26 BULLETIN 9, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF 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-gramed, tough timber that is 
fairly comparable to cyclo and rosewood. 
Acacia melanoxylon.—Wherever it thrives Acacia riuclampieilon Se 
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, in 1884, found that 956 pounds were 
required to break test pieces 15 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.! 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 1 in California show clearly ite 
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 old 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 ae of 1912-13: 
Height, 60 feet; diameter, 4 feet from the ground, 2 feet. Another, 
36 years old, on better soul: ecient, 75 Heeb; diameter, 4 Feet from 
1 Proceedings of the Rous al saci of Victoria, 1879. 
