42 



EUCALYPTUS AS FUEL. 



The eucalyptus tree promises to become in time almost as useful to- 

 California as the bamboo is to Japan and China. During the past 

 twenty years the eucalyptus has been introduced very extensively 

 throughout the central and southern parts of the State. The eucalyptus 

 tree may be put to many important uses. It has the advantage of re- 

 quiring little or no attention and of growing with astonishing rapidity. 

 In the vast timberless regions of California it has been an important 

 factor in improving the land. The wood brings a good price when sold 

 for fuel and it is generally acknowledged to have, besides, many valua- 

 ble medicinal qualities. The eucalyptus is also extensively used to form 

 a windbreak about California gardens and orchards. It has been found 

 very profitable to California to raise the eucalyptus tree for fuel. The 

 tree's remarkably rapid growth makes it possible to raise a crop or forest 

 of these trees to a size suitable for cutting every three years. Within 

 a year from the time the seed has been planted the tree often reaches a 

 height of ten feet, and a height of fifty feet in three years. It is cus- 

 tomary to cut the tree off about two feet from the ground, at intervals 

 of from three to five years. The trees are then cut into cord wood. Dur- 

 ing the past year the wood is reported to have brought from $6 to $9 

 per cord. A fair profit from such a crop is thought to be about $50 to 

 the acre. 



It is estimated that a single acre, if left untrimmed for eighteen years, 

 would, at this rate of growth, produce $10,000 worth of wood. In Aus- 

 tralia the wood of the eucalyptus tree is coming to be extensively used 

 for manufacturing purposes, and it is probable that in time new and im- 

 portant uses will be found for the wood in California. — Scientific Ame- 

 rican. 



