came. Culti- 

 vation was then neglected, and the 

 weeds and gophers obtained free access. 

 In December, 1902, there was scarcely 

 a tree missing from the rows, while in 

 December, 1903, one year later, over 

 half the trees were dead and the grove 

 beyond saving. 



The cost of planting and cultivating 

 for two years should not exceed $25 

 per acre on fairly good land. This es- 

 timate includes the preparation of the 

 ground, raising or buying the plants, 

 the planting, and the subsequent culti- 

 vation. The best time for setting out 

 the young plants is in Januarj^, Febru- 

 ary, March, and April. In exposed 

 regions, March and April are preferable, 

 in order to escape the frosts and severe 

 winds of January and February. If 

 there are early rains, November is a 

 good month. The best time to cut old 

 trees, in order to secure a good repro- 

 duction by sprouting from the stump, 

 is between November i and March i. 

 This was noticed in an examination of 

 most of the groves of southern' Cali- 

 fornia. 



Thinning will pay a trifle more than 

 the expense of cutting out the surplus 

 sprouts. All the sprouts should be al- 

 lowed to grow the first year, and during 

 the second year should be thinned to 

 two or three sprouts on a stump. The 

 stumps of trees after cutting sprout well 

 up to ten years of age, after which their 

 power of reproducing appears to \vane. 

 Usually four or five cuttings, at intervals 

 of from five to ten years, may be made 

 from the sprouts, after which the old 



