1897 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



379 



gum-tree that are not found in other trees. 

 We have all observed that, in the leaves of the 

 trees we have about us every day (of course, 

 some of us do not see many leaves In winter, 

 which is not the rule in California and other 

 favored parts of the earth), the upper surface 

 is turned to the sun, while the lower side is 

 facing the earth. In the gum, this is different. 

 One of the edges of the tree is turned toward 

 the sun, thus always exposing the leaf to the 

 light. The color of the leaves is not of that 

 green appearance that we are wont to see in 

 the leaves of the trees we find in this country. 

 The color is generally of a bluish or pearly - 

 green hue. The leaves of the red gum are 

 much greener than those of the blue, and do 

 not nave the gray color while young. Botan- 

 ically they are what are called alternate, 

 though in the young trees they are opposite, 

 and of a more blue or pearl color. The first 

 form is shown in the cut of the flowers; the 

 latter is apparent in the young growth of shoots 

 shown in the left of accompanying half-tone. 

 Shoots that spring from the stumps of trees 

 that have been cut down, or branches that 

 have been severely trimmed, have the same 

 characteristic of leaves as those of young trees. 

 When the young trees have attained their 

 second or third year they begin to put forth 

 their alternate leaves. 



I do not know of any tree that is easier to 

 raise from seed than is the gum-tree. Of course, 

 they will not stand a cold climate, and some- 

 times even in California a sharp frost is apt to 

 nip the tips of the young plants. For this 

 reason it is well to start the seed under glass in 

 the fall, and in the spring transplant the little 

 seedlings into shallow boxes, say 50 plants in a 

 box 16x20 inches. When a foot high they may be 

 set out where they are to remain. It is always 

 best to set them out where they are to grow up 

 into trees as soon as possible, that the tap-roots 

 that the tree sends deep into the earth may 

 give it that anchorage required to maintain 

 aloft the large amount of trunk and branches 

 that it may spread out. 



For a long time it was thought here the tree 

 would not self-seed in this climate. But since 

 several generations, so to speak, of the trees 

 have been grown here from seed from home- 

 grown trees, it is now found that seed that falls 

 upon any thing like fertile soil germinates and 

 grows into thrifty trees. The finest growth of 

 self-grown trees that I have seen is on the 

 banks of the Temescal, where a hotel had been 

 destroyed by fire. The heat of this fire killed 

 some of the gum-trees that stood near by; but 

 the trees, in dying, shed their seed that was in 

 the seed-cones, some little time after the fire, 

 upon the debris of the ruined building. To-day 

 the spot is covered with gum-trees fully sixty 

 feet high, that sprung from the seed that thus 

 fell upon the site of the burned hotel. 



The trees shown in the half-tones herewith 

 are about 20 years old. Those on the hill back 

 of the house in the valley were planted by the 

 late J. Ross Brown, the American humorist, 

 traveler, and United States Minister to China. 

 The tops of the trees in the left foreground are 

 on the bank of the Temescal. and are fully 150 

 high. The scene of a bit of a gum forest is 

 taken in a grove of 100 acres or so known as 

 Rockridge Park, a private property in the hills 

 east of Temescal. A clearing was made in 

 that portion shown in the left foreground of 

 the photograph a year before it was taken; but 

 the cleared part was soon covered witk a 

 growth of young trees or "suckers" that 

 sprang from the stumps that remained in the 

 ground. The gum is like the California red- 

 wood in this, that it is a hard tree to kill unless 

 it is rooted out. 



By looking carefully in among the trees in 

 the center of the photo, just above the upper 

 fence, two cords of wood may be seen piled up. 

 This forest is being thinned out so as to give 

 the remaining "bean-poles" a chance to be- 

 come good-sized trees. 



Quite a trade is carried on in Alameda County 

 by persons who cut and sell blue-gum wood for 

 fuel. There is a company in Oakland that 

 secures the leaves of these trees, and, by a 

 patented process, converts the resinous and 

 volatile liquid obtained therefrom into a pre- 

 ventive for the Incrustation of steam-boilers. 



I have found that the leaves and bark, espe- 

 cially the strips that the trees voluntarily shed 

 each year, are an excellent fuel for bee-smokers. 

 The aromatic odor of the smoke seems to have 

 a salutary effect in quieting bees, and the odor 

 is not unpleasant to the apiarist after he be- 

 comes used to it. The smoke of the leaves is 

 recommended by physicians for the cure of 

 asthma. 



The numerous varieties of the eucalyptus 

 have an extended period of florescence, and it 

 may be possible to plant half a dozen varieties 

 and thereby obtain a continuous succession of 

 flowers the year round. Some varieties are 

 said to bloom twice a year, though I have not 

 noted any doing so. I have seen some blooming 

 a few months after the tree last ceased its 

 round of inflorescence. The two varieties com- 

 mon in the central portion of the State, the 

 varieties already named, bloom for a good part 

 of the year, and, as stated, at a time when 

 honey-secreting flowers are most needed for 

 the bees. 



The blue gum, the flowers of which are 

 shown in the illustration, usually begins to ex- 

 pand its petals or anthers in December, and I 

 have known it to continue in flower for five 

 months. One may well imagine the amount of 

 flowers a tree 150 feet high will produce. At 

 the writer's home on the Temescal. a few miles 

 north of the city of Oakland, are several blue 



