A HANDBOOK FOR EUCALYPTUS PLANTERS. 



47 



its greater scarcity and the competition of valley oaks, which have been 

 slaughtered regardless of their value for ornament and shade. Fuel 

 oils have supplanted fuelwood to some extent, yet in Southern Cali- 

 fornia, where fuel oils are available, fuelwoods have never been disposed 

 of at a sacrifice. 



Eucalyptus wood has high fuel value. It makes a quick, hpt fire r 

 hence it is very suitable for cooking purposes and for use in open fire- 

 places. It burns with a bright blaze and emits a pleasant, aromatic 

 odor. In heating qualities it is hardly inferior to California oak wood. 

 Most consumers are prejudiced in favor of oak wood, however, hence 

 gum wood commands a lower price in the market than oak or mesquite. 

 In different localities the price of gum fuelwood varies from $5 to $14 



PLATE 9. Cutting a 6-year-old stand of blue gum for fuel. Portable 

 sawing and splitting machine and piled cordwood in foreground. 

 Stand averages 80 feet in height. Five acres cut yielded 350 Cali- 

 fornia cords. 



per cord, with tendencies toward the latter. Wood of the slower-growing 

 eucalypts and that of old trees possesses higher value than young wood 

 from quick-growing species. Green gum wood makes poor fuel. 



Gum wood is sold by the short cord of 96 instead of 128 cubic feet, 

 two tiers of wood, 10 to 18 inches long, piled 8 feet long and 4 feet 

 high, constituting a cord. Ten-inch wood is generally sold at the same 

 price as 18-inch wood, without protest by the consumer. The wood cut 

 from the rapid-grown gum sprouts is mainly sapwood, which shrinks 

 greatly in drying. A cord will lose 15 per cent or more of its volume in 

 seasoning. 



Cordwood for the market is usually cut from tall, slender, sprout- 

 grown trees rarely over 8 inches in diameter. The trees are sawed into 

 fuel lengths without peeling the bark. If left in the round the sticks 



