The feasibility of commercial cultivation of Melaleuca alternifolia is examined. This plant is a species of Australian Myrtaceae whose essential oil is a valuable antiseptic and fungicide, with potential application in burn therapy, and which is in short supply on the world market. Techniques for seed germination, nursery management, transplanting and establishment will be developed. Environmental and cultural effects on qualitative and quantitative oil production will be approximated from three stands of trees established in Fall/Winter 1985 in California, Oregon and Washington.Applications:Benefits will acrue to the company in control over a raw material vital to it's research and commercial operations; to the medical community in access to a new raw material with significant therapeutic value; to the agricultural community in a new crop with very high potential return per acre; and to the commercial sector in new products, manufacturing and jobs.
