46 EUCALYPTS CULTIVATED IN THE UNITED STATES. 



some soil similar to that in which the}' are to be set in the lield is a 

 good combination. If the plants are few and choice, it is usual!}" best 

 to transfer them from the seed bed to pots instead of to flats. From 

 the pots they can ))e transplanted with less loss than from the boxes. 

 They still need frequent watering, l)ut the surface of the soil does not 

 need to be kept as moist as during the earlier stages of growth. For 

 a few days after being transferred they often need additional protec- 

 tion from drying. When they have become well established it is well 

 to expose them to the sun and the outdoor air sufficiently to hardea 

 them before transplanting to the held. 



The work of propagating Eucalyptus seedlings is not always accom- 

 plished successfully by those without experience in gardening or 

 greenhouse work. Where the climatic conditions are at all trying, 

 unless one has had some experience in propagating evergreen plants 

 from small seeds, it will be better to purchase the trees of a grower. 

 In the dry valleys of the interior it is especially difficult to grow 

 young Eucalypts successfully. So many are lost from various causes, 

 but largely because of the dryness of the atmosphere, that it will be 

 found more economical to procure the plants from some grower 

 located in a more favorable region. 



But it is important that plants be purchased of a reliable grower. 

 The species of Eucalypts are so numerous, the seeds so small, and the 

 different species so similar in the earliest stages of growth, that it is 

 easy for honest confusion to arise in the mind of a grower who is not 

 conscientiously careful. When to this is added unscrupulousness, the 

 danger of not getting the species desired or called for is quite great. 

 The Blue Gum seedlings are so well known that growers or buyers 

 are seldom deceived in them. But it is not safe to buy any other spe- 

 cies of any but a thoroughly reliable grower. Many nurserymen, if 

 they have not the species called for, or are so ignorant as to be 

 unacquainted with it, will substitute some entirely different species, 

 thinking the purchaser will not know the difference, at least for some 

 years. Last spring (1901) a Los Angeles nurseryman sold a farmer 

 plants of Eucalyptus rohusta for both Sugar Gum {E. corynoccdyx) and 

 Red Gum {E. rostrata), the former in cans and the latter in flats. 



SETTING IN THE FIELD. 



When the seedlings are from 4 to 8 inches high they are right for 

 setting in the field. (PI. IX. u.) They usually attain this size when 

 they are from 4 to 6 months old, but species vary considerably as 

 to the tune required to bring them to the given size. They bear 

 transplanting better, and make a better start after being set out, at 

 this age, than they do when older and larger. In some parts of the 

 South and Southwest they can ])e set out in the field almost any time dur- 

 ing the year. In other localities it is difficult to get them started in the 



