100 AUSTRALIAN TREES AND SHRUBS. 



no evidence to show that it has any marked influence upon this 

 disease, or that its use tends to lessen the chance of infection. 

 The timbers yielded for the most part by species of Eucalyp- 

 tus are the most valuable of the forest resources of Australia. 

 They are remarkable for their durability. Wooden piles 

 have been known to have remained perfectly sound after 

 exposure to sea-water for over forty years. There are also 

 several extremely valuable soft timbers, such as red cedar, 

 silky oak, beech, a variety of teak, and several pines. Jarrah 

 timber from Western Australia, on account of its hardness 

 and durability, has been used for paving London streets. 



CULTIVATION OF EUCALYPTS. 



Several species of Eucalyptus have been cultivated in sub- 

 tropical countries such as North Africa, the Cape, California, 

 Chile, and the northern and southern shores of the Mediter- 

 ranean, where the conditions have generally proved most 

 favourable for them. In the British Isles, also, numerous 

 attempts have been made to acclimatise Eucalyptus trees. 

 At no place have more species been attempted to be grown 

 in the open air than at Abbotsbury. I have a list of forty 

 species that have been tried there. While a good number 

 have been killed in exceptionally severe winters, such as those 

 of 1907 and 1908, there are at least a dozen species that have 

 proved comparatively hardy. These I shall hope to discuss 

 later. A remarkable plantation of Eucalypts, perhaps the 

 largest in this country, consisting of about nine hundred 

 trees, was made by the late Mr. Bateman at Brightlingsea 

 Hall in Essex. The trees were in full flower in December, 

 1906, when visited by Mr. H. J. Elwes, and many were covered 

 with capsules of different ages. A self-sown seedling was 

 noticed about 12ft. high at three years old. At Broadstone 

 Dr. Russel Wallace established about sixty Eucalpytus trees 

 (principally E. Gunnii) at the Old Orchard at Broadstone. 

 Most of these are still flourishing and producing flowers and 



