THE WATTLES. 
43 
had germinated. This hard covering also protects 
the growing portion of the seed from destruction and 
decay. It will often be found that where land has 
been cleared of a gum-tree forest, either by man for 
cultivation purposes, or by a bush-fire, that a crop 
of wattle seedlings at once springs into growth. 
There had been no wattles in that particular area for 
many years, and the question is often asked as to how 
the seeds came there. They had remained dormant 
in the soil for many years, probably for over fifty 
years, when wattles were then growing there; then 
some heating influence came along, destroyed the 
hard covering, and caused the seed to at once spring 
into growth. 
Thus, Acacia seeds may frequently be found buried 
in the soil of forests, where no Acacias are growing. 
As a proof of the powers of these seeds to retain their 
germinating powers after many years, Professor 
Ewart, Government Botanist of Victoria, has in many 
instances successfully germinated Acacia seeds 
between thirty and sixty years old, and, in two in- 
stances, seeds sixty-seven and sixty-eight years old. 
The Wattle Day League of Victoria has issued a 
list of twenty-four varieties of wattles suitable for 
planting in parks and gardens, and of these, none of 
which have prickly foliage, thirteen occur in Vic- 
toria naturaUy, and one has since become naturalised 
here. 
It is generally agreed that the finest and most 
beautiful Wattle is the Golden Wattle, Acacia 
pycnantha. Its beautiful flossy, golden balls, which 
are produced in such masses as often to hide the 
