Stupid Aussie tree...
"In California, early on, there sprang up botanists and enthusiasts who introduced the general populace to eucalyptus and advanced subsequent efforts on its part. One such person was Ellwood Cooper who came to California in 1870 and settled in the Santa Barbara area. He took early note of the eucalyptus species already growing there, and could see the potential of such a tree. He immediately bought land and planted eucalyptus groves covering some 200 acres. His groves became renowned for their beauty and lushness. This was said in 1904: One can stroll through his groves as through primeval forests. In the canyons, Eucalypts twenty-five years old tower high above oaks..."
"A successor to Cooper was Abbot Kinney of Los Angeles. He was chairman of the California Board of Forestry from 1886 to 1888 during which time he launched a program that resulted in the planting of thousands of eucalyptus."
"Next on the eucalyptus scene was Woodbridge Metcalf. For over fifty years, he would dominate the field. He began his professional career in 1914 at the University of California, Berkeley where he taught forest botany, tree management and tree identification. In 1926, he became the first California Extention Forester who strongly advocated the usage of eucalyptus as windbreaks for citrus groves."
John Hittel wrote in his 1863 book on California: "Most of the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, the Colorado Desert, the eastern slopes of the Coast Mountains, and the Coast Range south of latitude 35 degrees, are treeless."
"It was during the gold rush, that the eucalyptus was introduced into California either by Australians, or by Americans who had been to Australia, or knew of the tree and had seed shipped in."
"In 1849, over 2,600 Australians left Sydney for San Francisco. It took between three to four months to make the passage with the American clipper ships completing the trip quicker than the more bulky blue gum vessels. It was on one of these voyages that the first sack of eucalyptus seed was imported. Because eucalyptus seed is tiny, a small sack, which can hold several thousand seeds, was all that was needed."
"There is some speculation as to who was the first person to plant eucalyptus in California. Most accounts seem to point to W.C. Walker who was the owner of the Golden Gate Nursery in San Francisco located at Fourth and Folsom Streets. It is believed that he planted the first seeds in 1853 from 14 different species."
"The eucalyptus tree was a curiosity to most and were bought for beauty or shade."
"In 1877, Assistant Chief Engineer for the Central Pacific Railroad, J.D. Scupham, bought 40,000 eucalyptus seedlings, mostly blue gum, from nurseries in Oakland and Hayward. The railroad planted the seedlings in the San Joaquin Valley and in some instances near wells as an attraction to settlers. The next year, 250,000 seedlings were bought from Locke of Pasadena and 300,000 from George Baxter of Hayward. In the two year planting program, the railroad planted about one million trees. The program was a bust though. Soon it was discovered that eucalyptus ties would crack and check if not seasoned properly. These ties could not hold a spike in place securely which was obviously of great importance to track stability. The eucalyptus wood also rotted away easily. Thus ended the first real experiment of eucalyptus for an industrial purpose."
"By the end of the nineteenth century, California had been fully invaded by the eucalyptus. It could be seen most anywhere in the state where climate permitted. It was being used for fuel, windbreaks, medicines, shade, and beautification. Writing in Out West in 1904, Alfred McClatchie observes, "Without the Eucalyptus, California would be a very different state. What she owes to them it is impossible to fully estimate. Nothing short of being entirely deprived of these trees would enable her citizens to realize how much their presence means. Without them, landscapes now varied and softened by their presence would be comparatively monotonous and unattractive. Winds would sweep unchecked over regions where their progress is now impeded by avenues and groves of Eucalypts. Orchards that in the shelter of Eucalypts are profitable would be unproductive. Had not these trees been introduced, the fuel problem would be a very different one. Were some agency to destroy all the Eucalypts now growing in California, the price of real estate would fall at once.
The whole eucalyptus tree could be used from its roots to its crown, from its bark to its foliage. It not only provided fuel, windbreaks, medicine, shade and beauty, it also was lumber for implements, nectar for bees, pulp for paper, and chemical for boiler cleaning. When cut down, the eucalyptus would resprout providing yet another crop of products within a few years. It appeared to be a miracle tree only limited by one's imagination. It created an excitement leading to a surge of interest that would become the boom of 1905 to 1912."
"But not everyone was enchanted by the genus, and the numbers would grow when soon its true economic value would be revealed. These disgruntled individuals would disdainfully refer to the eucalyptus as the "Australian weed." In this passage from Old Calabria, novelist Norman Douglas vents his disgust on the wonder tree: A single eucalyptus can ruin the faire landscape. No plant on earth rustles such a horribly metalic fashion when the wind blows through these everlasting withered branches; the noise chills on the marrow; it is like the sibilant chant of ghosts. Its oil is called "medicine" only because it happens to smell rather nasty; it is worthless timber, objectionable in form and hue; objectionable above all things, in its perverse, and inhuman habits. What other tree would have the effrontery to turn the sharp edge of its leaves; as if these were not narrow enough already! of their minimum of shade and maximum discomfort to mandkind?"
"Many of the eucalyptus trees seen today in California base their existence on the eucalyptus boom of 1905-1912, during which time, large eucalyptus plantations were created with the hope of reaping sizeable profits. The tree promised much. Its rapid growth and size were well-known. Californians had developed valuable uses for it. It was promoted by the print media, government, the University, and enthusiasts who gave lectures and published essays on it. It was a rising star that received yet another boost in 1907. The U.S. Forest Service issued a report entitled The Waning Hardwood Supply and the Appalachian Forests. The eucalyptus is a hardwood which could fill this void."
"Building on this idea in 1888, George McGillivrey published an article in Overland Monthly entitled The Economic Value of the Eucalyptus in which he presented the many possible products the eucalyptus could produce. He based his pitch on the manufacturing done in Australia; however, this was manufacturing that utilized centuries-old eucalyptus instead of young trees which is a crucial distinction. McGillivrey went on to praise the adaptability of the eucalyptus to California and the possibilities of its many species. It was quite simple to him. Just plant eucalyptus and "while quietly the forest advances almost without expenditure and care, its wood treasures increase from year to year without taxing the patience of generations." He summarizes, "The propagation of Eucalyptus is easy, rapid, and inexpensive." Who could argue differently after seeing the process and its living results."
"The reason for this caution and guarded skepticism can be seen in this comment from the authors Betts and Smith: " The problem utilizing eucalyptus wood readily without undue waste is a difficult one because of its tendency to warp, shrink, and check during drying. They went on to note that the promise of eucalyptus in California was based on the old virgin forests of Australia. This was a mistake as the young trees being harvested in California could not compared in quality to the centuries-old eucalyptus timber of Australia. It reacted differently to harvest. The older trees didn't split or warp as the infant California crop did. There was a vast difference between the two, and this would doom the California eucalyptus industry."
"Its text made claims in the usual superlative fashion, such as, This tree at this particular moment is in many instances the most valuable one on the face of the globe. Maturity is in a decade or two. No Teak, Mahogany, Ebony, Hickory or Oak was ever tougher, denser, stronger or of more glorious hardness..."
"The eucalyptus companies advertised for investors to be partners in the enterprise. An investor could buy land fully planted and make monthly payments. The company did all of the work, and shared what profits there were with their business partners. It took normally ten years before a profit could be realized. An acre planted in eucalyptus cost $250 with the promise of making $2,500 an acre at harvest time ten years later. This offer was tempting, and widows, teachers, and small businessmen invested their life savings in the eucalyptus boom. Farmers ripped out staple crops to plant eucalyptus."
"The railroads took an interest. Santa Fe Railroad planted eucalyptus on thousands of acres at Rancho Santa Fe for ties, poles, and interior woods for railroad cars. By 1908, the railroad discovered, just as the Central Pacific Railroad did several decades before, that unseasoned eucalyptus wood twisted and cracked thus putting an end to their project. Even the novelist Jack London got into the act. He planted 100,000 trees on his ranch with the intention of using the wood for furniture. This would not eventuate."
"From Fall 1909 to Spring 1910, 23,000 acres in California were planted in eucalyptus, mostly red and blue gums. These investments were obviously at an infancy stage as it would take years before harvesting could take place. Eucalyptus still at this point was being used primarily for firewood."
"The boom fizzled. It was found that eucalyptus wood could not be seasoned properly to do the things that had been anticipated. Tests of seasoning were performed and processes were structured for proper curing, but there was a great dissatisfaction with these. Eucalyptus wood warped, cracked, twisted, and became too tough once cured. The yields that were projected it was found would take too many years to be realized. The hardwood shortage that spurred the boom was resolved by the use of steel, cement, and other substitutes. Wagons and carriages were being replaced by metal automobiles, thus ending that hardwood market. Using eucalyptus for fuel was diminished by the discovery and rising use of oil, gas, and electricity."
"The boom ended. Lumber mills using exclusively eucalyptus timber closed. Furniture manufacturers moved back East. Plantation trees were sold for firewood. Pharmacologists dropped their support which meant that eucalyptus would not be used in most medicines. Prime agriculture land was returned to traditional crops. Nurseries unloaded their eucalyptus stock. Through the rest of the twentieth century eucalyptus would be used mostly for fuel, windbreaks, and in certain medicines.
Not everyone was enchanted with the eucalyptus anyway, and now even more felt a dislike as represented in this sarcastic piece from The Argonaut:
There is a craze all over the state about the eucalyptus or Australian blue gum tree... Eucalyptus will frighten away fevers and murder malaria. Its leaves cure asthma. Its roots knocks out ague as cold as jelly. Its bark improves that of a dog. A dead body buried in a coffin made from the wood of the blue gum will enjoy immunity from the exploring mole and the penetrating worm... this absurd vegetable is now growing all over the State. One cannot get out of its sight... crops up everywhere in independent ugliness. It defaces every landscape with botches of blue and embitters every breeze with suggestions of an old woman's medicine chest. Let us have no more of it."
"There are between 70 to 100 species growing in California today."
So we have Cooper, Kinney, Metcalf, Walker, and some nameless Australians to blame for "this absurd vegetable".
Having raked tons (literally) of fallen eucalyptus bark, branches, and nuts out of our gravel driveway in northern California when I was a kid, I really really hate the tree and anyone responsible for bringing it from Australia to California.
It's too late for California and the eucalyptus, but as for the future of hubris, "let us have no more of it".
"A successor to Cooper was Abbot Kinney of Los Angeles. He was chairman of the California Board of Forestry from 1886 to 1888 during which time he launched a program that resulted in the planting of thousands of eucalyptus."
"Next on the eucalyptus scene was Woodbridge Metcalf. For over fifty years, he would dominate the field. He began his professional career in 1914 at the University of California, Berkeley where he taught forest botany, tree management and tree identification. In 1926, he became the first California Extention Forester who strongly advocated the usage of eucalyptus as windbreaks for citrus groves."
John Hittel wrote in his 1863 book on California: "Most of the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys, the Colorado Desert, the eastern slopes of the Coast Mountains, and the Coast Range south of latitude 35 degrees, are treeless."
"It was during the gold rush, that the eucalyptus was introduced into California either by Australians, or by Americans who had been to Australia, or knew of the tree and had seed shipped in."
"In 1849, over 2,600 Australians left Sydney for San Francisco. It took between three to four months to make the passage with the American clipper ships completing the trip quicker than the more bulky blue gum vessels. It was on one of these voyages that the first sack of eucalyptus seed was imported. Because eucalyptus seed is tiny, a small sack, which can hold several thousand seeds, was all that was needed."
"There is some speculation as to who was the first person to plant eucalyptus in California. Most accounts seem to point to W.C. Walker who was the owner of the Golden Gate Nursery in San Francisco located at Fourth and Folsom Streets. It is believed that he planted the first seeds in 1853 from 14 different species."
"The eucalyptus tree was a curiosity to most and were bought for beauty or shade."
"In 1877, Assistant Chief Engineer for the Central Pacific Railroad, J.D. Scupham, bought 40,000 eucalyptus seedlings, mostly blue gum, from nurseries in Oakland and Hayward. The railroad planted the seedlings in the San Joaquin Valley and in some instances near wells as an attraction to settlers. The next year, 250,000 seedlings were bought from Locke of Pasadena and 300,000 from George Baxter of Hayward. In the two year planting program, the railroad planted about one million trees. The program was a bust though. Soon it was discovered that eucalyptus ties would crack and check if not seasoned properly. These ties could not hold a spike in place securely which was obviously of great importance to track stability. The eucalyptus wood also rotted away easily. Thus ended the first real experiment of eucalyptus for an industrial purpose."
"By the end of the nineteenth century, California had been fully invaded by the eucalyptus. It could be seen most anywhere in the state where climate permitted. It was being used for fuel, windbreaks, medicines, shade, and beautification. Writing in Out West in 1904, Alfred McClatchie observes, "Without the Eucalyptus, California would be a very different state. What she owes to them it is impossible to fully estimate. Nothing short of being entirely deprived of these trees would enable her citizens to realize how much their presence means. Without them, landscapes now varied and softened by their presence would be comparatively monotonous and unattractive. Winds would sweep unchecked over regions where their progress is now impeded by avenues and groves of Eucalypts. Orchards that in the shelter of Eucalypts are profitable would be unproductive. Had not these trees been introduced, the fuel problem would be a very different one. Were some agency to destroy all the Eucalypts now growing in California, the price of real estate would fall at once.
The whole eucalyptus tree could be used from its roots to its crown, from its bark to its foliage. It not only provided fuel, windbreaks, medicine, shade and beauty, it also was lumber for implements, nectar for bees, pulp for paper, and chemical for boiler cleaning. When cut down, the eucalyptus would resprout providing yet another crop of products within a few years. It appeared to be a miracle tree only limited by one's imagination. It created an excitement leading to a surge of interest that would become the boom of 1905 to 1912."
"But not everyone was enchanted by the genus, and the numbers would grow when soon its true economic value would be revealed. These disgruntled individuals would disdainfully refer to the eucalyptus as the "Australian weed." In this passage from Old Calabria, novelist Norman Douglas vents his disgust on the wonder tree: A single eucalyptus can ruin the faire landscape. No plant on earth rustles such a horribly metalic fashion when the wind blows through these everlasting withered branches; the noise chills on the marrow; it is like the sibilant chant of ghosts. Its oil is called "medicine" only because it happens to smell rather nasty; it is worthless timber, objectionable in form and hue; objectionable above all things, in its perverse, and inhuman habits. What other tree would have the effrontery to turn the sharp edge of its leaves; as if these were not narrow enough already! of their minimum of shade and maximum discomfort to mandkind?"
"Many of the eucalyptus trees seen today in California base their existence on the eucalyptus boom of 1905-1912, during which time, large eucalyptus plantations were created with the hope of reaping sizeable profits. The tree promised much. Its rapid growth and size were well-known. Californians had developed valuable uses for it. It was promoted by the print media, government, the University, and enthusiasts who gave lectures and published essays on it. It was a rising star that received yet another boost in 1907. The U.S. Forest Service issued a report entitled The Waning Hardwood Supply and the Appalachian Forests. The eucalyptus is a hardwood which could fill this void."
"Building on this idea in 1888, George McGillivrey published an article in Overland Monthly entitled The Economic Value of the Eucalyptus in which he presented the many possible products the eucalyptus could produce. He based his pitch on the manufacturing done in Australia; however, this was manufacturing that utilized centuries-old eucalyptus instead of young trees which is a crucial distinction. McGillivrey went on to praise the adaptability of the eucalyptus to California and the possibilities of its many species. It was quite simple to him. Just plant eucalyptus and "while quietly the forest advances almost without expenditure and care, its wood treasures increase from year to year without taxing the patience of generations." He summarizes, "The propagation of Eucalyptus is easy, rapid, and inexpensive." Who could argue differently after seeing the process and its living results."
"The reason for this caution and guarded skepticism can be seen in this comment from the authors Betts and Smith: " The problem utilizing eucalyptus wood readily without undue waste is a difficult one because of its tendency to warp, shrink, and check during drying. They went on to note that the promise of eucalyptus in California was based on the old virgin forests of Australia. This was a mistake as the young trees being harvested in California could not compared in quality to the centuries-old eucalyptus timber of Australia. It reacted differently to harvest. The older trees didn't split or warp as the infant California crop did. There was a vast difference between the two, and this would doom the California eucalyptus industry."
"Its text made claims in the usual superlative fashion, such as, This tree at this particular moment is in many instances the most valuable one on the face of the globe. Maturity is in a decade or two. No Teak, Mahogany, Ebony, Hickory or Oak was ever tougher, denser, stronger or of more glorious hardness..."
"The eucalyptus companies advertised for investors to be partners in the enterprise. An investor could buy land fully planted and make monthly payments. The company did all of the work, and shared what profits there were with their business partners. It took normally ten years before a profit could be realized. An acre planted in eucalyptus cost $250 with the promise of making $2,500 an acre at harvest time ten years later. This offer was tempting, and widows, teachers, and small businessmen invested their life savings in the eucalyptus boom. Farmers ripped out staple crops to plant eucalyptus."
"The railroads took an interest. Santa Fe Railroad planted eucalyptus on thousands of acres at Rancho Santa Fe for ties, poles, and interior woods for railroad cars. By 1908, the railroad discovered, just as the Central Pacific Railroad did several decades before, that unseasoned eucalyptus wood twisted and cracked thus putting an end to their project. Even the novelist Jack London got into the act. He planted 100,000 trees on his ranch with the intention of using the wood for furniture. This would not eventuate."
"From Fall 1909 to Spring 1910, 23,000 acres in California were planted in eucalyptus, mostly red and blue gums. These investments were obviously at an infancy stage as it would take years before harvesting could take place. Eucalyptus still at this point was being used primarily for firewood."
"The boom fizzled. It was found that eucalyptus wood could not be seasoned properly to do the things that had been anticipated. Tests of seasoning were performed and processes were structured for proper curing, but there was a great dissatisfaction with these. Eucalyptus wood warped, cracked, twisted, and became too tough once cured. The yields that were projected it was found would take too many years to be realized. The hardwood shortage that spurred the boom was resolved by the use of steel, cement, and other substitutes. Wagons and carriages were being replaced by metal automobiles, thus ending that hardwood market. Using eucalyptus for fuel was diminished by the discovery and rising use of oil, gas, and electricity."
"The boom ended. Lumber mills using exclusively eucalyptus timber closed. Furniture manufacturers moved back East. Plantation trees were sold for firewood. Pharmacologists dropped their support which meant that eucalyptus would not be used in most medicines. Prime agriculture land was returned to traditional crops. Nurseries unloaded their eucalyptus stock. Through the rest of the twentieth century eucalyptus would be used mostly for fuel, windbreaks, and in certain medicines.
Not everyone was enchanted with the eucalyptus anyway, and now even more felt a dislike as represented in this sarcastic piece from The Argonaut:
There is a craze all over the state about the eucalyptus or Australian blue gum tree... Eucalyptus will frighten away fevers and murder malaria. Its leaves cure asthma. Its roots knocks out ague as cold as jelly. Its bark improves that of a dog. A dead body buried in a coffin made from the wood of the blue gum will enjoy immunity from the exploring mole and the penetrating worm... this absurd vegetable is now growing all over the State. One cannot get out of its sight... crops up everywhere in independent ugliness. It defaces every landscape with botches of blue and embitters every breeze with suggestions of an old woman's medicine chest. Let us have no more of it."
"There are between 70 to 100 species growing in California today."
So we have Cooper, Kinney, Metcalf, Walker, and some nameless Australians to blame for "this absurd vegetable".
Having raked tons (literally) of fallen eucalyptus bark, branches, and nuts out of our gravel driveway in northern California when I was a kid, I really really hate the tree and anyone responsible for bringing it from Australia to California.
It's too late for California and the eucalyptus, but as for the future of hubris, "let us have no more of it".
posted by Rico at 10:22
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