UTILIZATION OF CALIFORNIA EUCALYPTS. 21 
log before cutting it up. Emphasis is given to the fact that for the 
best results in seasoning the eucalypts should not be cut when the 
trees are bringing forth new leaves. 
Successful methods of drying Australian eucalypts do not neces- 
sarily apply to California-grown wood, since not only are the con- 
ditions of growth different, but the trees cut in Australia for lumber 
are very much older than those in California. 
The seasoning of the test specimens in the Forest Service experi- 
ments was accomplished by piling under cover. After two months’ 
Fic. 3.— Blue-gum lumber seasoning in the yard. San Jose, Cal. 
exposure in this way a portion of the sticks were kiln-dried. The 
process of seasoning was accompanied by much shrinkage and twisting 
in the sapwood of the young trees. The shrinkage occurred only in 
the sapwood, and was not uniform throughout the stick, so that the 
cross section of a square stick was distorted. It was not usually 
accompanied by checking and splitting in sticks 2 by 2 inches in sec- 
tion, although the drying was continued until not more than 8 or 9 
per cent of moisture remained, a condition of dryness which corre- 
sponds to thoroughly seasoned stock. Sticks 4 by 4 inches in cross 
section which contained the heart or pith of the tree checked longi- 
[Cir. 179] 
