The Eucalyptus Grove That Jack Planted

This grove is from the eucalyptus seedlings
planted by Jack London between 1911-15.

Early in January 1910 London ordered 15,000 C. tereticornis eucalyptus trees for his ranch. In February the planting began on the La Motte section. The planting of eucalyptus trees wasn't a rash move on Jack's part. The La Motte place was ideal for the purpose, being unsuitable for anything else except pasture land. Before ordering the trees, he studied everything he could find about the viability of the eucalyptus as a cash crop. Certainly he didn't fall under the spell of the eucalyptus promoters. He checked every government bulletin on the subject and went up to the University of California at Davis to talk to with the agricultural experts there. Every possible piece of information was digested.

When it turned out that the eucalyptus tree was worthless, the critics berated London for foolishly planting them, forgetting to mention that nobody knew of their uselessness at the time. Actually, a careful study reveals that Jack London was an excellent businessman, but an unlucky investor.

According to Joeseph Noel, Jack is growing trees for pilings for wharves. Jack has gathered data on number of wharves destroyed annually by Limnoria and Teredo worms. "But", says Jack, "they die of eating eucalyptus because they cannot digest the oil."

On September 7, 1912 Jack says that he has planted 100,000 eucalyptus trees.

The eucalyptus trees proved to be a mistake because when the wood cured, it became twisted and split. Consequently, the wood was no good for lumber, or for the use of pilings for the construction of wharves.

Read about the history of eucalyptus trees in California. click here