8 



EUCALYPTS IN FLORIDA. 



Corsica, and in Algeria; they have been planted on denuded moun- 

 tain slopes near the sea in Spain and Portugal; and in Italy, par- 

 ticularly near Rome and Naples, they have been used for lowering 

 the water table in swampy soils. In America some of the eucalypts 

 have been introduced into California, where they have changed the 

 entire landscape of the southern part of that State and have proved 

 of benefit in furnishing quickly a large amount of fuel wood, timber 

 for ties, posts, and similar uses. Eucalpyts have been planted to a 

 small extent in Arizona, Florida, and Texas. In Cuba and Hawaii 

 there are large plantations of eucalypts, and they have been exten- 

 sively planted in South America, particularly in Brazil. 



As a general rule, the commercial species of eucalypts may be in- 

 troduced into any region in which citrus fruits and the olive will 

 grow in the open. They apparently do best in a climate which per- 

 mits of a distinct period of vegetative rest during the year, and are 

 capable of withstanding temperature below freezing if the period of 

 the low temperature is not long sustained and if it is coincident with 

 the period of vegetative rest. The decisive factor is temperature — 

 not the average temperature, but the absolute maximum and mini- 

 mum temperatures — extremes in either of which are apt to prove 

 fatal. Precipitation is of less importance, since the tree thrives in 

 regions that have an average annual precipitation of less than 18 

 inches, and in regions in which the annual rainfall is more than TO 

 inches. 



CONDITIONS IN FLORIDA. 



A comparison of the climatic conditions which prevail in Aus- 

 tralia, the native home of the eucalyptus, and in regions in which 

 eucalypts have been successfully introduced, with those in Florida 

 brings out the fact that while the climate of southern Florida, on the 

 whole, is well adapted to the growing of eucalypts, there are certain 

 peculiar conditions which must be taken into account in the selec- 

 tion of the species and methods of cultivation. 



CLIMATE. 



Table 1. — Comparison of climate of regions in which eucalypts arc grown. 



Location. 



Average 



Average 



of absolute 



of absolute 



maximum 



minimum 



tempera- 



tempera- 



tures. 



tures. 



°F. 



°F. 



96.8 



30.0 



114.2 



2,->. 5 



10s. 6 



21.0 



98.0 



21.2 



Average 

 annual 



precipi- 

 tation. 



Brazil (Sao Paulo) (average for 1905-1908) 



Australia 



Southern California (eucalyptus zone) 



Southern Florida (below the twenty-ninth parallel) 



Inches. 

 71.3 

 31.3 



18.9 

 54.1 



