II Nov., 191-^.] On Wattles and Wattle-Bark. 685 



emblem. As a matter of fact, botanical considerations usually play 

 little part in the adoption of national flowers. There is. for instance, 

 no special botanical reason why the rose should be the national flower 

 for England, or the lily the national flower of France; while in the 

 case of Scothmd, the national flower a botanist would have selected 

 would probably have been the heather. 



In our own case, the special merit of the wattle probably lies in 

 the fact that so many species flower at the same time, early in spring, 

 forming a conspicuous feature in the landscape and giving the first 

 relief from winter's floral monotony. Regarding the fears that have 

 been expressed that the popularization of the wattle — if it needs any 

 popularizing — and its adoption as the national flower may lead to 

 its destruction, this is not a very serious danger. The adoption of 

 the thistle as the national flower of Scotland has, for instance, not 

 caused this plant to become extinct, nor have roses or lilies suffered 

 in any way through being national flowers. Wattles in particular 

 are easily planted and quickly grown, and are able to re-establish 

 themselves year after year on ground where they have once grown, 

 provided the conditions are suitable. It is probably no exaggeration 

 to say that there are sufficient dormant wattle seeds lying in the 

 surface soil of Victoria to cover the whole of Australia with a dense 

 crop of wattles, if planted out and given the conditions necessary 

 for development. The only damage done to wattles by people 

 removing blossoms is when large branches are broken off, spoiling 

 the symmetry of the tree and leaving a ragged injury aiding the 

 penetration of borers or starting decay. Small, slender flowering 

 branches may be cut or broken off without injuring the tree in the 

 least; and, in fact, priuiing off all the flowering branches each season 

 would increase the life of the tree and give it a more compact growth. 

 Most wattles can, in fact, be pruned much more severely than is 

 generally imagined without suffering or being permanentl.y injured, 

 and in gardens a little judicious priming will often considerably 

 improve the appearance of various acacias, particularly when indi- 

 vidual branches show signs of disease. 



Wattles for Gardens and Parks. 

 Although wattles or acacias in general are well suited for garden 

 cultivation, they are not suitable plants for street planting, particu- 

 larly in large towns. For the most part they are very apt to become 

 begrimed and dingj^ in appearance in an atmosphere which is at all 

 smoky. In addition, the duration of life is short and also irregular. 

 The best selected and tended avenue of acacias could rarely be relied 

 upon for more than ten years, and after that time would need continual 

 replanting as single trees died, so that the symmetry would always be 

 broken by a series of gaps. Apart from the attacks of the borer 

 beetle, the acacias in general are liable to the attacks of various 

 plant and animal parasites, which may injure the trees or may com- 

 pletely distort its natural appearance. The natural habitat of most 

 of our common acacias is on the fringes of forests, in open forest 

 glades, and generally among other trees wherever a sufficient opening 

 occurs. They do best, in fact, when given a certain amount of 

 protection by other vegetation. This applies particularly to the 



