THE TALLEST TREE THAT GROWS 



667 



ONE SIDE OF A EUCALYPTUS TRUNK USED AS A KITCHEN : AUSTRALIA (SEE PAGE 664) 



which its beneficent results come about. 

 Some think it is the result of the volatile 

 oils which these trees give off through 

 their leaves, acting as a neutralizing and 

 even destructive power against the mala- 

 rial matter in the atmosphere ; others 

 maintain that its beneficent results are 

 caused by the fact of the trees being such 

 rapid growers, and the great quantity of 

 water they thus absorb and then give off 

 purifies the atmosphere. Whatever may 

 be the cause, the fact is evident that their 

 presence in goodly numbers, planted in 

 malarial regions, has produced most be- 

 neficent results. 



The Roman Campagna especially has 

 been greatly benefited, so much so that 

 large portions once considered almost 

 fatal to human life, and shunned and 

 feared, are now the abodes of numbers 

 of people who find, since the introduction 

 of the eucalyptus trees, but little traces 



of the dreaded malaria that for ages once 

 caused those regions to be so shunned 

 and deserted. 



In the low malarial regions around the 

 Cape of Good Hope and in some similar 

 unhealthful regions around Algiers and 

 elsewhere, the same beneficent results 

 have followed the introduction of the 

 eucalyptus trees. 



As yet no variety has been discovered 

 that is able to withstand even a moderate 

 frost, but the fact that millions of these 

 trees can be raised so easily and quickly 

 in California and Florida and perhaps 

 in the warm places on the Gulf of Mex- 

 ico, and that its timber can be so widely 

 utilized, is a matter for congratulation to 

 all who are interested in the conserva- 

 tion of our forests and also in the intro- 

 duction of new varieties of trees that 

 will add to the timber wealth of the 

 country. 



