﻿2-6 BULLETIN 9, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



the smaller species have high value for tool handles, for furniture, and 

 for various other useful and ornamental objects. Some of the best 

 species yield very hard, heavy, close-grained, tough timber that is 

 fairly comparable to walnut and rosewood. 



Acacia melanoxylon. — Wherever it thrives Acacia melanoxylon is 

 considered the most valuable of the timber acacias. The tree grows 

 very rapidly and reaches a height of from 80 to 90 feet and a diameter 

 of 3 feet. Von Mueller reports its strength as surpassing that of 

 kauri and approaching the best American white oak. In his experi- 

 ments a weight of 2,296 pounds is required to break a piece of Acacia 

 melanoxylon 2 feet long and 2 inches square, supported at the ends. 

 The Victorian Timber Board, hi 1884, found that 956 pounds' were 

 required to break test pieces 1J inches and 6 feet between bearings. 

 This wood averaged 53 pounds per cubic foot, but its more usual 

 weight is from 41 to 48 pounds. The tensile strength of good sam- 

 ples is reported by Mr. Campbell at an average of 27,500 pounds per 

 square inch. 1 The Kew Bulletin for May, 1899, states that the timber 

 of Acacia melanoxylon is sound and easily worked; that its prevailing 

 color is brownish, striped with red and light golden, which made an 

 "exceedingly beautiful" combination in the best specimens. The 

 report adds that such a wood may be used to advantage in place of the 

 best Honduran mahogany, and that some lots, while less ornamental, 

 "are excellent for high-class turnery." Maiden says: 



Hard and close-grained; much valued for furniture, picture frames, cabinetwork, 

 fencing, bridges, railway and other carriages, boat building, tool handles, gunstocks, 

 naves of wheels, crutches, parts of organs, pianofortes, billiard tables, etc.; almost 

 equal to American walnut; excellent wood for handling under steam; largely used 

 for oil casks. 



It is also used for oars, buggy shafts, bookcases, tables, and cabinet- 

 work of various kinds. 



Growth notes on Acacia melanoxylon in California show clearly its 

 importance as a timber species. About a hundred tree measurements 

 in different portions of the State, from Shasta south to San Diego, 

 taken at various times between January, 1910, and June 1, 1913, 

 show that on average soils, with an annual rainfall of from 15 to 30 

 inches, and without irrigation, trees 20 years old average 40 feet in 

 height, with a stem diameter of 18 inches. 



Some of the single measurements of older trees are as follows: 



At Hotel Del Monte, Monterey, a tree 30 years olcT measured in 

 May, 1913: Height, 70 feet; diameter at 4 feet from the ground, 

 2 feet .8.4 inches. At Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, a tree 



35 years old, in almost pure sand, measured winter of 1912-13 : 

 Height, 60 feet; diameter, 4 feet from the ground, 2 feet. Another, 



36 years old, on better soil: Height, 75 feet; diameter, 4 feet from 



i Proceedings of the lloyal Society of Victoria, 1879. 



