documented that his father, Joe Morris, was an "enthusiastic" botanist and young Albert was his "offsider", so this was a more likely source of his botanical interests, as well as innate talent and an interest in the subject. By the time he was undertaking technical school studies in metallurgy and assaying, Morris had developed a small garden and nursery, and contributed to the cost of his fees by selling plants (pepper trees) that he had grown. Morris took up work with the Central Mine in Broken Hill, eventually becoming chief assayer for the company. Albert Morris and Ellen Margaret Sayce (1887-1957) were married on 13 April 1909. Margaret (Morris) was a dressmaker, and developed extensive interests and skills in art, botany, conservation and journalism. She was a member of the Society of Friends, (Quakers). Albert's formative years were spent as an Anglican, and "some years" after his marriage he converted to Quakerism. Albert and Margaret, with family assistance, built a cottage in Cornish Street, Railway Town, a western suburb of Broken Hill. The Broken Hill work of Albert Morris Erosion and early experiments 1900s By ca.1900, the previously well vegetated homelands of the Wilyakali community had progressively been exploited by overstocking on pastoralist stations (properties, or ranches), and further devastated by introduced animals such as rabbits, foxes and feral goats. The mining industry and the impacts of people and their stock had resulted in the Broken Hill region being stripped of trees such as Acacia aneura Mulga, Eucalyptus camaldulensis River Red Gum, and soil binding shrubs and ground cover plants. Natural recovery from these detrimental impacts was inhibited by the arid climate, which featured low average rainfall of 250 millimetres or less per annum, long dry periods and high summer temperatures. Exposed to the regular westerly winds, previously well vegetated and stable soils had been transformed into soil-drifts; severe dust storms were common. By the 1920s, these degraded vegetation and soil conditions were regarded as the norm. As early as 1908, newspaper comments indicated that the sheet erosion around Broken Hill had already begun. Morris described the degraded landscape in these terms: "The extending country stretched for miles without a vestige of any green thing and each stone or old tin had a streamer of sand tailing out from it. The fences were piled high with sand, inside and out and it looked as if the intended railway lines would