The Mt. Sterling advocate. (Mt. Sterling, Ky.) 1890-current, 1903-09-02
A SUBSTITUTE FOR COAL.
The Eucalyptus Tree May Some Day
Furnish the Worlds Fuel.


Furnish the Worlds Fuel.
All trees and plants are storers OF
the suns energy, but all do not pos
sess this property in an equal degree.
The eucalyptus appears to have 1t in
greater measure than other trees, as
was first noted in 1882 by d. E.
Hutchins, of Cape Colony, and Sir
A Brands. Mr.. Hutchins has been
again directing attention in Nature
to this feature Of the tree, which he
believes will make it more valuable
as fuel than coal Says the Scion-
tiiic American Supplement, in an abb
stract of his article:
According to Mr.. Hutchns, eu-
calypt plantation in tropical noun
tains, such as in South Africa, under
favorable circumstances, stores up
about one per cent. of the solar en-
ergy received on the unit of area,
and it is considered much cheaper IN
some parts of Cape Colony to pillow
up the land and plant a forest of
quick growing trees than TO import
coal
Hn 1882 Mr.. Hutchins and Sir A.
Brands, as result of their expert
ments, discovered that eucalypts
planted on tropical mountains pro-
duce fuel at the rate of 20 tons dry
weight at 60 pounds per cubic foot
per acre in perpetuity. The Gu
calypt plantation reproduces itself
when cut without further expense,
and its dry timber, heavier than coal,
has an equal or higher thermal
power, bulk for bulk, than coal. This
result was obtained as a measurement
of the maximum yield of Eucalyptus
globulus on the Nilgiris, Southern
India. If a chance tree on a chance
mountain in chance soil can pro-
duce the equivalent of 20 tons Of
coal per acre per year, it seems not
unreasonable to suppose, Mr.. Hutch
ms suggests, that by selection double
this, or 40 tons, can be produced. A
powerful sun, heavy rainfall, and a
very rapid. forced growth are the es-
sentials of such a production of wood
fuel. A glance over the rainfall map
of the world shows these conditions
are fulfilled over about 8.000,000,-
600 acres of It's surface, which is be-
tween one-fourth and one-fifth of the
total land surface of 35,200,000, 900
acres. One-half of this area under
forest might thus yield the equiva-
lent OF 100, OOO,000,000 tons of coal
yearly, which is more than 2SS times
the worlds present consumption of
coal, assuming that coal and eucalypt
timber are of approximately equal
heating power. On the basis of the
actual forest yield of the present
day. we have half of this, or the
equivalent of $4,000, 100000 tons.
In Germany, one-fourth of the total
area is under forest, and taking the
Germany standard of one-fourth for
est, on the basis of the present maxi
mum yield, we should obtain 4O,25O,-
0o0,o00 tons, while if the maximum
forest yield be converted to an aver
age forest yield there would still re-
main yearly product Of 20,175.OO
600 tons, which is rather more than
80 times the worlds present con-
sumption of coal Thus it is seen
that the yield of frewood from the
worlds tropical and extra-tropical
forests, wherever they are fully
stocked and scientifically worked,
will yield the equivalent of from 30
to 1872 times the present consump-
tion of coal, or even up to 243 times
the present consumption, if by cult
walton the present timber yield be
| doubled, as il might be without diff