YIELD AND RETURNS OF BLUE GUM (EUCALYPTUS) IN 
CALIFORNIA. 
INTRODUCTION. 
Interest in eucalyptus culture is steadily increasing. There is a 
corresponding demand for information on the yield of plantations 
as a basis for determining their financial returns. It is the aim of 
this circular to show what may be expected from blue-gum planta- 
tions in California under favorable conditions. 
In order to secure reliable figures on the yield of eucalyptus the 
Forest Service, in cooperation with the California State Board of 
Forestry, measured in 1910 a large number of the most successful 
eucalyptus plantations in California. Most of these measurements 
were of blue gum (Lwcalyptus globulus) , the species most extensively 
planted. Of the many species of eucalyptus it is the one which seems 
best adapted to California conditions, and it is also one of the most 
rapid growing. The results of this work have been published in 
Bulletin 1, California State Board of Forestry, under the title “ Yield 
from Eucalyptus Plantations in California,” which may be obtained 
without cost from the State Forester, Sacramento, or from the Forest 
Service, San Francisco. The best figures obtained in this study, 
together with known costs of establishing and caring for plantations, 
are here summarized. 
COST OF ESTABLISHING PLANTATIONS. 
The first item to be reckoned with in the establishment of a planta- 
tion is the cost of land. The better the land the more satisfactory, 
up to a certain point, will be the returns. Good irrigable land near 
transportation, however, is in great demand for the raising of farm 
crops, and its price is correspondingly high. Moreover, such land 
yields large annual returns under diversified crops, and its most 
profitable use is not the growing of trees. Stiff, heavy, loamy or 
sandy, nonirrigable lands free from hardpan, such as are suitable 
for grain farming, with a water table not more than 12 feet below 
the surface, are usually well adapted to blue gum. Such areas in 
desirable localities, that is, near transportation and where the mini- 
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59847°—Cir. 210—12 
