ring-bark

Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris

v. tr.


Same meaning as Ring(1).

1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 204:

«The selector in a timbered country, without troubling himselfabout cause and effect, is aware that if he destroys the treethe grass will grow, and therefore he `ring-barks' his timber.»

1890. C. Lumholtz, `Among Cannibals,' p. 9:

«Our way led us through a large but not dense wood of leaflessgumtrees. My companion told me that the forest was dead as aresult of `ring-barking.' To get the grass to grow better, thesettler removes a band of bark near the root of the tree. In acountry where cattle-raising is carried on to so great anextent, this may be very practical, but it certainly does notbeautify the landscape. The trees die at once after thistreatment, and it is a sad and repulsive sight to see thesewithered giants, as if in despair, stretching their whitebarkless branches towards the sky.»

1893. `Thumbnail Sketches of Australian Life,' p. 232:

«We were going through ring-barked country. You don't knowwhat that is? Well, those giant gum-trees absorb all themoisture and keep the grass very poor, so the squatters killthem by ring-barking – – that is, they have a ring described roundthe trunk of each tree by cutting off a couple of feet of bark.Presently the leaves fall off; then the rest of the barkfollows, and eventually the tree becomes nothing but a strangelofty monument of dry timber.»

Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris

← ring   ×   ring-dollar →

Related Words