254 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [October i, 1885. 



below the ordinary price. Now, to what other cause 

 can this be attributed than that the trees sprung 

 from deteriorated seeds — to degeneration in fact? 

 It may be true — I should be very sorry to write 

 dogmatically — that the wide system is generally better 

 for estate cultivation, but, on the other band, if not 

 invariably found so, those who adopt it prematurely 

 may have reason for regret hereafter, and as it does 

 not cost much extra to put in the adilitional nuts at 

 stake, my advice, certainly for wet localities, would 

 be meanwhile to do so, and, if unabl ■ to sum up 

 the courage yourself to do the thinning, if eventually 

 thought best, trust a neighbor: it will be at least 

 two years before the plants are likely t > affect each 

 other. Your frienrl at the Straits I .s !e seems to 

 differ from Mr. Borron as regards the :i Wantage of 

 shade. But I would wish him to te!! his native 

 friend that the "bamboo trick" will ha ■ lly get over 

 the difficulty of collecting the nuts here— inless indeed 

 the plant be adopted of going in for two curing 

 processes, viz., the ripe nuts whole, a id the green 

 nuts slUed! Green unmatured nuts woild certainly, 

 I suould say, not produce a highly-priiiid or sound 

 sample, and, if all were to be cure 1 whole, to 

 ensure this, the nuts, as for coffee, mu-^t be picked 

 on as they ripen ; this would be impo .siblo with a 

 bamboo, and must be done by hand. But, further 

 than this, however it may be at the Straits on 

 whatever system of planting (and granting^ the 

 varieties are as your correspondent supposes identical), 

 in Oeylon, as the trees grew oUl tliey would entirely 

 outreach the longest bamboo, and thi'refore to be 

 able to pass from tree to tree without descending is, 

 I must maintain, an advantage. The common or 

 Singalee variety I think grows tallest as a rule, but 

 I may instance a " Hamb:ui" tiee, growiiig quite in 

 the open, and apart from other trees, which at my 

 request was stripped, the result being at least 1,000 

 nuts for the one crop (I count ed over 750 and was 

 assured that fully a third bad already been gathered) 

 and the bunches of which no bamboo much shorter 

 than a giant stem from Peradeuiya could have 

 reached. We live to learn, but on a comparison 

 it must not be overlooked that for bftter results, 

 planted so wide as 10' « 10' the yield per tree 

 requires to bo enormously greater, or the sample 

 immensely heavier or more valuable. — 0. R. — Local 

 " Times." 



EUCALYPXr. 



The very limited number of Eucalypti capable of cult- 

 ivation in this country, does not convey to the mind any 

 idea of the vast importance of this genus to the great 

 Australian continent, nor of the large numb.-r of species 

 which it comprises, although, according to Baron F. vou 

 Mueller, it is second only to Acacia in this^ respect. 

 T he Eucalyptus trees, he tells ns in his valuable Eucu/ypto- 

 q i-apliia, " form the principal timber vegetation nearly 

 all over the wide Australian ooutinent, and for all ages 

 the inhabitants of this par^ of the globe will have to 

 rely largely, it not mainly, on eucalyptis for wood 

 supply." The rapidity of growth of some of the species 

 and their salubrious effect in miasmatic di.stricts have 

 led, in great measure through Baron von Mueller's 

 energetic and perservering efforts, to theii- widespread 

 cultivation in other countries, wherever the climate has 

 been found su'table, so that the leaves and oil obtained 

 from Eucalyptus globulus grown at Nice already form 

 articles of export from the South of Fran. e. 



Comparatively few of the species are su table to the 

 English climate, only B. coccifera, E. Gunnii, E. pauci- 

 tlora, E. nrnigera, and E. vernicosa being able to brave 

 frosts and snowstorms. Neither of these are remark- 

 able for beauty. E. globulus will not bear severe 

 winters, but forms a very effective .«hrub for planting 

 out in sutnmer, and will withstand milil winters. E. 

 GuLinii contains so little volatile oil in the leaves that 

 it is readily browsed upon by .sheep and rattle, wher- 

 ever the dwarf procumbent form of the tree is met 

 with near the coast. The young foliage of E. pauciQora 

 must also be possessed of some value as fodder, for 



opossums are so fond of it that the tree often dies out 

 where these animals are not kept down by the hand 

 of man. The sugary Eucalypt (E. corynocalyx) appears 

 to be the only other species attractive to cattle, which 

 readily feed on its sweetish leaves. This species, how- 

 ever, is better fitted for arid deserts, being capable of 

 bearing the protracted droughts and extreme heat of 

 such regions. Other species also suitable for such dis- 

 tricts on account of their rapid growth are E. bicolor, 

 E. ochrophloia, E. polyanthema, E. salmonophloia, E. 

 terminalis, and E. salubris. The last named is also re- 

 markable for the large quantity of volatile oil contained 

 in the leaves. 



One of the most important economic products of the 

 Bucalypts is the volatile oil obtained from the leaves. 

 This varies very considerably in amount in the different 

 species. Although E. globulus is often mentioned as 

 the source of the Eucalyptus oil of commerce, this is 

 by no means always the case, and for the simple reason 

 that it does not yield so much oil as other species, 

 A table given under E. amygdalina shows that, whereas 

 1,000 lb. of fresh leaves of E. globulus yield ouly 120 

 ounces of oil, the same quantity of E. oleosa gives 200 

 ounces, and of E. amygdalina 500 ounces. The two 

 last-named species have been until lately the principal 

 source of Eucalyi)tus oil, which is now prepared also 

 from E. dumosa. Further details concerning the per- 

 centage of oil in other species may be found under B. 

 olecsa. Eucalyptus oil is started to be produced in 

 Mr. J. Bosi.sto's factory to the extent of 12,000 lb. 

 annually, and is extensively u.sed as a solvent of various 

 resins especially of the Kauria resin, asphalt, and some 

 varieties of copal. It also dissolves indiarubber, and is 

 used in antiseptic surgery. The odoiu* of the oil of 

 a few species is remarkably pleasant — E. citriodora, 

 which is regarded by Baron Mueller as a variety of E. 

 maculata, possessing that of the Citron in a remark- 

 able degree, aud E. Staigeriana that of Verbena, so much 

 so, that the oil might easily be mistaken for that of 

 the oil of Verbena of commerce. 



The sap of several species contains a considerable 

 amount of astringent matter, consisting of kiuo-tanuic 

 acid, mixed with a variable amount of a resinoid sub- 

 stance, the first constituent preponderating in some 

 species, aud the second in others. This gum, as it is 

 called, either exudes from the bark or collects in fissures 

 in the trunk. It is most abundant, according to a table 

 given under E. leucoxylon in that species, and E. 

 macrorhyiicha,the former being said to yield 21 '94 

 per cent, and the latter 13'41 per cent of kiuo-tannic 

 acid. Several varieties of this astringent exudation 

 have from time to time been sent over to this country 

 under the name of kino, but have not met with a 

 ready sale, owing to insuflicient care having been taken 

 to collect the kind most soluble in cold water ; that 

 of E. obliqua is, however, stated to dissolve completely 

 in boiling water and to remain clear when cold ; 

 that of E. Planchoniaua is lecommended for its great 

 astringency. For tanning purposes it is quite possible 

 that a small percentage of resinous matter might 

 prove advantageous rather than otherwise in enabling 

 the leather to better resist external disintegrating 

 influences. 



The species of Eucalyptus which are most valuable 

 as sources of timber appear to be those in which 

 resinoid matters are present in larger proportion than 

 the kino-tainiic acid. Of these, E. marguiata, yielding 

 the celebrated Jarrrah wood is one of the most 

 important to the colony ; white ants will not touch it, 

 it is unsurpassed as regards durability: and is worked 

 with greater care than most other Eucalyptus woods. 

 E. rostrata also affords a much prized timber which 

 is capable of bearing an enormous downward pressure, 

 and is ouly slightly subject to longitudinal shrinking, 

 and is very durable in wet ground and in fresh 

 or salt water, but is harder and more difficult to 

 work than the Jarrah wood. E. leucoxylon also 

 yields timber of extraordinary hardness and strength. 

 These three woods are placed in the first class 

 for ship-building by the Au.stralian Lloyds, and E. 

 globulus, which is valuable chiefly for its extreme 

 rapidity of growth, is placed in the second class; 



