202 FOBEST CULTUBE AND 



and possibly cinchona, and coffee also ; so, lucrative 

 fibres, dye-plants of easy growth and simple prepara- 

 tion, as instanced by grass-cloth, or madder j or medi- 

 cinal plants, such as senna, and various herbs, or, per- 

 haps, even the Erythroxylon coca, a plant of almost 

 fabulous properties. Or should the settler prefer, be- 

 yond raising the simple requirements for his rural 

 life, to devote his attention solely to the gain which 

 the surrounding timber treasuries are certain to offer, 

 he will find ample scope for his energy and industry. 

 The Eucalypts, as now proved by extensive and accu- 

 rate experiments, will yield him' tar in abundance ; 

 they will furnish fibres, even those of Stringy-bark as 

 one of the cheapest and most extensively available 

 paper material. By a few simple appliances he may 

 secure, simultaneously with the tar, also wood- vine- 

 gar and wood-spirit; and these again might locally be 

 at once converted into dye materials and varnishes. 

 He might obtain potash from woods, and volatile oils 

 from the leaves of Eucalypts in almost any quantity, 

 by artless processes and with scarcely any cost. He 

 might gather the gum -resins and barks for either 

 medicinal or tanning purposes, or he might effect a 

 trade in Fern-trees ; he might shake the Eucalyptus 

 grains out of their capsules, and might secure locally 

 other mercantile substances far too numerous to be 

 enumerated here. Whoever may choose these ranges 

 as a permanent home, and may direct thoughtfully his 

 attention to the future, will recognize that the mere 

 scattering of the acorns of the Cork-tree or the seeds of 

 the Red Cedar over cleared and yet sheltered ground, 

 or the planting of the vine and olive, will yield to his 

 descendants sources of great riches. 



