PROCEEDINGS OF THIRTY-SIXTH FRUIT-GROWERS ' CONVENTION. 209 



being cut iu every state and every locality where it exists in quantity 

 large enough to be cut with profit. These conditions could not prevail 

 were the decrease in production due to a falling orf in demand. In 

 Ohio the decrease in hardwood products between 1900 and 1905. accord- 

 ing to census reports, amounted to 57.-1 per cent ; the rank of the 

 industry fell from fourth to twentieth place and the number of 

 employees decreased 40 per cent. In Indiana, during the same period, 

 the value of the products fell from third to eighth place; the value of 

 the products decreased 27.1 per cent; the number of employees 

 decreased 42.6 per cent. This by way of showing the threatening 

 position in which the hardwood industry stands and how improbable it 

 is that the eucalypts grown in California will cause an oversupply. 



But the question arises. "Granting all this, is the quality of the 

 eucalypts such that the wood can be readily substituted for hard- 

 woods in common use ? ' ' An unqualified answer in the affirmative can 

 be safely given. For although the tests of the wood have not as yet 

 been exhaustive, they have proceeded so far and with such favorable 

 results that the wood of the commercial species of eucalypts can be 

 likened in quality to the best grades of hickory. This insures its value 

 for structural purposes and with its susceptibility to a high polish 

 guarantees its employment in vehicle and furniture manufacture. 

 From the standpoint of utilization the better species of eucalypts leave 

 nothing to be desired. 



These statements are made with full knowledge of the experience 

 among those who have used the wood in green condition that it checks 

 badly and does not hold its shape. Indeed, the practice of using green- 

 wood has been so general that a feeling exists that eucalyptus will not 

 yield to seasoning methods. Nothing could be more absurd. The wood 

 is hard, dense, and of close grain. It grows rapidly, and hence is full 

 of sap. Naturally, if the juices are drawn out quickly, something must 

 give way. But if the wood is understood and rational, slow-seasoning 

 methods are applied the eucalypts will be found to respond to them 

 as do the hardwoods in the East. It is safe to say that the experience 

 with eucalyptus of Calif ornians — long accustomed to redwood and 

 pine — would not have been duplicated if they had been handled by 

 men accustomed to handling green hardwoods. 



These statements embody some of the possibilities of the eucalyptus 

 industry. We have noted that the growth of these trees is fully five 

 times as rapid as that of any Eastern hardwood; that, on account of 

 its climatic requirements, it can not be grown commercially in the 

 United States outside of California ; that its wood is capable of substi- 

 tution for the Eastern hardwoods rapidly nearing exhaustion. Do 

 not these circumstances justify faith in the industry ' Consideration 

 of them has led many to interest themselves in the growing of 

 eucalypts and the sale of eucalyptus lands. At this time there are 

 fully one hundred companies dealing in some sort of eucalyptus com- 

 modity, and. very regrettably, some of these companies are of wildcat 

 nature. This is inevitable in an industry of this kind when in the 

 hands of men expert in salesmanship but ignorant of soils and tree cul- 

 ture. They have very naturally confined their energies to those features 

 of the business they were familiar with, leaving the great fundamental 

 problem of tree culture in the background. Xot content with this, in 



11 — FGC 



