THE EUCALYPTUS 



BY HARRY D. TIEMANN 



'UCALYPTUS for California is a This is just where the fallacy in the ar- 

 proposition worthy of hearty en- guments of the eucalyptus promoters 

 dorsement, but it should stand comes in. The trees actually produce 

 upon its own merits and not upon in volume of green wood what is 

 some fictitious attributes. Otherwise claimed, but only a very small portion of 

 vast disappointment and losses to this is convertible into useful lumber, 

 the hundreds of small investors who The main troubles with the wood are 

 are counting upon the Eucalyptus first, that the trees themselves while liv- 

 as a timber producing tree are in j n g contain internal stresses, which 

 store. In your July number appears an ca use the logs to check as soon as the 

 interesting article upon San Diego's tree j s cu t ? and the boards to warp di- 

 Municipal Forest. The statement is rectly from the saw. Then in drying 

 there made that "Eucalyptus is an ac- t he shrinkage is not only very unequal, 

 ceptable substitute for almost any of b u t it i s three or four times as great as 

 our American hardwoods." In the same hickory, and unlike other hardwoods, 

 issue there appears a news note entitled it begins to shrink with the first loss of 

 Fast Growing Eucalyptus, to which has moisture as high as eighty per cent of 

 been subjoined apparently by the editor the dry weight. Moreover the dry 

 a comment that "it is almost unbeliev- wood will not hold its shape well. In 

 able that trees growing so rapidly pro- d .ir drying the wood either checks badly, 

 duce a timber as hard and tough as honeycombs, or warps, generally all 

 hickory." Unquestionably these state- three. Small specimens and occasion- 

 ments have been made in all good faith, a iiy a larger piece of lumber, and very 

 but evidently without a first-hand carefully selected material have dried 

 knowledge of the kind of lumber which successfully, but this represents so small 

 these quickly growing trees less than a proportion of the standing timber that 

 half a century old will produce. As the profit is gone. In some experiments 

 this lack of understanding is very gen- j n drying this lumber in a special kiln 

 eral and is likely to lead to serious con- o f my own invention I have succeeded 

 sequences, I would like, Mr. Editor, i n turning out some really fine boards 

 with your assistance, to sound a note of which will compare favorably with oak 

 warning, since I have had considerable and other hardwoods, but it must be 

 experience in drying the wood from remembered that this represents se- 

 these trees. lected material, and probably from less 

 While much that has been claimed as than one per cent of the standing trees, 

 to the- marvelous growth of this tree is and even so less than half of the scale 

 indeed true, the rapid growing species, measure of the logs from which cut. 

 particularly the blue gum, E. globulus, For small articles such as tool handles 

 which is the one of most consequence good material can be had by selection, 

 is not to be considered a timber produc- an d SO me concerns in California are 

 ing tree during its early life of thirty or riOW manufacturing these, but the mar- 

 forty years, for reasons about to be ket fof this material is necessarily lim- 

 given. It is true that the old trees of . d and such gmall stod . does not re _ 

 Australia which are of great age and - . stnmmcre 

 size produce lumber of good quality l uir 



which can be seasoned and utilized as Mr. Watson in his article does not 



other hardwood lumber, but not so with state what species he is planting at San 



the young trees such as are growing in Diego. It is possible that some of the 



California, less than forty years old. slower growing eucalypts, the value of 



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