50 



5. — MARRI (Eucalyptus calophylla). 



A tree attaining a height of 90 to 100 feet, with a bole of 40 to 50 feet, and 

 diameter of six to seven feet. 



The bark is persistent, and is of a hard, rough, and irregularly furrowed 

 or broken appearance, giving a rugged aspect to the tree, it is also very often 

 stained through the kino exuding from the tree running over it. The branches of 

 the Marri are widely spreading and drooping, and for this reason it is one of our 

 best shade trees, and among the most beautiful of our forest trees. The leaves 

 of the Marri are broader than is usual with our timber Eucalypts, they are of a 

 deep shining green, and the veins which cross the leaf from the midrib to the margin 

 are straight and closely parallel. The flowers are large, and usually of a creamy- 

 white, though sometimes pink, and hang downwards. The fruit, which forms 

 after the flowers have withered, is frequently two inches in length and lV? inches 

 in diameter, and is roughly globular in shape, with a distinct neck at the top. The 

 ovary is sunk some distance below this neck, thus leaving a bowl-shaped cavity below 

 the rim. The seeds are large and black. 



Weight per cubic foot (green) — 721bs. 



At 12 per cent, moisture — 561bs. 



Transverse strength — 16,6001bs. per square inch. 



Tensile strength — 20,2001bs. per square inch. 



This tree yields a light-coloured strong wood. It is easily worked, and were 

 it not for the presence of gum veins would be among the most valuable timber in 

 Western Australia. Unfortunately, the gum or kino occurs in such quantities that 

 it is difficult to find a tree free enough from gum to make it profitable to saw it 

 up. It is used for all purposes where strength and elasticity are required. Timber 

 hewers always take out the hickory shafts from their carts and replace them by 

 marri shafts. Heavy poles used in the large whims which carry the great jarrah 

 and karri logs to the mills are of marri. In the whim itself the fetchels, which 

 are trusses to connect the pole with the axle bed, are also of marri. It makes a 

 good axe and tool handle, and there would seem to be a future for it for all smaller 

 turnery work. 



It occurs throughout the jarrah belt, but like blackbutt is to be found gener- 

 ally on the better alluvial soils in the valleys between the laterite-capped ridges. 

 Marri soil is generally considered from an agricultural point of view a degree better 

 that jarrah soil, which from an agricultural standpoint is of little use. 



The marri is generally known as red gum. As this name is commonly applied 

 to a quite distinct species which grows in the Eastern States, it is better to use the 

 name marri and avoid confusion. 



While the presence of gum reduces the value of this timber, the gum itself 

 has a special value for tanning purposes. From the earliest days of the Colony 

 it has been used for tanning leather. Unfortunately, however, it imparts a red 

 colour to the leather which is not appreciated by buyers overseas. Investigations 

 have been carried out by the Forest Products Laboratory into the problem of the 

 utilisation of this forest product for commercial purposes. It has been found that 

 the tannin content is as high as 68 per cent. 



In addition to the fact that the liquors obtained from the kino were a very 

 red colour, it was found very difficult to get the kino into solution. After a great 

 deal of research work on the part of the Leather Chemist attached to the labora- 

 tory, not only was the difficulty of getting the kino into solution overcome, but the 

 objectionable red colour was reduced considerably. It is expected that in the near 

 future commercial developments will take place in the direction of establishing 

 tannin extract works in the State. 



Marri has an advantage over all other tannin-bearing trees in that the product 

 rich in tannin can be obtained without destroying the tree. The actual formation 



