149 



THE EUCALYPTUS TREE IN CALIFORNIA. 



The Eucalyptus tree promises to become as useful in California as the 

 bamboo is in Japan and China. It has the advantage of requiring little 

 or no attention and of growing with astonishing rapidity, and in the 

 vast timberless regions it has been an important factor in improving the 

 land. The wood has many medicinal qualities. The eucalyptus is also 

 extensively used to form a windbreak about gardens and orchards. It 

 has been found very profitable to raise the tree for fuel. Its remarkably 

 rapid growth makes it possible to raise a crop or forest of these trees to 

 a size suitable for cutting every three years. Within a year from the 

 time the seed has been planted the tree often reaches a height of ten 

 feet, and a height of fifty- three feet in three years. It is customary to 

 cut the tree off about two feet from the ground, at intervals of from 

 three to five years. The trees are then cut into cord wood. It is esti- 

 mated that a single acre, if left untrimmed for eighteen years, would 

 produce ten thousand dollars' worth of wood. In Australia the wood of 

 the eucalyptus tree is coming to be extensively used for manufacturing 

 purposes, and it is probable that in time new important uses will be 

 found for the wood wherever these trees are cultivated. — Produce 

 World. 



RAMIE IN JAMAICA. 



Several thousand roots of Ramie have been distributed to various 

 parts of the Island from the Public Gardens. 



Caution is however still necessary, and the following letter from 

 Messrs. Dunlop shows that the question of machinery is not settled yet. 



Requests have occasionally been made that sufficient Ramie stems 

 should be ready at a moment's notice for any machine that may be brought 

 forward to be tested, and a statement made that the stems from 5 to 10 

 acres would be required. No Government, not even that of India or 

 the United States, has ever undertaken to test a machine whenever pro- 

 duced. The Government of India has on two occasions given notice 

 that they would hold a public trial at a certain time and under certain 

 conditions. The Governments of France and the United States have 

 done the same on former occasions, but the interest is now so general 

 that apparently all these Governments consider that the matter may 

 be left to the inventors of machines to demonstrate their capabilities in 

 the same way as other inventors do. To have from 5 to 10 acres of 

 stems always ready for one machine, would mean that from 250 to 500 

 acres should be permanently established. All that the Public Gardens 

 can be reasonably expected to do, is to provide a sufficient number of 

 plants to start the cultivation in different parts of the Island, and then 

 leave it to private enterprise. Roots have lately been distributed to 

 more than 60 centres. 



Messrs. Dunlop Bros. 8f Co., to Director of Public Gardens and 

 Plantations, Jamaica. 



15th June, 1896. 



Dear Sir, 



We beg to thank you most sincerely for your kindness in sending to 



