On the Acclimatisation of Foreign Timber Trees. 465 



of America or Australia, to say nothing of other parts of the world, we 

 shall at once find no lack of individuals worthy of serious attention. 



Many of the trees of the former country are well known to us, and 

 not a few fine species of oak, as well as of pines, maples, and others, 

 might be more extensively planted than is the case at present. The 

 woods of all these are valuable for structural and ornamental purposes. 

 With regard to Australian trees, there are, as most of our readers 

 know, an endless variety, many of which are of gigantic proportions, 

 with a great diversity of foliage, and producing hard and variously 

 coloured or figured woods. A good notion of these may be had from 

 the splendid collections from the several Australian colonies contained 

 in the No. 3 Museum at Kew. Whether we look to the numerous 

 species of eucalyptus, some of which attain in their native home 

 colossal proportions, and have moreover of late obtained a world-wide 

 reputation, or to other myrtaceous and leguminous trees, foremost in 

 which latter family are the species of acacia, we shall find many well 

 worth attention both as ornamental and useful timber trees, and even 

 those species which are not capable of acclimatisation with us 

 should be known in the timber trade by their woods becoming 

 recognised articles of commerce. The rich colours and splendid veining 

 of the woods of many of the acacias are of such a character as 

 is not seen in any other known wood. The refreshing perfume of the 

 myall or violet-wood is another special character, the sawdust of 

 which might be utilized by the perfumer for sachets. The hard 

 nature of the woods of the eucalypti before referred to is well known, 

 and this, added to their rapid growth, would make the trees invaluable, 

 where they could be induced to thrive. 



We cannot conclude these remarks without drawing attention to 

 one tree in particular, which may be well known to many of our 

 readers, but the beauty of the wood of which we believe is really but 

 little known. We allude to the Huon pine of Tasmania {Dacrydiunh 

 Franklinii). The splendid markings of this wood are, we believe, alone 

 in their peculiar character, and a carefully cut slab of Huon pine is 

 certainly not to be surpassed, if equalled, by any other wood. In proof 

 of this, we need only point to the fine slabs in the No. 3 Museum at 

 Kew. 



These few remarks will, we hope, lead to greater attention being 

 paid to the acclimatisation of foreign trees in this country, and to the 

 more extended importation of really useful and valuable foreign 

 woods. 



