PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 351 





THE EUCALYPTUS. 



The United States possesses such an extent of country, with great variety 

 of soils, all graduations of elevation from several hundred feet below sea level in 

 the Southern portion of California to three miles above in the Rocky Mountains. 

 All conditions of rainfall and of aridity must be considered in planting forests or 

 continuing the life of those now in existence. 



In the sub-tropic regions of Southern Florida the Gulf Coast of Texas, 

 through Arizona and southern half of California, conditions prevail which are 

 favorable to the growth of the Eucalyptus, and if the land owners can be shown 

 the high value of this tree, ease with which it may be grown, and more especially 

 the folly of former and present methods of pruning this magnificent tree, it can 

 be made of vast importance to the regions to which it is adapted. 



It is necessary, first, to state that the various Eucalpyti are confined to locali- 

 ties free from frosts or at least severe frosts, hence it will not succeed in our 

 middle or even the southern states except within the territory above named. 



It is my purpose in this sketch to speak of this tree from a practical stand- 

 point only, showing some of the uses to which it has been and may be put, how to 

 plant and cultivate the tree, where to plant, etc. 



As to uses. The first and most natural service is to be found in the remark- 

 able beauty of the tree growing in arid and treeless sections. In California, along 

 the highways, the tree with its towering foliage lends remarkable relief to an 

 otherwise barren and desolate landscape. Not only as a shade, but also as a relief 

 to the monotony of the view, it is worth while to plant it. But so far the most 

 practical use to which it has been put, aside from its forestry effect on the rain- 

 fall, is as a domestic fuel supply. On account of its well-known rapid growth, 

 ves planted twenty-five to forty years have been supplying cooking fuel for 

 years, and while as a fuel it does riot rank with the hardwoods, yet considering 

 that it makes a growth in twenty-five years equal to the hardwoods in 

 three hundred years, its value may readily he appreciated. I have seen 

 trees that made as many as seven cords of stove wood, and after standing 

 ricked for a few weeks it burned freely, enabling a meal to be prepared 

 in a few minutes, and making the maximum fuel yield in the shortest time from 

 any fuel available in that state. While it ranks as a "soft wood," yet when cut a 

 very short time, the grain being rather fine, it becomes very hard to cut, indicating 

 that for framing material in coarse construction work, the timber may be very 

 useful. In construction of barns and outbuildings there is no reason why this new 

 timber may not become an important and economical factor. 



