Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1874-06-06

those IN Naples grow beautifully
and luxuriantiy. There are a few in
Rome, planted a few years ago by
way of experiment, which have with.
stood the frost. l saw one in the
court of the Doria Palace, on the
Corso, 40 or SO feet high, only foul
OF five years old, which looked
healthy and vigorous, and a dozen
others at the Borghese Palace, neal
the Quirinal, some OF them of the
heightzof 80 or more feet, four years
old, which were uninjured by the
sharp frosts of the past winter. One
OF the newspaper writers state that
che has seen them covered with snow
and heavy ieicles in Australia, with
out injuring them; and that they
apparently grow almost as well in
dry as in moist situations. They
are probably about as hardy as the
fig, some of the species perhaps more
So" 1t is stated that they are being
extensively planted in California
where they live and thrive finely.
Still, in the face of this testimony as
to their power of resisting frost, the
experiment made at Florence show
that they cannot endure 10 or y de-
grees of cold below the freezing
point-a point TO which the ther-
mometer occasionally falls on the
Roman Campagna. The Government
has offered 5000 Eucalyptus plants
to land owners about Rome this
spring, to set out by way of expert
ment. The present intention seems
to be to
PLANT EXTENSIVE FORESTS
of this tree on the Campagna, if they
are found able to endure the compar-
atively slight cold of the winters of
Rome, which rarely ever freezes ice
more than an inch thick, although
the "Tramontania" winds from the
mountains feel very cold and set
ones teeth torattling.
1t would be an incalculable bless
ing if this gum-tree accomplished
what is hoped for it, and changed
those fever-stricken, uninhabitable
plains into salubrious abodes for bu-
sy men. 1t is claimed to emit fra
grant, antiseptic, camphorate effiu-
via; and as it grows with extrordi-
nary rapidity, it disengages from the
decaying vegetable matter in the
ground the poison called malaria
and discharges the pure aqueous
moisture into the air. 1t further acts
to produce a shade and thereby low
ers the temperature of the air in
summer, which causes the water in
the soil to stagnate more slowly; and
any delay of stagnation is a gain to
health. 1t is said that experiments
with the sunfower-which is a rapid
grower and produces an oily seed
in malarious districts have been ben
ifcial in a marked degree. 1t is much
grown in China for the sake of its
salubrious qualities, as well as gor-
geous flower. Another argument in
favor of the Eucalyptus is that
THE WOOD is VALUABLE
for fuel and many other domestic
purposes. When cut down, it be-
comes quite hard and solid, as the
sap evaporates; and it is claimed to
be as durable as locust or walnut,
and more so than beech or hickory.
And then it grows about ten times
as fast as most trees-shooting up 8
to 10 feet year, and increasing the
diameter of its trunk . or inches
annually after it fairly gets started.
- If what is alleged of the Eucalyp-
tus be true, why may it not be sue
eessfully introduced all around the
Gulf coast of the Southern States,
and to a distance of IS to 16O miles
back from the sea? As it becomes
acclimatized, it will grow harder.
The French expect to revolutiOnize
the climate, productions and salubri
ty af Algeria with it; and the Ro-
mans are fondly hoping that it may
eventually be the means of restoring
health in summer within their walls,
and rendering habitable once more
their fertile Campagna, over which
disease and death have so long brood
ed. J. NJ.