BRA 

 or THE 



UNIVERSITY 



PREFACE. 



THE illustrations and descriptive matter contained in this book 

 first appeared in the columns of the Town and Country 

 Journal ; that being the first attempt ever made, through the 

 Australian press, to systematically illustrate the plants of economic 

 value indigenous to this country. About eighteen months after 

 this work was taken in hand, other persons followed up the subject, 

 which proved to the author that his idea was a well conceived one. 

 The subject of Australian economic products has occupied the 

 attention of the author for the past fifteen years, and he has 

 written many papers on the subject ; but he always found it diffi- 

 cult to make the descriptions clear to the general public. The 

 only way he saw out of the difficulty was to have drawings made 

 of the plants, and have them engraved ; for no matter how full a 

 written description is given of a plant, it cannot give such a clear 

 idea to a practical mind as an engraving can. The author felt 

 convinced that the time was opportune for making a start to 

 popularise our native economic products by illustrations and 

 common descriptions, and bring them within the field of practical 

 utility; and this is borne out by many scientific and practical 

 persons he has come in contact with. That this work has already 

 done a great amount of good, by making pastoralists, farmers, and 

 stockmen more familiar with Australian economic products, has been 

 abundantly proved by the number of complimentary letters received 

 from all parts of Australia whilst the work was in progress. Some 

 of the illustrations and descriptions have been republished in the 

 American Press, and inquiries have been freely made as to where 

 seeds of many of the plants herein described could be obtained, 

 not only for sowing in places on this continent, where the plants 

 have been gradually eaten out through overstocking, but from 

 America, Southern Europe, Northern Africa, and India also, which 

 is a convincing proof that much interest has been awakened in 

 these valuable forage plants. There is no gainsaying the fact 

 that ever since pastoral settlement took place there has been a 

 gradual decrease of many valuable salinous and other forage 

 B 



