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creeks, valleys, and gullies, should furnish a plentiful supply of Blackwood. It has 
been but imperfectly prospected for that, valuable timber, yet plenty of trees 2 feet 
or more in diameter have been seen with trunks furnishing logs from 20 to 40 feet 
in length. This is a favourable locality, since carriers go from thence to the Cooma 
railway station on the west side, and to the seaports of Merimbula and Twofold Bay 
on the other. The eastern mountain slopes near Candelo, Colombo, Bega, Cobargo, 
Tilba Tilba (Dromedary), and Moruya, contain also a large supply of this timber. 
The Mudgerabah as a shelter tree .—The traveller in New England cannot 
fail to notice a symmetrical, umbrageous tree, usually some 10 or 50 feet in height, 
with a trunk diameter of 2 or 3 feet, and with a great spread of leafy branches. It 
lias a rough bark, and its leaves remind some country people of “ some sort of 
gum-tree.” When in flower or seed it will be noticed to be a wattle. It is found a 
few miles from the coast, at an elevation of about 2,500 feet above sea-level, and I 
noticed it all over the New England country, even at Guy Fawkes, the summit of 
the Snowy Bange, and the highest point of New England. The climate here is very 
severe, yet the trees of this Acacia are magnificent specimens, showing how hardy it 
is. It is everywhere called Mudgerabah, and it is about the only tree that pastoralists 
do not ringbark, as it gives a grateful shelter to the stock during the summer, while, 
in those districts where frosts occur, the cattle are found under it during the coldest 
nights, as the frost cannot penetrate the dense foliage. From the aesthetic point of 
view, it is desirable that these trees should be conserved, for they are charming 
objects in the landscape, many of them being nearly as symmetrical as it is possible 
for a tree to be. This tree is none other than the Blackwood. From the point of 
view of the timber-getter, the trunks of the Mudgerabah are usually too short; but if 
it be necessary to fell one, the timber deserves a better fate than to be utilised as 
fuel. 
Propagation. —From seed, which is readily purchasable. I recommend 
this valuable tree to be conserved and planted in the cooler, moister districts of the 
State, i.e., in the coastal and dividing ranges and table-lands. It is also a shady, 
ornamental tree, and hence is often cultivated in Sydney gardens. "With me, it has 
grown 20 feet high in three years—healthy, thick-foliaged trees. This tree has been 
'extensively cultivated in Madras for revenue purposes; but the w r ood has been 
found to possess there few qualities prized by the cabinet-maker and builder. It 
warps after many months of seasoning, is not easily worked, and is not as durable 
as other timber accessible to the residents of the hill stations. The slowmess of 
growth is much against the tree, ?md where it has been tried, in two instances as an 
avenue tree, it has proved a failure. It is liable to attacks from a mistletoe. As a 
fuel tree it is not prized so highly as A. dealbata (Silver Wattle). The Blackwood 
w T as introduced on the Nilgiris in 1840, and is now completely naturalised. It is 
also grow n on the hills of the Punjaub, Kumaun, and Sikkim in India. I am not 
surprised at the want of success w ith this tree in tropical countries. 
