UTILIZATION OF CALIFORNIA EUCALYPTS. 
INTRODUCTION. 
A great deal of attention has recently been focused on the planting 
and growing of eucalypts in California. Many companies have been 
organized, much capital has been invested, and the large acreage 
already planted is being rapidly increased. The Forest Service has 
sought to aid eucalyptus growers by publishing such information 
concerning the tree and its uses as it could secure after careful study. 
Information presented for this purpose has at times been misused. 
Short passages have been quoted in such a way as to convey a mis- 
leading impression and sometimes even to falsify the original meaning. 
Extravagant estimates of the probable returns from planted eucalyp- 
tus have been widely circulated, and there is reason to fear that many 
persons have formed an altogether false idea of the merits of euca- 
lyptus growing as a field for investment, and have supposed that this 
false idea was justified by statements and figures of the Forest 
Service. 
The truth is that there are as yet too many elements of uncertainty 
involved to permit a close calculation of money returns to be made. 
There is, however, every reason to believe that under proper condi- 
tions eucalyptus growing will be profitable. In eucalyptus growing 
as in any other class of commercial operations the investor needs to 
know not only whether the enterprise into which he thinks of putting 
his money is financially sound, but also how large a return is probable. 
It is the aim of the Forest Service to aid those who wish to know as 
nearly as possible what can be counted on by finding out and making 
known both what the tree will yield in wood and what uses the 
product will be suitable for. One of the elements of uncertainty is 
the value of the wood for high-grade purposes. 
The problem of utilizing eucalyptus wood readily and without 
undue waste is a difficult one because of its tendency to warp, shrink, 
and check in drying. In wood from trees as young as the California 
growers generally count on cutting, this tendency is much stronger 
than in the wood from mature forest-grown trees in Australia and 
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