WATTLES AND WATTLE-SARA'S. 65 



diagnosis. No expert could have told the difference between it and Green 

 wattle if he had not been permitted to test it. It is a good instance of 

 the deceptiveness of appearances. 



" Silver Wattle" bark may be assumed to contain about 25 per cent, of 

 taiinic acid in the best samples. 



In Tasmania it has often been recommended the destruction of these trees 

 in order to let A. mollissima grow, and this advice is probably sound, but 

 only in cases in which one or other has to be sacrificed. 



I think I have adduced sufficient evidence to convince intelligent people 

 that the bark is by no means a worthless one, and barks inferior even to this 

 are locally used in districts not favoured with the alternative of the use of 

 such a bark as decurrens. I hope that barks in a particular district will be 

 tried on their merits, and not be condemned without trial. 



In insisting on the general principle of assay of barks, just as a man 

 engaged in the mining industry is always careful to sample his stone as 

 occasions require, I am quite aware of the special circumstances of Tasmania 

 as regards the "Silver Wattle," and that the case in that colony against this 

 particular species is stronger than it is in our own. In Tasmania the "Silver 

 Wattle" grows more in spars than with us; its bark has a more than ordinary 

 tendency to shrink ; it is tough and fibrous (though not to such an extent 

 as A. binervata, for instance). As wattles take longer to mature in Tasmania 

 than with us, it will be quite understood that I am in no way reflecting on 

 the wisdom of the advice of letting the cultivation of the best species remain 

 unimpeded. 



I understand that the " Silver Wattle" forests in the southern portion of 

 this Colony are now being exploited for the English market. 



A New Zealand (Auckland) correspondent states that his four-year old 

 dealbata trees are 35 ft. high in a sheltered place, with a diameter of 4 to 8 in. 

 at 3 ft. from the ground. They grow quicker than decurrens in his particular 

 district. Acacia dealbata is not indigenous in New Zealand (nor is, in fact 

 any Acacia) , and it is a pity that this species has been introduced into that 

 Colony for its yield of tan-bark, as I understand, has been done in several 

 instances, whether deliberately, or by a mistake in seed, I am unable to say. 



The " Silver Wattle" sometimes obtains an enormous size in Tasmania, 

 Yictoria, and Southern New South Wales. In Tasmania, Backhouse 

 measured a tree 11 ft. 2 in. in girth, and " Silver Wattles" approaching 

 100 ft. in height have frequently been found in all three colonies. 



This species is found in Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales, and 

 Queensland. It is chiefly a mountain sr ec'e3. 



