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one Australian tanner states that it requires to be used like Valonia 
in conjunction with other tanning materials, for if used alone it 
makes a hard thin leather that becomes very brittle. The fact, 
however, that the demand for the bark has increased so rapidly 
since its introduction indicates that if used in proper proportions 
and under suitable conditions it is a valuable tanning material, at 
least to those who know how to use it. As the bark is easily 
powdered and the powder easily exhausted of its tannin by col 
water, and the leather produced by it is of a pale colour, it evidently 
possesses considerable advantages, and if it can be produced at a 
cheaper rate than Mimosa bark, may become a strong competitor 
of that widely used product. : 
r. J. H. Martpren, Government Botanist of New South Wales, 
has kindly furnished the following particulars about Mallet Bark. 
He is of opinion that the tree which yields this product is a variety 
of Eucalyptus occidentalis, Endl., to which he has given the name 
astringens, Maiden :— 
This has been a well-known article of commerce for the last six 
years at least, and as there has been some doubt as to its botanical 
origin, I spent a good deal of time during my botanical journeys in 
Western Australia (September—December, 1909), in endeavouring 
to clear up the matter 
he ordinary “ Flat-topped Yate” is, in my view, typical 
Eucalyptus occidentalis, Endl. It is a tree with black hard bark 
for the lower half of the trunk, while the upper half of the bark is 
black and feathery, the loose bark quivering in the wind strongly 
reminding one of the feathers of a French fowl. The branches are 
more or less smooth or ribbony. The bark of this form has no 
commercial value, 
The Mallet is a smooth barked Eucalypt—a Gum in Australian 
parlance, It also is more or less flat-topped, but quite distinct in 
appearance to the ordinary flat-topped Yate. No bushmen that 
I consulted would ever allow that the trees are the same. 
I have described the Mallet as a variety (astringens), in the 
Journal Nat. Hist. and Science Soc. of Western Australia, 1910. 
The ordinary Yate is E. cornuta, Labill. “The tops of a ver 
high species of Eucalyptus which they (the natives) call Mallert ” 
a mmond in Hooker’s Lond. Journal Bot.). This is the 
first instance I can find of the use of the name, which is always 
now called “ Mallet,” although one hears of other spellings, ¢.g., 
*© Mallat.” 
The commercial Mallet trees occur in a north and south strip of 
the South Eastern part of the State, practically following the Great 
Southern Railway from Beverley or Brookton to Mount Barker, 
and at a distance of about 40 miles on either side of the line. It is 
now prohibited by the Forest Department to cut Mallet Bark from 
any portion of the area 20 miles each side of the Great Southern 
Railway. It can be legally stripped from Ist March to 
Ist November. 
- The Acting Inspector-General of Forests informs me that the 
industry has fallen off during recent years, owing to the Mallet 
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