The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-03-09
NOTES ON THE EUCALYPTUS.

Editor Bulletin:
This tree, now attracting so much attentio
IN the United States, has been known to th
botanists and arboriculturists of Europe nearl
one hundred years, the date of the discover
OF Australia by Capt. Cook, but all attempt
to acchmate it there have terminated in fail
ures.
Avoiding scientific technicalities-uni
esting to the general reader-we Will only sa
that it is called the blue gum, and belongs t
the Nat. Order Myrtacea, and Is confined Il
the region of Australia, some species like til
J.. Amygdalina being found in Tasmania, aut
extends from that island in latitude forty
three degrees south to the Molucca Islands il
latitude three degrees south. I. is almos
wholly a tropical plant, for, though Tasmani5
be below forty degrees South latitude, YET
| lines Of equal heat are superior to lines 0,
equal latitude, as also the temperature is ee.
waited by the insensible evaporation constantly
going Oh, and those places which are sur
rounded by water furnish striking illuotra-
ton OF the fact well known in physics that
| cold winds passing over water have their tenn
posature lowered thereby
Explorers tell us that these gigantic trees
Of Australia and Tasmania, known as blue
gum, stringy bark, etc, comprised il this or
der m!Htdcsa, are slid to contain 100 to $50
species, aud which, owing (so say the books)
to their widely different appearance at differ
en- periods Of their growth, present great
difficulty IN arriving at a correct estimation.
The leaves of these trees, or perhaps it would
be more prudent to say some of them, and
the l.. Gl0buns amongst the number, are
known to be highly aromatic, yielding pow
ertul gum; and the foliage is very proposes
sing, being of a blueish glaucous tint, and
would If it could be successfully acclimated,
prove a vast acquisition mot 50 much from
Its disinteclng qualities, which, as a fact,
must be referred to travellers tales, as for it,,
timber. All Information unite in describing
It IS tree OF gigantic proportions, most ac-
counts fixing Il at from go to 400 feet, and
one account stating tree having been fellel |
at ooU teet. 1t is common in Australia 10 fell |
trees Of 500 feet in length that are 100 feet in
grth at yard high. A plank was sent to the
Worlds Exhibition in 1851 which was 230 |
feet long. Another statement says there was |
sent t9 the same place plank l07 feet long, |
II inches wide, and nearly inches thick.
It's value as a timber tree may be appre.
lended from the fact that it is in great de-
nand by colonial ship-wrights, mill grights.
,4rpenters, plenent-makers and engineers,
or beams demanding long span. For these
purposes it would be very desirable to intro
luce It here. As for its disinfecting properties,
ensible cGltivators treat the idea as bosh
IL IS now being in process of trial in Cali
ornia, dry country, similar to its native
h"btGt, and il said to be a success as high
$ latitude 80 degrees. The success there we
now from the same principle Of isothermal
mes, but would be no criterion on the eastern =
ide OF this continent. Il has been tried in I
3eorgia by a celebrated horticulture, Mr.. T. |
Berkmans, Augusta, as early as 1888, with a
early failures Of skilltul experiments, until !,
/ 1868 his last plant died, and that gentle I,
ian states IN the March number, 1875. of a
lie AmeFicae Apicaltur:St, that "many kinds !
ere cultivated IN England in 1890, but every
ee was killed ia 1929
In some parts OF Florida it has also failed. !
I'D, summing up all the experience obtained q
? to the present moment, it may be stated T
at
l. lis disinfeoting qualities are fable. :
:. That it is too tender for hardy tree and !,
az be considered rs oalY reliable to the II
tent as the orange tree. h
). That 1t cannot reach the height it does
its dry, native home. r
I. That Australia being dry region, some =
1t being rainless, ii will have another &
envy to encounter in tie moisture Of Louis .,
III. !;
s. It's pity, but pity It's lis true" that ~
If that We will never succeed with it here !,
would be an immense acquisition to Texas
t for her nortEers
Lhe plants are easily raised in boxes, com u
, up IL short time and should then be q
Implanted into pots until about two feet n
her and then set out. An ounce of seed of
produce one thousand plants. in