doublejj's next big adventure....Lone Oak Farms 2016

beachball

Well-Known Member
I used to handle 17kg gold bars at my last job does that count lolyour talking the great barrier reef

Yep, The Great Barrier Reef is on my list of must see's. Australia is a particularly interesting place. Animal life is quite unique there, plant life too. We have Eucalyptus groves here all originating from your great island/continent. As a kid i spent a great deal of time in the highest branches of eucalyptus that were planted specifically to protect lemon orchards here from pacific winds.When i go to Australia i want to visit Tasmania and New Zealand too.
 

treemansbuds

Well-Known Member
Yep, The Great Barrier Reef is on my list of must see's. Australia is a particularly interesting place. Animal life is quite unique there, plant life too. We have Eucalyptus groves here all originating from your great island/continent. As a kid i spent a great deal of time in the highest branches of eucalyptus that were planted specifically to protect lemon orchards here from pacific winds.When i go to Australia i want to visit Tasmania and New Zealand too.
I hear 2 stories of how eucalyptus trees came to the United States. Being a tree man for many years and removing MANY monster eucalyptus trees, the old timers would tell stories about the trees.
First story) The railroads bought their RR ties from Australia ship loads at a time. A group of investors figured they would cut out the middle man (Australia) and import and grow their own eucalyptus trees here in the states. So they went to Australia, found the biggest eucalyptus trees they could (blue gum eucalyptus) imported thousands of trees and grew them here in the states. The blue gum eucs grew very fast, they had harvestable trees within just a few years. But after milling the trees into railroad ties, they would twist. Tie after tie would twist on them. After a bit of research, the investors learned they imported the wrong spices of eucalyptus trees. The smaller "Red Gum" eucalyptus trees were used by the Aussies to make the RR ties, not the "blue gum" that were imported by the thousands by the investors. That's how the Blue Gum Eucalyptus trees were introduced to the west coast of the U.S.
Story two) The missionaries who built missions up and down the west coast of the U.S. planted the blue gum eucalyptus trees (because of the trees height, and speed of their growth) on the trail from one mission to the next, to direct their followers. Where ever you see a mission in Ca, eucalyptus trees are near by.
.
I believe both stories can be true, but not sure.
TMB-
 

Larry {the} Gardener

Well-Known Member
I hear 2 stories of how eucalyptus trees came to the United States. Being a tree man for many years and removing MANY monster eucalyptus trees, the old timers would tell stories about the trees.
First story) The railroads bought their RR ties from Australia ship loads at a time. A group of investors figured they would cut out the middle man (Australia) and import and grow their own eucalyptus trees here in the states. So they went to Australia, found the biggest eucalyptus trees they could (blue gum eucalyptus) imported thousands of trees and grew them here in the states. The blue gum eucs grew very fast, they had harvestable trees within just a few years. But after milling the trees into railroad ties, they would twist. Tie after tie would twist on them. After a bit of research, the investors learned they imported the wrong spices of eucalyptus trees. The smaller "Red Gum" eucalyptus trees were used by the Aussies to make the RR ties, not the "blue gum" that were imported by the thousands by the investors. That's how the Blue Gum Eucalyptus trees were introduced to the west coast of the U.S.
Story two) The missionaries who built missions up and down the west coast of the U.S. planted the blue gum eucalyptus trees (because of the trees height, and speed of their growth) on the trail from one mission to the next mission to direct their followers. Where ever you see a mission in Ca, eucalyptus trees are near by.
.
I believe both stories can be true, but not sure.
TMB-
Even if not true, both are very good stories. And history is nothing but one story getting a grip on the public imagination while others slip by the wayside.
 

Larry {the} Gardener

Well-Known Member

treemansbuds

Well-Known Member
Even if not true, both are very good stories. And history is nothing but one story getting a grip on the public imagination while others slip by the wayside.
I hear 2 stories of how eucalyptus trees came to the United States. Being a tree man for many years and removing MANY monster eucalyptus trees, the old timers would tell stories about the trees.
First story) The railroads bought their RR ties from Australia ship loads at a time. A group of investors figured they would cut out the middle man (Australia) and import and grow their own eucalyptus trees here in the states. So they went to Australia, found the biggest eucalyptus trees they could (blue gum eucalyptus) imported thousands of trees and grew them here in the states. The blue gum eucs grew very fast, they had harvestable trees within just a few years. But after milling the trees into railroad ties, they would twist. Tie after tie would twist on them. After a bit of research, the investors learned they imported the wrong spices of eucalyptus trees. The smaller "Red Gum" eucalyptus trees were used by the Aussies to make the RR ties, not the "blue gum" that were imported by the thousands by the investors. That's how the Blue Gum Eucalyptus trees were introduced to the west coast of the U.S.
Story two) The missionaries who built missions up and down the west coast of the U.S. planted the blue gum eucalyptus trees (because of the trees height, and speed of their growth) on the trail from one mission to the next, to direct their followers. Where ever you see a mission in Ca, eucalyptus trees are near by.
.
I believe both stories can be true, but not sure.
TMB-
Just found this......I'll cut "n" paste.
In August 1906, the Santa Fe Land Improvement Co., a subsidiary of the Santa Fe Railway, bought the 9,000-acre San Dieguito Ranch in north San Diego County.

“The question of lumber for ties is one that is being given a great deal of attention,” a company spokesman said. “Experiments have shown that the eucalyptus tree makes first-class ties. ... The work of planting these trees will be commenced without delay.”
The company took delivery of 6 million eucalyptus seeds shipped from Australia. In a three-room adobe at the former homestead of Don Juan Maria Osuna, San Diego's first mayor, a team successfully propagated 3 million seedlings. The young trees were set out among the hillsides of the old rancho, now named Rancho Santa Fe.
The eucalyptus railroad tie experiment ended in failure. The soft wood split from the rail spikes and tended to throw the tracks. Santa Fe recouped its investment by subdividing the ranch into hundreds of parcels for country estates. The region soon attracted Hollywood celebrities such as Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford. Bing Crosby would live for a time at the old Osuna rancho, which he bought in 1932.

TMB-
 

beachball

Well-Known Member

ruby fruit

Well-Known Member
Yep, The Great Barrier Reef is on my list of must see's. Australia is a particularly interesting place. Animal life is quite unique there, plant life too. We have Eucalyptus groves here all originating from your great island/continent. As a kid i spent a great deal of time in the highest branches of eucalyptus that were planted specifically to protect lemon orchards here from pacific winds.When i go to Australia i want to visit Tasmania and New Zealand too.
Tasmania is part of Australia new Zealand is not.
first convicts arrived in Tasmania I think?
Tasmania kinda got a rep for inbreds like the redneck stories you get in the states lol
 

ruby fruit

Well-Known Member
Just found this......I'll cut "n" paste.
In August 1906, the Santa Fe Land Improvement Co., a subsidiary of the Santa Fe Railway, bought the 9,000-acre San Dieguito Ranch in north San Diego County.

“The question of lumber for ties is one that is being given a great deal of attention,” a company spokesman said. “Experiments have shown that the eucalyptus tree makes first-class ties. ... The work of planting these trees will be commenced without delay.”
The company took delivery of 6 million eucalyptus seeds shipped from Australia. In a three-room adobe at the former homestead of Don Juan Maria Osuna, San Diego's first mayor, a team successfully propagated 3 million seedlings. The young trees were set out among the hillsides of the old rancho, now named Rancho Santa Fe.
The eucalyptus railroad tie experiment ended in failure. The soft wood split from the rail spikes and tended to throw the tracks. Santa Fe recouped its investment by subdividing the ranch into hundreds of parcels for country estates. The region soon attracted Hollywood celebrities such as Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford. Bing Crosby would live for a time at the old Osuna rancho, which he bought in 1932.

TMB-
the eucalyptus tree is where the koala lives and feeds off
 

Vnsmkr

Well-Known Member
Good thing the French didn't name it. It might have been called Etouffee. One of our friends is a host for Couches around the World, {or some other travel club where folks sleep on your couch when passing through your neck of the woods} I ask a French lady what etouffee meant. She said it means covered or under a heavy lid.
Etoufee is another way to say smothered. Lots of smothered food in S. Louisiana...
 
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