5 



should then be removed to their permanent home. To take them out of the pots turn them upside 

 down, and by placing a finger in the drainage hole at the bottom of the pot the plant with its roots 

 can be easily taken out, and will suffer nothing by removal. 



In the State Nursery at Gosford the seeds are sown in boxes containing peaty loam, mixed with 

 clean, sharp sand, the soil being kept always moist. When the seedlings are sufficiently established 

 they are transferred to the open ground. 



" To soio broad cast or in drills. — If the seeds have been assisted in their germination by means of 

 hot ashes, rake or sift out the larger coals and sow the ashes with the seeds. If the germination has 

 been commenced by the hot water process, mix the seed thoroughly with dry ashes or sand — this will 

 prevent the seeds from sticking together — then sow broad-cast or in drills in the usual way. 



" If the seeds are to be dibbled they must be freed from the ashes. Whichever method be adopted 

 for sowing, the seed should be well covered, and in the case of those that have been soaked in water 

 this is essential, for a few hot and dry days would effectually check all further growth. Three or four 

 seeds at about three feet apart is the distance required ; this will allow for thinning. 



" Do not cover the seeds too deeply ; about an inch underground will be ample. 



" Sow sparingly ; this will save a lot of thinning afterwards." 



( e.J Thinning. 



Wattle-trees are sometimes recommended to be pruned. "The advantages of this are larger dimen- 

 sions of individual trees, and hence more bark in proportion ; cleaner stems, easier stripping at less ex- 

 pense, less liability to disease, and quicker returns, because the tree will arrive at the stripping stage 

 ooner by having its vitality confined chiefly to the stem." — (J. E. Brown ) 



Mr. A. L. Thrupp however deprecates pruning in warm northern exposures, as too much sun 

 would be admitted to the stem of the tree. 



Mr. F. Abbott recommends that wattle seedlings be thinned out, as soon as they are big enough 

 to handle, to 10 feet apart. This is perhaps a fair distance, but authorities do not agree as to the pre- 

 cise distance. It rather resolves itself into a matter of common sense, for one must on the one hand 

 avoid having wattles too close to each other, otherwise " leggy" trees are the result, and on the other 

 hand trees too bushy are not desirable. 



Wattle-trees should be transplanted with a moderate amount of care, as they are not the hardiest 

 of plants to stand moving. 



Profits to be derived from Wattle Cultivation. 



Wattle cultivation is in its infancy, and as far as I know, no wattle-grower has favoured the world 

 with a peep at the item " Wattle Cultivation" in his ledger. 



We are, therefore, chiefly dependent on estimates in lieu of statements of results attained, but 

 those which follow are as trustworthy as can be supplied. Wattle conservation and cultivation have 

 been little taken up in our own Colony, but we are already taking steps to remedy this. 



Following are the opinions of gentlemen in the several Colonies on the prospect of profit in wattle- 

 planting. They are culled from the reports of the Victorian Royal Commission on Vegetable Products. 



New South Wales. — Mr. Charles Moore, F. L. S., Director of the Botanic Gardens, Sydney: — 

 " They are a very profitable crop indeed." 



Tasmania. — Mr. F. Abbott, Curator of the Botanic Gardens, Hobart :— "I have not the shadow of 

 a doubt that they are a valuable crop to any farmer ; they come on in a very short period, and there is 

 always a revenue from them." 



South Australia. — Mr. J E. Brown, F. L. S., Conservator of Forests, Adelaide: — "With regard, 

 however to the wattles, there can be but one opinion as to their cultivation being the means of a large 

 and most valuable source of revenue both to individuals and to the State." 



Victoria. — Mr. I. Hallenstein, Tanner, Currier and Leather Merchant, Melbourne : — " I do not 

 think a farmer or anyone with the means could produce any crop more valuable than the wattle -bark. 

 We have got faith in it, or we would not have gone to the expense of putting 80C or 1,000 acres under 

 cultivation." The following evidence was given by Mr. W. Ferguson, Inspector of State Forests, Vic- 

 toria : — " I calculated that from the time the seed was sown at the Majorca Plantations, Ballarat, in seven 

 years we should get about 10 tons to the acre of bark. That is, off the trees that were fit for barking 

 at that time, and at the rate — of the present rate of bark — it varies from £8 to £10 per ton. " You 

 would get 1 tons to the acre ? Yes. " From, trees that have been how many years growing ? Seven 

 years. 



" That would average £10 a ton ? Yes, at the present, and it is likely to be more. 

 " That is, £90 per acre ? Yes. 



" That will be about £13 per acre per annum ? Yes. " Would that take all the trees or leave 

 a portion remaining ? No, only the first thinning out. How many thinnings would that plantation 

 admit of year after year ? For years and years to come, because you will find them in all stages of 

 growth. But I calculated that from the first thinning-out. 



" And would that yield as much each succeeding year ? It would yield as much each succeeding 



year. 



So that you might get 10 tons per acre in each succeeding year ? Annually for years to come, if 

 they are judiciously thinned, but not as they are thinning (destroying) them in the forest. If they 

 are properly cultivated — cultivated for profit. 



" Can you mention any other crop grown in Victoria more profitable than that ? No, and it is 

 grown on such poor land, where neither grass nor anything will grow. In Rodney, where I mention, 

 there is not a bit of grass to be seen, and there the wattles come up thick." 



