﻿*AN ECONOMIC STUDY OF ACACIAS. 33 



A. microbotya, and in fact nearly every acacia which is grown in 

 California yield useful gum. 



The best gum invariably comes from trees grown under arid con- 

 ditions, and as a rule the quantity depends upon the climate and 

 the yield increases with drought and summer heat. 



Perfumes. 



One species of acacia, Acacia farnesiana, the "cassie" of the French, 

 takes high economic rank. It is said to have been known to Dios- 

 corides, a Greek medical writer of the second century. Bentham 

 thought this species was indigenous to western America from Chile 

 to Texas and also to northern Australia; Von Mueller says: " Indig- 

 enous to south Asia westward as far as Japan. Acacia acnifera, 

 endemic on the Bahamas, is very closely related to A. farnesiana." It 

 is now known, however, that A. farnesiana is native to the high pla- 

 teaus of central Africa. Mr. J. M. Purvis, chief forest officer, Nyassa 

 Land Protectorate, writing recently from Zomba, has reported to the 

 author that A. farnesiana is very common there. 



Mr. H. Nehrling describes specimens in Florida 16 feet high and 

 only 8 years old. Mr. H. Plant reports a 30-foot tree in northern 

 Mexico. In California the largest are now from 20 to 25 feet high. 

 Dense thickets of this acacia grow near the ruins of San Diego Mission 

 and about other Spanish settlements. As a shrub it is not as hand- 

 some as many others, but it is perfectly adapted to large areas in 

 America, because it is considerably hardier than the Australian 

 species and thrives better in regions of summer rains. 



The acacia-perfume "industry, as carried on principally at Grasse, 

 France, is very attractive and profitable. A full-grown tree yields 

 about 300 pounds of flowers. The industry has been so often de- 

 scribed that all the details of the extraction of the perfume are 

 readily accessible. All that needs to be noted here is that a number of 

 Australian acacias, such as A. pycnantha and A. suavolens, are used for 

 the production of perfumes as well as A. farnesiana. The industry 

 utilizes poor soils incapable of bearing grain or fruit crops, and gives 

 light and pleasant outdoor employment to women and children. 



Dyes, Medicines, Foods, and Fibers. 



Several species of Australian and South American acacias furnish 

 yellow, brown, and red dyes which are both cheap and easily obtained. 



Bentham, Von Mueller, Maiden, and others have investigated the 

 medicinal properties of acacias, but the subject, like that of acacia 

 dyes, requires more work from specialists. It is generally known 

 that all of the wattle acacias and many of the Asiatic and South 

 American species are serviceably astringent. The pods and the galls 



