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1. Nalural Bank Protectors. Let us observe tho interlacing and ramification 
of the roots of trees in good soil (such as these flats and river banks). It is very 
extensive, and their mechanical action in arresting washaways is obvious. One can 
see evidence that the banks of the Upper Hunter streams were much more lined 
with trees than at present. In many parts of the Hunter and its tributaries one sees 
large river oaks (many of them past their prime), leaving no descendants to continue 
their work of bank preservation. The young seedlings are palatable to stock, and 
hence they are eaten out if they have free access to them. This points to the neces- 
sary precaution that stock should not have unfettered access to the bed of a stream 
as if it were a public highway. The seedling oaks should be carefully conserved 
until they are out of reach of stock. 
One lays stress on the value of the river oak for purposes of bank protection, 
for the reason that it has for ages been the natural bank protection of these streams, 
and has become largely adapted to its environment. At the same time, the acqui- 
sition of these lands by the white man, and his method of dealing with the banks 
and adjacent country, constitutes a marked change in the conditions, and it may be 
that other trees are even better than the river oak for the purposes of bank conser- 
vation. River oaks have not a large tap-root ; they have rather flat, spreading roots, 
which penetrate the rich soil and sit on the bed of gravel already alluded to. When 
this gravel becomes hard, as it does in so many places, the river oak heels over and 
falls into the stream just as a boulder does. 
2. Other Bank Protectors (exotic). Here and there one finds that plants 
other than river oaks have been utilised to protect the banks. Willows are the 
favourites, and, I think, rightly so. They grow naturally on the banks of streams, and 
during the winter months propagate naturally or artificially by cuttings very readily. 
Thus a flood which breaks off branches is the means of establishing other trees 
lower down. Stakes of willow up to 6 inches in diameter may be driven into the 
banks near the water, and in an ordinary season may be relied upon to flourish. At 
Segenhoe there is about a quarter of a mile of Nicotiana glauca, a South American 
weed, under the steep bank, which is of some value as a protector of the banks. It 
forms a dense scrub, and prefers drier situations than willows. On the Upper 
Hunter the common passion-vine has been found useful, in connection with willows, 
as a bank protector. Doubtless other riparian owners pin their faith more or less 
on other plants. 
My view is that on the Upper Hunter the main bank protectors should be 
trees ; on the Middle Hunter, small trees or scrub ; and on the Lower Hunter, where 
the banks are usually low and friable, I would recommend creeping shrubs and 
grasses, and other plants with underground rhizomes. I therefore make the 
following suggestions of readily available plants for the districts stated. Although 
prepared for a specific locality, it will be suggestive in preparing lists for other 
localities. 
