368 The yimrnal of Forestry. 



mouths, called in the services of Dr. Pnyn, begged liiiii to visit the place 

 regularly, and jjlaced liberally at his disposal every remedial agent that, he 

 could suggest. Dr. Payu proposed that the marsh should be planted with 

 Eucalyptus. In two years these trees attained a gigantic size, and fever 

 almost entirely disappeared. 



Method by which Eacahj^tm iinproves Climate. — It is unnecessary to 

 multiply instances, almost every one of the thirty competent persons inter- 

 rogated bore testimony to the fact that the introduction of this tree had 

 exercised a salutary influence on the health of the district. 



In some places the trees destroyed miasma by utilizing the moisture of 

 the soil in which they were planted, and thus draining marshes. The 

 emanations from their leaves also may have produced a salutary effect. 

 They contain a large (piantity of essential oil very similar to turpentine, 

 which they emit in great quantities, especially when stirred by the wind, 

 and this acts, it is supposed, as a febrifuge. 



Localities suited for the Growth, of Euaihjpius. — There is another subject 

 worthy of consideration, the localities best suited to the growth of the 

 plant on a large scale, and the price of land available for the purpose. 



To ensure the commercial success of the scheme the trees must be 

 planted on a line of railway and as close as possible to a station. The soil 

 ought to be rich and deep, and there ought to be suflScient water available 

 for irrigating the trees during the first year, not frequently, but once when 

 they are planted in autumn, and twice or thrice during the course of the 

 subsequent summer. They will grow in the driest soil, but their growth 

 is infinitely more rapid when planted under the above conditions. 



Plain of Metidja. — There is no doubt that the locality which fulfils these 

 conditions best is the plain of the Metidja. Between Algiers and Blidah, 

 on the line of rail, it is hardly possible to obtain land for less than 500 to 

 700 francs the hectare : some has recently been sold for 10,000 francs. 

 Further from the railway it may be had in some few places for 300 francs, 

 but the cost of transport would neutralize the saving. 



Plains of the Chelif and Mina. — In the plains of the Chelif and the 

 Miua there is an enormous quantity of land which may still be obtained for a 

 merely nominal price. It would be an. immense boon to the country if 

 some of this were planted with Eucalyptus, but the chances of profit to the 

 cultivator would not be so certain. The soil is hardly inferior to that of the 

 ]\Ietidja, but the hydrometrical conditions of its climate are very different. 

 The range of hills stretching westward from Miliana cuts it off from the 

 sea breezes, which always afford a certain quantity of moisture, rain is more 

 scarce, and the farmer can hardly hope for more than one good year out of 

 three. From AflFreville, where it commences, to Oran, is a distance of about 

 300 kil. It is traversed by the most important river in Algeria, the Chelif, 

 which rises in the Sahara and falls into the sea near Mostaganem. 



Barrage of the Chelif. — A barrage has been built near Orleansville, and 

 it is possible that there may be good irrigable laud procurable in that 

 locality, but as it is the only part of the plain which I did not carefully 

 inspect, and the only irrigational work that I did not see, I cannot speak 



