95 



Mr. E. W. Peacock writes of it : — Myall is rapidly becoming exterminated 

 through overstocking. Although of the same genus as the " Mulga," is not 

 nearly such a good fodder plant, sheep not being particularly fond of it. 

 Its silvery foli£^go and pendulous habit give it rather an attractive appear- 

 ance." 



Timher. — Wood hard, close-grained, o:^ a rich dark colour, and beautifully 

 marked. It was used by the aborigines for boomerangs. It is heavy, and 

 rarely exceeds a foot in diameter, and yet has been used for veneers. So 

 long as it remains unpolished it preserves its peculiar fragrance of violets. 

 which does not occur in greater perfection in any other tree. As soon as 

 this remarkable property became known to European manufacturers the 

 wood came into request for making glove, handkerchief, and other fancy 

 boxes, and especially for tobacco-pipes. Other Acacia woods are often 

 artificialb^ scented to imitate the true Myall, but the perfume of the wood 

 thus prepared is fugacious. 



In the Sydney Morning Herald of the 16th March, 1894, appeared an 

 announcement that the Aberdeen liner steamer " Damascus " took " a lot of 

 Myall for the British Admiralty, that wood having been selected as best 

 suited to the requirements of the Ordnance Department as material for 

 the manufacture of spokes for gun carriages.'' I never heard whether the 

 timber was considered suitable for that purpose. It is one of the best fuel 

 woods in the districts in which it occurs. 



We have a number of intensely hard, heavy, dark-coloured woods, which 

 smell more or less of violets. They are used chiefly for turnery work. The 

 trees attain no great size (say 30 feet), with a trunk-diameter of 12 to 18 

 inches. They are mostly found in the drier parts of the State, and are 

 plentiful. Considerable railway freights add to their cost, but not to a 

 prohibitive extent, as these timbers are usually used for small articles, 

 such as mallets (presentation and otherwise), turned cups and boxes, rulers, 

 draughtsmen, chessmen, and the better class of turned work generally. 



The Myall is the miost important, as has already been stated, but the 

 Brigalow (Acacia harpophylla), Yarran, (Acacia homalophylla) , are also 

 valuable timbers of the above class. There are others, and the quantity 

 available will satisfy any demand ever likely to be made upon them. 



Miss Ada Wythes, of Tomingley, informs me that the abundant saline 

 ash of Myall wood is often used by bushmen in the preparation of damper, 

 while housewives, in the districts in which the tree grows, often use it for 

 the purpose of whitening fireplaces. 



Exudations. — The exudation of gum in this species is rare. 



Size. — Up to 20 or 30 feet, with a diameter of, say, a foot. 



Habiiut. — This tree appears to be confined to the drier parts of New 

 South Wales and Queensland. It has been found across the Darling, and I 

 should not be surprised to hear of its occurrence in South Australia. In 

 our own State some of its most eastern localities are Willow Tree, near 

 Mudgee, and Narrabri. Records of its occurrence as far east as possible 

 would be valuable. 



As a rule it is a sign of good land. It grows on this heavier soils of the 

 west, as Oxley long ago pointed out. In the following passage he is referring 

 to our tree: — 



The Acacia brushes grow generally on a hard and clayey soil evidently 

 frequently covered with water, and I consider that these plains or brushes are 

 swamps or morasses in wet weather, since they must receive all the water 

 from the low ranges with which they are generally circumscribed. 



