THE TALLEST TREE THAT GROWS 



By Edgerton R. Young 



IN these days, when the reforesting of 

 the waste lands of our country is be- 

 coming a question of such national 

 importance, the study of the relative 

 value of different species of trees is natu- 

 rally very essential. 



Scientific parties are scouring the earth 

 in search for new plants, fruits, and veg- 

 etables to add to our enjoyment and hap- 

 piness. A good degree of success has 

 already attended their efforts, and doubt- 

 less much more will yet be accomplished 

 by them. 



Owing to the rapidly increased price 

 of timber and lumber, the matter of for- 

 est-growing is of vital interest to the 

 great corporations like the railroads, 

 manufacturing and building companies, 

 that must have, for their very existence, 

 vast quantities of timber and lumber. 

 The timber required by the railroads for 

 the one item of railroad ties, not taking 

 into consideration the quantity used in 

 the construction of cars and buildings, 

 consumes the output of many hundreds 

 of thousands of acres of" timber lands 

 every year. 



While undoubtedly the valuable trees 

 indigenous to America will be most 

 largely replanted and utilized, many 

 others that are not natives of this conti- 

 nent, when found by experiment to be 

 easily grown and of value, will also be 

 imported and largely cultivated. 



In the case of the eucalyptus this has 

 already been done, and so extensively is 

 the tree now grown in California, and 

 so many and valued are its uses, that it 

 will be news to multitudes to hear that 

 there still live many who remember when 

 it was first brought into that state by 

 the late Bishop Taylor from distant Aus- 

 tralia, its original home. 



It was a surprise, as well as a revela- 

 tion, to' find on our recent visit to Aus- 

 tralia that in that far-away land, under 

 the Southern Cross, were growing trees 

 that towered in the air 150 feet higher 



than the great Sequoia, the famous red 

 wood of our American West; and yet 

 such is the fact, as some specimens of 

 the Eucalyptus aiuygdaliua reach to the 

 great height of 480 feet. Specimens 

 abound that are from 120 to 200 feet in 

 circumference. The one partly shown 

 on page 665 is 76 feet around several 

 feet from the ground. It is, as are all 

 the larger ones, practically of no use for 

 commercial purposes, as the expense of 

 cutting clown such enormous trees and 

 then getting their logs split up into pieces 

 that can be handled is so great that these 

 monsters are passed by the thrifty lum- 

 bermen for the smaller ones that are 

 more easily handled. 



The Eucalyptus aiuygdaliua is the 

 tallest, if not perhaps the largest, tree 

 that grows. Specimens over 400 feet 

 high are frequently found, while some 

 have been measured towering up to 470 

 and 480 feet. The timber of these great 

 specimens is easily worked, and, as it 

 does not warp readily, is much used in 

 carpentry. 



On page 666 we see the method 

 adopted by the skilled lumbermen of 

 Australia in felling the eucalyptus trees 

 that are not too large for their purposes. 

 The bottom of the eucalyptus is generally 

 so gnarled and twisted that the men con- 

 struct a rough, but safe, platform, av- 

 eraging from 12 to 20 feet from the 

 ground. Here, with their great long- 

 handled axes and saws, they work and 

 toil until the giant tree, that perhaps for 

 over a thousand years has lifted up its 

 head in that land of almost perpetual 

 sunshine, is laid low. 



From the illustration on page 667 we 

 can form some ide.a of the magnitude of 

 one of these giant eucalyptus trees. In 

 a great cavernous opening in its side 

 was sufficient room for a commodious 

 kitchen, with all of its appliances, for the 

 accommodation of Lord Hopetown, Gov- 

 ernor General of Australia, and his suite, 



