1900. 



AMERICAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION. 



ir 



The Eucalyptus in the Tropics. 



Its Rapid Growth and Value as a Sanitary Agent, Acting as a Pre= 



ventative of Malaria. 



BY THE FOUNDER OF THE FORESTER. 



The greatest drawback to the exploita- 

 tion of the rich lowlands of the tropics is 

 and has always been fever. Excepting 

 those diseases due to the negligence and 

 uncleanliness of mankind, .the most fre- 

 quent of tropical orders are malarial in 

 nature. Had it not been for the use of 

 quinine and other similar drugs, products 

 of the genus Cinchona, a group of mag- 

 nificent trees, natives of the high altitudes 

 of the Andes between the U. S. of Colom- 

 bia and Bolivia, even the exploration of a 

 large part of these regions would have 

 been impossible. 



Extensive plantations of Cinchona trees 

 have been established in the Himalayas, 

 Ceylon, Java and Jamaica. Although 

 these drugs have been indispensable they 

 have in no way affected the source of these 

 diseases. Their nidus is the undrained 

 marshland which fringes the coast, rivers 

 and inland waters of almost every tropical 

 country. 



The deforestation and cultivation of this 

 extremely fertile but imperfectly drained 

 land has increased rather than diminished 

 the amount of fever. What is needed 

 therefore most of all is drainage and this 

 can be effected more easily, quickly and 

 economically through the planting of the 

 Eucalyptus than in any other way. 



The cause of malarial fever is known. 

 It is due to a minute amo3boid organism 

 which breeds in warm, stagnant, marshy 

 places. Just how this is communicated to 

 the human body is a question. Some say 

 that the disease lurks in miasmatic vapors 

 and that breathing the night air in certain 

 places is sufficient ; others claim that drink- 

 ing-water is the vehicle, and others that 

 mosquitos carry it from the marshes and 

 inoculate our blood. No matter how it 

 reaches the human body, the indirect cause 



remains the same. Once eliminate the 

 marshland and you deprive these pestif- 

 erous organisms, including the mosquito, 

 of their breeding place and thus indirectly 

 reduce the amount of fever. 



The malarial condition of our South is 

 mainly due to the ill-treatment of forest 

 lands and the formation of stagnant 

 marshes in consequence. It is a note- 

 worthy fact that densely forested swamp 



THE FLOWERS OF THE EUCALYPTUS. 



Because of their peculiar beauty and fragrance 

 large quantities of these flowers are shipped 

 north from the Riviera in Winter for decorative 

 purposes. They yield an immense amount of 

 honey ; many apiaries are located in Eucalyptus 

 groves of Australasia. 



regions, such as the Dismal Swamp of 

 Virginia and North Carolina, are free 

 from malaria and perfectly healthy, while 

 the adjacent burnt-over pine and Savanna 



