UTILIZATION OF CALIFORNIA EUCALYPTS. 29 
(EB. leucozrylon) and gray box (£. hemiphloia), are largely employed for telegraph and 
telephone poles, the length being 20, 25, and 30 feet; these range from 9 to 12 
inches in diameter, and grow in the rotation of about 20 to 30 years. Trees such 
as blue gum (E. globulus) and white ash (E. amygdalina) are not, as a rule, durable 
when used in contact with the ground, and hence such trees, whether of pile or 
pole size, are not favored for telegraph, bridge, or jetty work. Iron bark and gray 
box poles or piles last on an average thirty years in the ground, but in some cases 
last even longer. 
Question No. 3. What methods of seasoning are employed in bringing lumber into 
a thoroughly dry condition and what per cent is destroyed during the process of 
seasoning? 
Answer. As a rule natural methods of seasoning only are employed; the lumber 
when cut being stacked horizontally with a slight dip at one end, and filleted or 
slotted between each row of pieces to secure even circulation of air; such lumber is 
usually kept for nine to twelve months before it is considered to be fit for use. In 
cheap construction, however, hardwood is often employed in an unseasoned condition, 
and, of course, shrinks and warps badly. Recently, owing to the difficulty of getting 
well-seasoned hardwood at short notice, the forest department of the State has under- 
taken to put in for experiment several drying kilns, one or two of which will be on 
the American “ moist air’’ system, with or without fans or blowers. The loss of hard- 
wood in drying is estimated at 8 to 12 percent. ‘Trees are felled at an age of 60 to 90 
years for the production of sawn lumber. 
WESTERN AUSTRALIA. 
Answer to question No. 2. All sizes over 6 feet in girth measured at 3 feet from the 
ground. Small quantities of young timber under this girth are also used for piles and 
telegraph poles. The age is not known. 
Answer to question No. 3. The only method of seasoning is that of drying in stacks 
in the open. No data are available as to the percentage that is lost in seasoning. 
SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 
Answer to question No. 1. Toa certain extent for wheelwright’s work, telegraph 
poles, posts and rails—some posts from trees 20 years old have lasted fifteen years 
and are still good—but older timber is often preferred if obtainable. 
Answer to question No. 2. Most of the timber cut is the natural growth of the natural 
forests; computation of age is usually a difficult matter owing to the indefinite appear- 
ance of annual rings; but the age may be estimated in general (due regard being had 
to the species and location of the trees) at 50 to 200 years and sometimes over. Excep- 
tional cases might occur of trees being 300 or 400 years old. 
Answer to question No. 3. So far as can be ascertained, no artificial methods of 
seasoning are in use at the present time in this State, beyond the ordinary process of 
seasoning in the shade. 
One of the pertinent facts brought out in these letters is the age of 
the eucalyptus trees required to produce satisfactory lumber. 
Another is the lack of definite information in Australia covering 
methods for rapidly drying eucalyptus lumber. Although it is by no 
means certain that conditions in Australia are directly compar- 
able to conditions in California, yet the facts stated in the letters 
are certainly significant and should be borne in mind in develop- 
ing the eucalyptus industry in the Pacific Coast States. If, for 
[Cir. 179] 
