Jasper County Democrat, Volume 18, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 July 1915 — Tree Is Foe of Mosquito. [ARTICLE]

Tree Is Foe of Mosquito.

Mosquitoes had better give Pennsylvania a wide berth in the future, if Professor Henry G. Walter’s eucalyptus trees begin to flourish. This week the. professor planted 500 seeds 1 of this tree, which is a native of Australia, at his plant research institute at Langhorne, Bucks county. He says they keep away mosquitoes and miasma. Prof. Walters is not certain, that he can induce the trees to stand the Pennsylvania climate, but he’s going to try. Unless they are treated chemically, they succumb usually to a temperature below 27 degrees. When they grow properly, they, attain a height of 375 to 480 feet. They have other values in addition to being mosquito exterriiinators. The oil has a fragrant perfume. From the eucalyptus rostrata, or red gum, Prof. Walters says, a delicious beverage is obtained by steeping the blossoms in water. The tree species planted at Langhorne this week are the amygdalina, or peppermint gum; the rostrata, or red gum, and the globulus, or Tasmanian blue gum.—Philadelphia North American.