INTRODUCTION REGINALD'S LETTER POEM: THE EUCALYPTUS MEN

Reginald's father John Reginald Tickener Harvey, was an orchardist at Lamplough, near Avoca, Victoria. The orchard still produces apples. However, a neighbour, whose name is remembered as Charlie Holland, distilled eucalyptus and probably caught Reginald's interest. Reginald began work as a shearer until he accumulated enough capital to purchase a farm at Lamplough upon which he installed his own still, and a property, Angies, three miles away at Lilicur, from which he harvested eucalyptus leaves.

The daughter Maureen worked on the job to earn money to begin a nursing career. She remembers the excitement when a bull stood on the ajar lid of the underground vat of the still and fell through. Its two eyes peered upwards through the leaves and the hoist of the still had to be used to retrieve the animal.

The heyday of the business would probably be in the 1960's. The oil was sold through Goodall's shop on the Strand, Williamstown, and the business itself sold to Goodall's in the 1970's, when Reginald retired to become a dedicated fisherman living at Ballarat until his death two years ago.

Reginald's widow, Ellen, now 86, still lives in Ballarat. Together, she, Maureen and Maureen's daughter, Sally Dennis, have provided the information for this article including photos taken in 1960 and a poem by a friend, Aimee Farnsworth who is still alive. Aimee's poem reflects the continuing competition from oil made overseas from eucalyptus trees grown from seeds which were exported in the very early days of the industry.

Since the basic technology of Reginald's operation was similar throughout his life, references to the Photos on the next page have been inserted into Reginald's letter, but the reader must allow for the dray being replaced by a motor truck and the portable steam engine by a permanent boiler.

Sally's five years son, Damon Falzon, goes to the Hobson's Bay Kindergarten in Newport and, recently, the three generations, Maureen, Sally and Damon, participated in a laboratory demonstration of the distillation of eucalyptus oil from gum leaves which the kindergarten children themselves had collected. The photo on this page shows the children collecting their eucalyptus.