107 
stock ; in fact, some people call the plant the “ king of fodders,” and it has been so 
much appreciated that it is now scarce in many districts where it was once plentiful. 
Sometimes this plant is exempted in certain districts from the operations of licenses 
to cut timber. It is a matter for regret that so valuable a fodder plant should 
require to be cut for timber at all, and it is to be hoped that increased vigilance will 
be shown on the part of homestead lessees and others, in their own interests, in 
conserving the Mulga. Mulga should never be cut down, except tvhen absolutely 
necessary—it should only be pollarded or lopped; and if these operations be performed 
by careful men no real harm to the tree will result. One reason why the tree is 
becoming extinct in some areas is because the seedlings are eaten out by stock. 
This is a matter for regret, and, of course, the only way of guarding against this is 
to protect as many of the seedlings as possible until they are able to take care of 
themselves. It does not appear to be known to some dwellers of the more highly- 
favoured coast districts that in some seasons in parts of the West there is practically 
no grass at any period of the year, and that stock not only feed on scrub-plants such 
as the Mulga, but actually thrive thereon. 
Note that there is a normal or Broad-leaved Mulga, and a Narrow-leaved Mulga, but that there is 
no botanical difference between them. 
following is an interesting note on Mulga, from the Sydney Mail, in 1890, 
written by an author whose name I have lost: — 
“We now come to the edible scrubs, which often, of necessity, take their place amongst the fodder 
plants of Australia. Amongst these, the most widespread and perhaps the best known is the Mulga. 
On the southern flats of the main inland rivers, Mulga grows as a low bushy tree, the branches commencing 
to spread some 6 feet from the ground. In the north, it grows with a tall straight stem, 20 feet high, and 
is, therefore, quite unavailable as a fodder plant. On the west coast, and in the interior, it is a true 
scrub, attaining a good height, but branching out only a foot or two from the ground. Both here and on 
the lower courses of the rivers, it grows in open forest; to the north it is a thick scrub almost too dense 
to ride through. It is not by any means a barren scrub, good feed, both grass and herbage, being 
generally found within its limits. As a rule, it is only available for cattle, although the species found in 
Western Australia grows low enough for sheep to feed on. The utility of horns to cattle when scrub¬ 
feeding is soon apparent. An old bullock will twist down saplings and break down limbs of trees, and 
obtain a good meal where a polled beast would go hungry. Mulga is likely to become an important factor 
in the settlement of the interior, as it forms good fodder for camels, and, as they are certainly to be the 
beasts of burden and draught over the long dry stages of the heart of Australia, until superseded by steam 
and iron, the universal presence of the Mulga will prove of some service. Mulga affects all kinds of soil. 
It is to be found on hard, gravelly ironstone ridges, on the dreaded sand-hills of the desert, and on the 
alluvial flats of the inland rivers.” 
Poliowing is an analysis of the leaves by Mr. P. B. Guthrie (Agric. Gaz., 
N.S.W., Oct. 1899) 
Water. 
Ash. 
Fibre. 
Ether 
extract 
(oil, &c.) 
Albu- 
menoids. 
Carbo¬ 
hydrates. 
Nutrient 
value. 
Albumenoid 
ratio. 
Tannin 
(oak bark). 
3906 
3-60 
29-90 
2-55 
906 
15-83 
CO 
O 
i -H 
1-8 
