640 INDIGENOUS PLANTS IN THE COBAR DISTRICT, ii., 



knows how sheep will nibble at a bush, and suddenly leaving it, 

 attack a different species, and so satisfying their tastes by 

 variety; but when sheep have to be hand-fed, on a run, it is a 

 different matter; and here it is that some scientific adjustment is 

 needed. Mr. F. B. Guthrie has done something towards this 

 end, in his computations of the nutrient values of some of our 

 fodder-shrubs (see Agricultural Gazette, Vol.xviii., p. 351 ). There 

 are some of our bushes which would act as a valuable pickle, 

 whereby to aid the digestion of some of the more plentiful edible 

 shrubs not so readily eaten by stock. The mixing, for instance, 

 of the "Apple Rosewood " — Heterodendron olecefolium with the 

 Mulga, Acacia aneura, which is more plentiful, but not so 

 nourishing, is reputed to be an improvement upon the latter 

 eaten alone. In Mr. Guthrie's Table, the ratio of the albuminoids 

 to the carbohydrates and fats, in H. olecefolium, is given as 1 to 

 3^, and the nutrient value as 69; while the ratio of the same 

 constituents in A. aneura is as 1 to 2 J, and the nutrient value as 

 30J . The comparative poorness of the Mulga is, therefore, com- 

 pensated for in the richness of the Apple Rosewood. It must, 

 however, be remembered that what makes the Mulgas the more 

 valuable bushes, is not in their nourishing qualities, but their 

 more widespread distribution, and their endurance in times of 

 extreme drought. If such an adaptation of our fodder-shrubs 

 were to be practised, there would be much economising of the 

 more valuable fodder-shrubs, and some use might then be made 

 of shrubs which so far are problematical as to their profitable 

 uses. Such shrubs as the " Warrior Bush " {Apophyllum anoma- 

 lum), " Budtha Bush" (Eremophila Mitchelli), and the " Turpen- 

 tine Bush " (E. Sturtii), according to the Table quoted, would 

 even be of better use than that of making brooms of one, and 

 sand-barriers of the others. On some species noted in my first 

 List, I have added further notes herein, culled from additional 

 observations. 



Again I have to acknowledge, with thanks, the co-operation of 

 those friends who have assisted me in the collection of specimens, 

 thus contributing to a more complete census of western plants as 

 represented in the Cobar district. 



