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j to 1,200.Mind you, these trees were set out about thirteen years ago. The average size of the trees most certainly |, was a disappointment That is, they j would have been a disappointment if j size had been what was looked for by those who cleared the land. As ! i it was, the owners were just as well [ satisfied. The good old prospectus | that was used to sell eucalyptus grove stock in those years gone by promised tremendous growth on unirrigated lands, did it not?These Rixby trees planted on hill-' sides did not average over about sev-J en or eight inches in diameter. Some ran up to a foot, of course, but most of them seemed to have led a hard life.When Thomson and Smith started in to get rid of the trees, they figured that the trees ought to produce about ten cords of wood to the acre. They 1 haven't done that. The exact production has not been determined as most of it has never been piled.After the wood was cut, three out-i fits of tree-pullers were set to work. One was an outfit working under contract, and the others were made up of men employed by Thomson and Smith. The day labor crews! outpulled the contract outfit right j along. The contract crew did a good ’ job, for It, when it got out 450 trees' a day.Needed StimulationEach of the other outfits jerked I out 600 a day, until they began to get tired, when Thomson and Smith,! inxious to get the job done, offered! them ten cents a stump for every stump over 400 that they pulled out in a day.Hey! They’re off!Sturars were jerked out quicker than a dentist gets a tooth, and with no pain to anybody. How the trunks uid jump. One of those outfits pulled 1300 trees in a day.After a eucalyptus trunk is pulled,! it remains a nuisance of the first water. There is nothing to do but burn it.Occasionally, growers who have uprooted eucalyptus trees have had trouble burning the trunks. That trouble was encountered when the roots were covered writh earth, as is often the case when the ground is. heavy.“If a man’s stumps came up encased in ’dobe,” said Smith, “I believe it would cost him more to clear off the dirt so that the stumps could be burned fjian it would to pull them and bum them if they come up fairly clean.“The 70 600 stumps that we pulled came out in very good shape, andfrom three fourths of an acre of eucalyptus, about twenty-five years ago. The trees were twelve years old, and had a perfect stand. The soil was good and they had lots of water. It cost $3 a cord to have it cut, and we sold it for $8.“Most of the orchards I helped set nut were set six by six feet, making 1210 trees to the acre. Mrs. Tur-ton’s big grove south of the county farm Is set eight by eight feet, which gives 680 trees to the acre. There were 120 acres in that grove. A lot of it has been cleared away. The owner would be far better off if there wasn’t a gum tree on it. Land is too high and labor too high for eucalyptus growing to be profitable now.What It Cost ThemThere are a number of orchard owners on East Seventeenth street in the section east of Tustin avenue who have had experiences in gum tree cutting.There are still many rows of gum trees there, but the number has been greatly reduced in the past year or two. These trees were planted years ago, when the country was young and when northers blew harder than they do now. As windbreaks they served their purpose. As avenues of beauty, they serve a pur-post so long as they are allowed to live. These orchardists, however, came to the conclusion that the robberies of their soil had to cease.So down came the giants. Power saws wero used in sawing the fallen trees.When the wood was piled and the actual cost of the work wras figured up It was found that for every cord of wood produced the owners of the orchards had to pay approximately“ Twill Be Open in Justa Jiffy”Pronto “acta like Hg-htnlngT ih dissolving: grease and other obstructions which clog: sinks, bowls, tubs and toilets. Sanitary, efficient, economical,65c at Your Grocer’s
Newspaper Details
Santa Ana Daily Evening Register
Santa Ana, California, US
Wed, Oct 20, 1920
Page 10
Full Page
Clipped by
Los A.
CA, USA 28 Aug 2023
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