EUCALYPTUS - COMMERCIAL WOOD The eucalyptus family is a native of Australia. A number of species were early introduced intoCalifornia, and more recently considerable plantations of eucalyptus have been established in that State. The one commonly planted is the blue gum (Eucalyptus globulus), although the wood of this species is said to have fewer desirable qualities than that of some other less widely planted eucalyptus.
Eucalyptus wood is generally very hard, heavy, tough, and strong, even surpassing hickory in some respects. However, it is much more difficult to season without serious warping and checking than is any other wood used in this country. Much of this difficulty is apparently due to the fact that practically all the eucalyptus lumber so far manufactured in the United States is necessarily produced from young trees of extremely rapid growth. The wood of the large, mature, native Australian eucalyptus is said to work much better than that from the young planted trees in this country.
Unfortunately, unscrupulous promoters whose object has been to sell stock in eucalyptus companies have disseminated a vast amount of misleading information about the properties of the wood and the fabulous returns to be expected from eucalyptus plantations. Only a small amount of eucalyptus lumber is manufactured, and the uses for it are chiefly as shown in Table 82.
Table 82 Factory Uses of Eucalyptus Purpose Per Cent Ship and Boat Building 80 Vehicles 12 Agricultural Implements 3 Furniture 2 Mill Work 1 Machine Construction 1 Other Uses 1 Total 100