86 REPORT OF THE FORESTRY COMMITTEE 



Denuded burned lands require reforestation and planting may be occasionally 

 practicable after logging in the place of natural reproduction. Growth is slow 

 in this type and initial cost of reforestation large, hence planting cannot be con- 

 sidered financially profitable. Its chief importance rests upon the necessity of 

 protecting the flow of important streams. 



Sub-Alpine Type 

 There is no commercial forest planting in this type. It is purely a protective 

 forest composed principally of lodgepole pine, Alpine fir, mountain hemlock and 

 white bark pine. It occurs on the high mountains throughout the Pacific Coast 

 region above the fir type and the zone of timber of commercial size. 



Afforestation of Treeeess Land with Eucaeypts 



Most of southern California and a considerable proportion of the low- 

 altitude valleys of northern California are naturally treeless, yet these regions, 

 particularly southern California, are very much in need of trees for several pur- 

 poses — for timber, for fuel, posts, poles, ties, and lumber; for watershed pro- 

 tection on the mountain sides, for wind-breaks, and for scenic effects about 

 ranches. The problem here, therefore, is the afforestation of desert lands, and 

 it is a problem which has baffled foresters for a number of years and which is 

 still far from being satisfactorily settled. There are several types of treeless 

 land in this great region — chaparral-covered mountain sides at both high and 

 low altitudes, almost vegetationless desert plateaux, and deep-soiled valley land, 

 both irrigable and non-irrigable. No one method of afforestation is, of course, 

 applicable to all these types of land, and care must be exercised to apply the 

 proper treatment on each tract. 



The small annual precipitation, its great irregularity, the heat and dryness of 

 the atmosphere, all combine to make the operation of afforestation extremely 

 difficult here. To attain success good judgment in the choice of species and meth- 

 ods and care in the selection of the planting stock are essential. Eucalyptus has 

 been the favorite genus to use in this region in the past few years, and its merits 

 have been advertised widely by commercial real estate and nursery companies. 

 Phenomenal yields have been ascribed to it, and its hardiness and adaptability 

 have been much exaggerated. 



At low altitudes throughout California, various species of eucalyptus are 

 planted for shade and ornament, and in southern California are a good many 

 thousand acres of commercial woodlots and of wind-breaks, chiefly of blue gum 

 {E. globulus). Eucalyptus planting in California is therefore by no means wholly 

 in the experimental stage. The question is on what sites and under what con- 

 ditions is it practicable and profitable, and what methods should be used. 



First, it may be said that eucalyptus should not be planted where a tem- 

 perature below 26° F. is experienced, or, to be still safer, where 30° F. is the 

 minimum. Eucalyptus is really successfully planted only where it can be culti- 

 vated or irrigated at the start, except possibly in the humid coastal belt or in sub- 

 irrigated valleys. Where it is not irrigated, the water table must be within 12 



