10 EUCALYPTS IX FLORIDA. 



throughout the year than in southern California. In California 

 during the three months of least rainfall in most cases less than 1 

 inch is recorded, while in Florida the records show no case less than 

 5.5 inches for a similar period. While California has distinct wet 

 and dry seasons, and is in some places semiarid, Florida has a more 

 uniform climate and less seasonal variation, and in the southern part 

 at least is semitropical. 



6. In California the season of cold is longer and is fairly well 

 defined. In Florida cold spells are spasmodic, and while they occur, 

 as a rule, only during the three winter months (December, January, 

 and February) , yet the drop in temperature may be sudden, and may 

 come just before or just after much higher temperature. 



7. Florida is, moreover, about 3 degrees south of the most southern 

 part of California, and is in about the same latitude (30°) north of 

 the Equator that South Australia, the native home of the eucalypt, 

 is south. 



Of all the countries in which eucalyptus has been successfully in- 

 troduced, the climate of southern Brazil comes closest to that of 

 Florida. In that part of Brazil where eucalypts are raised on a 

 commercial scale, and where meteorological observations have been 

 carried on over a series of years, the average maximum temperature 

 for the period from 1905 to 1908 was 96.8° F., very close to that of 

 Florida. The average annual precipitation for the same period in 

 Brazil gives 71.3 inches, more than in Florida and more than in any 

 other countries where eucalypts are grown. The absolute minimum 

 temperature in Brazil for the same period, however, is higher than 

 in Australia, southern California, or Florida. Brazil, however, has 

 this advantage over Florida, that it is free from the cold northern 

 winds which often cause a sudden drop in temperature. 



In Brazil, as in Florida, the rainy season comes during the sum- 

 mer, but there are distinct dry months during which very little or no 

 rain falls. This fact, together with the higher minimum tempera- 

 ture, creates conditions in Brazil more favorable for the growing of 

 eucalypts than are found anywhere in California or Florida, and the 

 growth of eucalypts is more rapid in South America. 



In Florida, then, there is no such well-marked period of vegetative 

 rest as is found in most other countries where eucalypts have been 

 successfully cultivated, and only those species which can withstand a 

 humid atmosphere and are able to resist frosts could be expected to 

 do well. In the humid atmosphere which prevails in Florida, and 

 with the less pronounced period of vegetative rest, freezing tempera- 

 tures are likely to do greater damage to the trees than in regions in 

 which the low temperatures occur only during the periods of rest. 



