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APPENDIX. 
THE CULTIVATION OF EUCALYPTS ift COUNTRIES 
AUSTRALIA. 
THE acclimatisation of Eucalypts in various parts of the world lias already a very 
copious literature, and the Gardeners' 1 Chrowce is a fountain of information in 
this direction ; take vol. xxv, third series (January-June, 1899) for example. I can 
only submit a few works and a few references, and must leave those who desire ampler 
ones to follow up the matter for themselves. 
Eucalypts have been largely planted, chiefly because it was thought they were 
a specific in malarial fevers, and hence the plantings in the Campagna, near Rome, 
which gave rise to so much controversy. Then came lesser plantings to alleviate 
diseases of the respiratory organs. 
Monsieur Ramel appears to have first suggested the idea of planting Eucalyptus 
trees in Europe, with a view of thus ridding territory from malarial fevers. The same 
object led to its cultivation at the Cape. It is but right to quote testimony on the 
other side of the question. Speaking of E. crebra, the Rev. J. E. Tenison- Woods states 
(Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., 1882, 336) :- 
On the Peak Downs, about Clermont and Copperfield, it is especially plentiful, and all around the 
Hodgkinson diggings. I mention this fact just to show that, whatever febrifuge qualities the Eucalyptus 
may possess, the mere presence of some species will not be enough to dissipate malaria. In the places I 
have mentioned the fever and ague were common enough, yet the prevailing winds used to blow through 
hundreds of miles of these gum trees ere they reached the infected localities. 
Experience has shown that any good that has accrued from planting them arises 
from the absorption of moisture during their rapid growth, together with the mild 
exhalation of oil of some species. 
En parenthese, it may be remarked that while we in Australia have in the past 
been prone to recommend Eucalyptus planting to dwellers in other countries for 
sanitary purposes, we do not follow our own precepts. It is a fact that comparatively 
very few Eucalypts are artificially planted in Australia, and yet most of its towns are 
like other towns in having low-lying, undrained portions, and typhoid fever carries off an 
undue proportion of their population. It is also a fact that the orthodox method of 
improving (?) land is to fell the trees (generally Eucalypts) which grow upon it. In 
preparing suburban land for purposes of sale it is usually the object to eradicate every 
trace of vegetable growth, and the idea of leaving one Eucalypt to each allotment 
for the purpose of desiccating the ground seems never to be thought of. 
Baron von Mueller attributed the salubrity of Eucalyptus regions to the following 
causes : (1) Their ready and copious absorption of moisture from the soil. (2) Their 
corresponding power of exhalation, much greater than that of many other kinds of 
trees. (3) Their evolution of a peculiar, highly antiseptic, volatile oil. (4) The 
disinfecting action of the fallen leaves on decaying organic matter in the soil. Eucalyptus 
leaves create no noxious effluvia by their own decomposition. 
