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Show 206 ter at the former than at the latter place, or at least is a more sure crop, the farm* we passed looked well, especially those of the brothers Moore, Mr. Cooper, and Colonel Hollister. The last two mentioned have been going largely into cultivation of almonds, olives, walnuts, and eucalyptus. The question as to whether these will flourish in that region as in Los Angeles is affirmatively settled. Notwithstanding all that has been said as to the vastness of the market and the impossibility of flooding it ( East and West) with these semi- tropical productions. I am by no means certain, that this may not occur, especially as we see each year the area devoted to such pro- • ductions so rapidly increasing. Just now ( January, 1876) oranges are a drug in the city markets, and this, be it remembered, is before California has to any considerable extent been adding her stock. The event in itself is a small one, yet it is not entirely devoid of . significance. The wonderful growth of the Australian blue gum in Southern California, and its direct economic value, promise for it an important mission on the Pacific coast. The wants of a vigorous civilization are rapidly using up the forest of California, and it must be remembered that the ratio of destruction will probably never be less than it is now, Hence it is almost impossible to overestimate the prospective value to California of her growing blue gums. Indeed, we of the East must not lose sight of the fact that if, as has been calculated, in less than twenty years our own apparently exhaustless pine forests will have disappeared, we may have to ask aid in timber from the eucalyptus groves of California. I quote at second hand from Ferd. Von Mueller thefollowing statement relative to the tree in its native land: " This tree is of extremely rapid growth, and attains a height of 400 feet, furnishing a first- class wood ; ship- builders get keels of this timber 120 feet long; besides this, they use it extensively for planking and many other parts of the ship, and it is considered to be generally superior to American rock-elm. A test of strength has been made between some blue gum, English oak, and Indian teak. The blue gum carried 14 pounds more weight than the oak, and 17 pounds 4 ounces more than teak, upon the square inch. Blue- gum wood, besides for ship- building, is very extensively used by carpenters for all kinds of outdoor work, also for fence- rails, railway- sleepers, ( lasting about nine years,) for shafts, spokes of drays, and a variety of other purposes." * Concerning the value of the blue gum as an antiperiodic in the various forms of remittent and intermittent fever, I tbink it is yet premature to} offer a decided opinion. That it is of no value I could not venture to affirm. In my hands, though freely administered, it has never given satisfaction. That may be due to the circumstances that I have had to encounter, the severest and most persistent types of the disease. I do not think it in any sense a substitute for quinine, and I think the profession will yet settle down to this belief; and yet the favorable reports we have of its action must have some foundation in fact. Besides its alleged antiperiodic properties there are others to which the physicians will yield a more ready assent. I do not consider the question settled as to the presence of the trees in a malarial region acting as a preventive of " chills and fevers " and allied diseases, though I am bound to admit that the balance of evidence is in favor of their healthful influence. Such problems involve too many elements to be so speedily settled. And more than once in the history of medicine have such ideas risen, been accepted for a few years, and then forgotten. Hence the need for not only caution in generalization, but for a most careful, critical scrutiny of facts. This may lead to important results. As worthy of attention in this connection, we may allude to the jarrah, or mahogany tree, ( Eucalyptus marginata.) That it would thrive in California is beyond all reasonable doubt. Its chief merit being its strong, close grain and its great durability, or rather indestructibility. It is proof against all the marine enemies of ordinary wood, and hence much prized in sea- going vessels. For railroad ties it lasts a long time. The red gum ( Eucalyptus rostrata) is also of great economic value, on account of its durability for underground uses; lasting, when properly selected, over a dozen years for railway- ties. It has also a good reputation in ship- building. It is a peculiarity of these Australian gums that they are soft when first cut, but become very hard when dried. While on this question, it may be well to allude here to the idea of Mr. Stearns, that several of the acacias from Australia could also be readily cultivated on some of the drier, treeless portions of the State. Knowing. the habits of the acacias generally, including the smaller ones of Arizona, I have but little hesitancy in commending his suggestion as one peculiarly worthy of a fair test. It is impossible to overestimate the importance of these rapidly- growing gums to the C aliform an agriculturist. With little trouble or expense to himself, he may in a very few yearn have around his home a shady, health- giving grove, that will, besides * I am indebted for this quotation and for other information to a short but valuable paper by Mr. Robert E. C. Sterns on The Economic Value of certain Australian Forest Trees and their Cultivation in California. |