262 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 223. 



the main crop of Celery. The chief difficulty is to get the 

 plants up at this season, and when only a tew are needed, it is 

 much better to g-et theni grown in the north, where many plant- 

 o-rowers make growing of Celery-plants for southern trade a 

 specialty. The small plants can be got in June and set a 

 few inches apart in a cold frame, and protected by a lath 

 screen instead of a sash. 



About the first of June is a good time to put in a crop of 

 Carrots for fall and winter use. The intermediate forms are 

 best ; the large, coarse sorts are only fit for cattle feeding. 



Sugar Beets when about half-grown are good for table-use. 

 The color looks odd, but the quality is all nght so long as the 

 roots are not overgrown. The seed may be sown any time up 

 to the middle of June. ,,, „ , , 



Raleigh, N.c. IK K Alass^y. 



The Forest. 



Forest Experiment Station at Santa Monica. 



IN no other state of the Union are questions pertaining to 

 forestry of more profound importance than in California. 

 The immense bodies of timbered land in the north, the com- 

 parative treelessness of the south, and the supreme need of 

 preserving every drop of water in all parts of the state for irri- 

 gation, give an unusual interest to every effort directed either 

 toward the preservation of the forests we already have or to 

 the plantation of new ones. 



The work of the State Board of Forestry, though hampered 

 by an insufficient appropriation of funds, and somewhat, also, 

 by the usual considerations of practical politics, represents, 

 nevertheless, a very creditable beginning of a movement 

 which has already shown the wisdom and foresight of those 

 who inaugurated it, and is sure to have a wide influence on 

 the future development of the state. 



One of the best-directed and most promising undertakings 

 of the Board has been the establishment of two e.xperiment 

 stations, one at Chico, in the north, upon land donated by ex- 

 Governor Bidwell ; the other in the south, at Santa Monica, 

 upon land given by Senator Jones, of Nevada and his part- 

 ner, who own together some 40,000 acres of beautiful and fer- 

 tile land between Los Angeles and the sea. This station com- 

 prises twelve acres, situated within half a mile of the Pacific, 

 and includes a narrow valley with its sturdy little stream, and 

 two benches of a tew acres each, which form steps to the level 

 table-land above, and give a desirable variety of soil and ex- 

 posure. The work here is, of course, turned more particularly 

 to the growing of such trees as are expected to be specially 

 adapted to the southern part of the state. A large pro- 

 portion of the trees are of Australian origin, and interest 

 is centred chiefly in the two wonderful genera. Eucalyptus 

 and Acacia, the Gums and Wattles, as they are known in 

 Australia. 



It was recently predicted by an eminent German forester. 

 Dr. H. Mayr (Garden and Forest, vol. iii., p. 445), that in fifty 

 years it would be inconceivable that southern California was 

 once treeless. " Amid magnificent forests," said he, " of Aus- 

 tralian Eucalyptus and Acacias, the visitor will be inclined to 

 doubt that he is really in America." 



Many thousand young seedlings are grown annually for gra- 

 tuitous distribution, and the grounds of the station are being 

 filled with specimen trees and with small plantations set out in 

 various ways to test the practical value of the different methods 

 of planting and culture. Of Gums there are some forty spe- 

 cies represented by trees from two to threeyears old, and from 

 five to thirty feet in height, which are now at the most interest- 

 ing stage of growth. Eucalypts, as a rule, have a great diver- 

 sity of appearance during tlie first two or three years of their 

 life. The leaves and habit change as the trees grow older, and 

 assume, to a large extent, the same general character of long, 

 pendant, lanceolate, and more or less glaucous leaves and 

 drooping branches, so that in old trees it is often very diffi- 

 cult to determine the species except by the flowers and 

 seed-vessels. Many of the trees at Santa Monica now have 

 both their youthful and mature forms of foliage, and many are 

 beginning to flower — a precocity certainly remarkable in trees 

 which grow to such an immense size. 



The foremost of the Eucalypti as regards the number grown 

 in California is the E. globulus. The cultivation of this spe- 

 cies has passed the experimental stage, since it is grown by 

 nurserymen by millions annually, and is planted throughout 

 the state, sometimes in groves quite large enough to be called 

 forests. The extremely rapid growth of this tree, and the high 

 price of fuel, make it a profitable investment for planting. A 



tree of this species, recently cut at Santa Barbara, three years 

 and nine montlis old from the seed, measured forty-three feet 

 ten inches in height and eight and three-quarter inches in 

 diameter at the butt. This tree was not an isolated specimen, 

 but was in the midst of a grove planted eight feet apart 

 each way. 



The Red Gum (E. rostrata) is also established in California. 

 Its growth is less rapid than that of the Blue Gum (E-. globulus), 

 but its lumber is more valuable. The wood is stronger, more 

 easily worked, and more durable for such uses as posts, tele- 

 graph-poles, railroad-ties, and especially for piles, since it is 

 not attacked by the Teredo. 



Aside from these two species, but few of the many excellent 

 Eucalypts were generally known here until brought into popu- 

 lar notice by the efforts of the State Board of Forestry. There 

 have now been distributed through the state from Santa Mo- 

 nica a large number of new species worthy of attention for the 

 different qualities they possess. Specimens of these at the 

 station are already large enough to show indications of their 

 value, and to give some useful hints to those desiring to 

 plant. 



Among the more noteworthy is the Sugar Gum (E. coryno- 

 calyx), a tree of rapid growth and handsome appearance. It is 

 more umbrageous than most Gums, and produces a hard, 

 strong wood, remarkable for its durability under ground. The 

 chief merit of this tree, however, is its adaptability to the most 

 arid localities. It has been recommended by Baron von Miiller 

 for planting in the Algerian regions of the Sahara, and has suc- 

 ceeded well in southern California on dry and rocky foot-hills 

 impossible to cultivate. A specimen of this species grew 

 during its second year from planting from eight and a half to 

 nineteen feet in height. 



E. viminalis, the Manna Gum, is one of the hardiest species, 

 and has been extensively distributed to the cooler districts of 

 the state. It will stand for a short time without injury, accord- 

 ing to Monsieur Naudin, a temperature as low as fourteen de- 

 grees, Fahrenheit. Though a shapely tree for avenue-planting, 

 and almost as rapid in growth as E. globulus, its wood is softer 

 and less valuable than that of many other species. The cus- 

 tom is almost universal among the nurserymen here to sell 

 this tree as E. rostrata. 



E. marginata, the Yarrah, which is famous for the resistance 

 of its wood to attacks of the Teredo when used for piling, and 

 which forms such extensive and valuable forests in west 

 Australia, has proved of rather slow growth at Santa Monica. 

 Its increase in height does not exceed two or three feet in 

 a year. 



The station has a number of fine specimens of E. amygda- 

 lina and E. diversicolor, trees which, in their native soil, ac- 

 cording to Von Miiller, sometimes grow to a height of over 

 four hundred feet, overtopping, perhaps, our giant Sequoias. 



The handsomest of all the species at Santa Monica, at least 

 in their present stage of growth, is E. polyanthema, or Gray 

 Box. Its upright form and dense foliage at once distinguish 

 it, but its chief beauty is in the delicate pearly gray color of 

 the leaves, which, in the young growth, is almost lavender. 

 On young trees the leaves are nearly round, and are gracefully 

 curved. While not growing so rapidly as some others of the 

 genus, the Gray Box produces very valuable timber, and has 

 shown a capacity to resist extreme drought. 



Next in order of interest to the experiments with the Gums 

 are those which have been made with the Wattles, or Acacias. 

 The Black Watfle (Acacia decurrens) is a specially noteworthy 

 tree, as remarkable for its wonderful rapidity of growth as for 

 its extraordinary beauty. But its chief claim to attention is in 

 the value of the bark for tanning leather. The Golden Wattle 

 (A. pycnantha), though not grovi^ing quite as fast, produces a 

 bark still richer in tanning qualities. Thoroughly dried speci- 

 mens have frequently yielded to a chemical test over thirty-six 

 per cent, of tannic acid. These trees promise to give to Cali- 

 fornia a plentiful supply of tanning material. The bark of the 

 Chestnut Oak already commands $16.00 or $17.00 per cord in 

 San Francisco, and the supply has yearly to be obtained from 

 less accessible places. The tanners of the Coast appreciate 

 the importance of the subject, and have shown considerable 

 interest in the experiments of the board looking toward the 

 more extensive introduction of the Wattles. In Australia and 

 New Zealand the cultivation of these trees is rapidly spreading, 

 some plantations containing as many as 3,000 acres, and ap- 

 parently giving satisfactory returns. Tfie trees are ready 

 to strip when from five to seven years old, and an acre con- 

 taining 1,000 trees is expected to yield over five tons of bark, 

 valued at $35.00 or $40.00 per ton. The wood of the Wattles 

 is used in Australia for spokes, staves, etc., and it makes ex- 

 cellent fuel. 



