Men of the Trees in Western Australia

Field and nursery trials directed by Barrie Oldfield, President.

Interpreting Results:

• Five times the growth for the same species of trees.
• The potting out time has been shortened from five months to six weeks.
• The fineness of the dust particles is more important than the actual mass of the dust material.
• With dust of which 61.9% of has a particle size of 75 microns or less, the beneficial plateau in these trials is in the region of 15-20 tons/ha. At 12 tons/ha the plant growth was markedly inferior.
• Men of the Trees plant 1/3 million trees per year, mostly in arid climates in Australia and Africa.
• Material used: granite dust from Pioneer Quarry.

Acacia saligna at 5 1/2 months were well on their way with well-developed phylodes of a rich shiny green.	Men of the Trees rock dust trials 1991, top growth of Eucalyptus gomphocephala at 5 1/2 months grown with 20 t/ha dust and inoculant incorporated into the potting mix, compared with the control.
Men of the Trees rock dust trials 1991. Nursery Manager Monica Durcan compares the E. gomphocela seedlings grown with the rock dust soil amendment and inoculant with the control seedlings.