December i, 18S3.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



405 



the NUgiiis seems to prove tliat the higher the alti- 

 tude, up to 7,500 feet, at which tlie blue gums are 

 grown, the better they flourish. The trees are not 

 handsome, except in their youthful stage ; in cultiv- 

 ated soil they become surface-feeders, and are liable 

 to be blo\ra down by storms of -nind and we now 

 know that they suffer in specially wet seasons 

 from a leaf-disease aud from canker of the stems. 

 If shelter-belts are requii-ed, the gums do not 

 seem to be the best- trees to choose. Planted 

 amongst coffee, the blue gums do injury, not 

 only by abstractmg fertilizing properties from the soil, 

 but by pouring down a black gum, which spreads 

 round their root-stems. The blue gum, if gi-own, 

 therefore, should not, we think, be planted amongst 

 coffee or tea, but in isolated groves. The red gum. 

 Eucalyptus rostrata, produces a far better timber, but 

 neither in India nor in Ceylon has it flourished like 

 the blue gum, and. when it has grown, it has too, 

 often adopted the habit of sending up forked stems 

 which renders it liable to split and so allow ad- 

 mittance to moisture which injures it. In Nuwara Eliya 

 as in Ootacamund and Coonoor, the Australian "black- 

 wood," Acacia mHcmoxylon, grows a much handsomer 

 tree than the blue gum. It grows a slim pyramid 

 of dense foliage, so that at a distance it might be 

 mistaken for a cypress. It is slower gi-osving than 

 the blue gum, but its timber is superior. Unfortun- 

 ately, its dense foliage and rough bark aflbrds lodg- 

 ment for the insidious parasites, the loranlhi, well- 

 known from theii- honeysuckle like blossoms, varying from 

 yellow to ruby red. The glutinous seeds of the 

 loranthus are carried by bu-ds ; fixed on a brancli or stem, 

 aud spread their feeding rootlets over the bark, 

 sucking the life juices of their host. They are speci- 

 ally conspicuous on casuarina trees ; but we have seen 

 jak, mango nnd other valuable cultivated trees 

 exhausted to death by the parasites, because no 

 trouble was taken to remove the latter. In most 

 cases a crooked knife .at the end of a loug bamboo 

 would suffice to clear affected trees. Had the corrective 

 of Ml'. Hutchins' Report not appeared. Acacia melano- 

 xylon would have stood condemned on the dicta of 

 Col. Beddome, quoted by ilr. Gamble in his very 

 valuable Manual of Indian Timbers But if only a 

 little trouble is taken to rid the blackwood acacia 

 of tlie lorauthns, it is a valuable tree to grow for 

 its black haartwood, which it produces under a white- 

 w'ood outer covering, just like the ebony tree. Acacia 

 dealbata is inferior altogether as a timber ti-ee, but, 

 from its habit of seudnig up a perfect grove of stems, it 

 might be worth cultivating for small firewood and 

 for its bark. The bark of all the wattles is good for 

 tanning purposes. We do not thiuk that to grow them 

 for bark alone would pay, but liark as a subsidiary 

 product to timber and fuel would help. The parasites 

 do not attack either this wattle or the blue girms 

 Orevillea rohusta which promises so well in Ceylon, and. 

 the timber of which, being valued in Australia for 

 staves of tallow cisks, ought to be good for 

 tea chests, dies not seem to have established 

 itself to any large extent in India, although we re- 

 collect seeing some small specimens near the church 

 at Ootacamund. This tree is, however, included in 

 Gamble's Manual aud thus noticed :— 



Grevillea roliusta has a rough bark, 3-16ths inch thick 

 AVood hard, light reddi.sh brown, sapwood greyish white. 

 Pores moderate-sized, scanty, in concentric patches of 

 white tissue. These concentric patches are interrupted by 

 the medullary rays aud bend outward where they meet 

 the rays, so that thr concentric bands have a wavy out- 

 line. M edullary rays ')roadand very broad, very prominent 

 on a radial section, sliewiug a beautifid silver grain. The 

 luartwood seems durable, but the sapwood decays quickly. 

 It would be a handsome furniture wood. 



We also quote what Gamble saya respecting the 

 m 



Australian acacias, only reminding our readers, tbat 

 Hutchins has most emphatically reversed Co). Bed- 

 dome's adverse verdict on the Australian blackwood : — 



A. dadhnta, Link.: Beuth. Fl. Austr. ii. 415; Brandis 

 180. The .Silver "Wattle. 



A tree spreading rapidly by numerous root-suckers. The 

 wood is moderately hard, light brown, but warps consider- 

 ably. Pores small, often iu short liner groups. Medullary 

 rays short, fine and moderately broad, well marked on a 

 radial section. 



Indigenous iu New South Wales, Victoria aud Tasmania. 

 Introduced on the Nilgu-is, and now naturalised since 1840. 



The wood is extensively used in Australia for timber snd 

 the bark for tanning. It has beiug tried iu plantations iu the 

 hills of the Punjab, North-Western Provinces and Sikkim. 

 Our specimen was cut from a tree 11 years old and 46 feet 

 high, and was about 12 inches in diameter. Colonel Bed- 

 dome, in his report on the Nilgiri plantations of April 1878 

 saiil that this Wattle grows very readily from the stool, but 

 comes up in a dense mass of small twig-like stems, so that it 

 can only be depended on for very small firewood. 



A . mvhinoxijhn, R. Br.; Benth. Fl. Austr. ii. 415. ; Brandis 

 180. Australian Blackwood. 



A large tree with hard and durable wood ; heartwood dark 

 brown and beautifully mottled, soft, shining, even-graiued; 

 pores mostly oval, moderate-sized and divided into compart- 

 ments conspicuously marked on a vertical section. Jledullai-y 

 ravs short and fine. 



New South "Wales, "Victoria, Tasmania aud South Australia". 

 Introduced on the Nilgiris since 1840 aud now completely 

 naturalised. Also beiug grown in the hills of the Punjab, 

 Knniaun and Sikkim. 



"With regard to its rate of growth. Colonel Beddome, iu his 

 report of April ls7S on the Nilgiri plantations says that 

 in the Bleakhouse plantation, A\'emngton, the average girth 

 of the trees in the portion which is 21 to 22 years old, taken 

 from the measurement of 30 trees as they came, was 35 

 inches at feet from the ground (about 4 rings per inch of 

 radins), the sirth of some of the largest trees being .5U, 5.5, 

 50, 40 aud 44' inches. Our specimen was cut from a tree 20 

 years old and 90 feet high ; it gave a plank 2 feet broad. The 

 wood seems to be regarded on the Nilgiris. is very inferior 

 to that of Euciiliipiiis Ghhidiis, either for timber or firewood; 

 its growth is liiuch slower and it is attacked by species 

 of Lormithm, Which par.asites in time kill the tree. It 

 does not coppice well, unless cut very young. 



"Weight, according to Jlr. Newbery fXimbers of Victoria, 

 1877), 41 to4S!b. per cubic foot; our specimen gives 36 lb. 



It is used in Australia for cabincnt work, coach-build- 

 ing, railway carriages and agi-ieultural inipliments; on the 

 Nilgiris chiefly for firewood. Its bark is used for tanning. 



Besides^/, iiielano.riilona.ni A. dealbata, there an several 

 other species of "Wattle some of which are cultivated in 

 India. ,-1. '/rtvoreiw, AVilld., the "Common" or " Black" 

 "Wattle, is a small or medium-sized tree ; larger in most 

 localities. According to Mr. Newbery, the wood weighs 45 

 to 48 lb. per cubic foot. It is being grown in several places 

 in India. A. pijcnantha, Bth., the "Golden" or "Broad- 

 leaf" AVattle, is the most valuable species for tanner's 

 bark and gum. Its wood weighs 51'5 lb. per cubic foot. 

 A. homalophyUa, A. Cunn., is the Myallwood, a small tree 

 with a hard, dark wood with the scent of violets. 



Wattles grow iu almost any .soil, but their growth is best 

 is loose sandy places or where the surface has been broken 

 for agricultural or ther purposes. It is well, before sowing 

 the seed, to soak it for a short time in warm water; this 

 moistens the outer shell and induces more speedy germ- 

 ination. The seeds generally germinate iu from 7 to 10 

 days, and are apt to damp oft if too carelessly watered. 

 Our readers will notice the distiuction, which, we 

 fear, we have not always observed, between the 

 Australian "blackwood," Acacia me/anoxylon, and 

 the black wattle, Acacia dcciirrois, the latter an in- 

 ferior tree for timber purposes, though no doubt 

 valuable for firewood and tanning bark. To make 

 our quotations complete, we take over what Gamble 

 states respecting the euodypts :— 



Eucalyi^tus, L'Her. Numerous species of this geuus of 

 trees have been introduced into India from Australia,, 

 where they have the general name of " Gnra trees;" bii. • 

 their success has been very variable. E. Globulus, Labt 



