WATTLES AND WATTLE-BARKS. 
7 
of obtaining the beat seed procurable, for the ordinary cultivator only 
requires a pound or two, and the outside cost will only be a few shillings. 
Is the success of a plantation, perhaps involving an interest of hundreds of 
pounds, to be jeopardized through haggling with a seedsman over a few 
paltry shillings ? 
At present of course our seedsmen must obtain their supply of Acacia 
pycnantha seed from South Australia, and the mollissima seed from, perhaps, 
Tasmania and Victoria (though not necessarily, as it flourishes in our 
own Colony), while the decurrcns seed, of excellent quality, may be obtained 
from within our own territory. It will be to the interests of Sydney and 
other seedsmen to establish* local agents willing to push wattle-seed in 
districts already found suitable, or supposed to be so, for any or all of the 
species recommended for cultivation ; and I hope it is unnecessary to insist 
on the common-sense advice of noting approximately the localities from 
which seed is collected, in order to prevent it being sent to districts totally 
different in climatic conditions. The best wattles are found growing under 
a great variety of circumstances, so there is no necessity to handicap the 
cultivation by ignoring local conditions. 
(e.) PRUNING AND THINNING. 
Wattle-trees are sometimes recommended to be pruned. “ The advantages 
of this are larger dimensions of individual trees, and hence more bark in 
proportion ; cleaner stems, easier stripping at less expense, less liability to 
disease, and quicker returns, because the tree will arrive at the stripping 
stage sooner by having its vitality confined chiefly to the stem. The best 
period for pruning is during the months from January to March. (J. R. 
Brown). Mr. A. L. Thrupp however deprecates pruning in warm northern 
exposures, as too much sun would he admitted to the stem of the tree. 
Mr. T. 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 precise 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 arc not the hardiest of plants to stand moving. 
(f.) PROFITS TO BE DERIVED FROM WATTLE CULTIVATION. 
Wattle cultivation is in its infancy, and, as far as 1 know, no wattle- 
grower has favoured the world with a peep at the item kk 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. 
Poliowing 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. 
