March 6. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
443 
Docks now approaching completion; works of such magni¬ 
tude and importance, as to deserve especial commemoration. 
In respect of other articles, not a few have been received at 
the eleventh hour; and of these, while I am now speaking, 
some are scarcely prepared for exhibition. Under such 
circumstances, proper classification and arrangement have 
been impracticable; but tbe deficiency is temporary, and 
will shortly be supplied. Our great staple commodity is 
only partially represented, because the shearing season is 
still in progress; but effectual steps have been taken for 
securing samples of different qualities of wools, such as 
shall do justice to this valuable branch of Australian 
products. 
“ We are favoured by Sir Thomas Mitchell, with tbe model 
of his celebrated invention, a work strictly colonial even in 
name. The model is accompanied by a description, ex¬ 
plaining the.principle and mode of action of this powerful 
agent. The time is probably not distant, when the “ Bomeraug 
Propeller” will be universally known, and extensively 
adopted; and the world may see the steam vessels of New 
South Wales, built in her ports, and navigated by the sons 
of her soil, traversing every ocean with engines of her 
manufacture, constructed of iron dug from her own mines, 
and, by the aid of this new mechanism, the fruit of 
Australian science, distancing every competitor. 
“ The iron ore of this colony, tested as it has been from the 
Fitz Boy mine, until lately almost unknown, appears to be 
of the finest and most valuable character. The specimens 
intended for transmission to Paris, end now in this hall,—of 
the ore itself, and of articles manufactured from it,—we will 
venture to say, are highly interesting: and, as to the former, 
not to be surpassed in quality in any part of tbe world. 
We invite with confidence your Excellency’s attention to 
them. 
“ Inferior in attraction to the brilliant metal, which 
Nature has spread over such large portions of our territory, 
and infinitely less seductive in its pursuit, tbe solid and 
hardy Iron of which we fortunately can boast, hidden more 
deeply in the earth, and requiring more steady industry for 
its acquisition, may in the end prove to be the most impor¬ 
tant of all the gifts which Divine Providence has bestowed 
upon a favoured people. 
“ Reflections of tbe same nature occur, in reference to our 
extensive fields of Coal; new beds of which are continually 
being opened. Specimens of this mineral, and of our rich 
Lead and Copper Ores, are also among the articles exhibited 
•—and are by no means the least imjiortant of them. 
“ Of our Gold products, there are in the cases near you a 
great number of specimens, from nearly all the numerous 
localities where it has been found; and, in many instances, 
accompanied by specimens of the rocks and strata in tbe 
immediate neighbourhood. Some of those speimens, par¬ 
ticularly those of the quartz, veined or studded with gold, 
are very beautiful; and all of them—whether regarded as a 
collection, embracing extensive varieties of the precious 
metal, or merely as individual examples,—will well repay 
the trouble of examination. 
“One of the most interesting (not certainly in external 
appearance, but by reason of its historical associations) of 
the objects this day exhibited, is the last remaining portion 
of the tree near which were buried—the ships then lying in 
Botany Bay — the remains of Le Receveur , one of the 
naturalists attached to La Perouse’s Expedition. The 
name, and portions of a few words, carved on the bark a 
few feet above the group, are still visible: hut the “bush 
fires” of tbe natives, from time to time, have much defaced 
tbe inscription, and in parts obliterated it. It is recently, 
only, as I understand, that the carving was observed; or 
assuredly care would long ago have been taken to preserve 
the relic from injury. It will now, with your Excellency’s 
sanction, be presented to the gallant nation to which tbe 
deceased belonged ; and whoso achievements in the happy 
arts of Peace, while her armaments are engaged with ours 
in doing bnttle to the enemy of both, the British Empire is 
shortly to assist in celebrating. 
“ Tbe Exhibition is indebted to the unwearied zeal, and 
untiring personal exertions of two of our body, Mr. Moore 
and Mr. W. Macarthur (the latter assisted by Mr. G. 
Maeleay), for an extensive collection of woods, of which 
they have procured in the whole above 300 specimens. Mr. 
Moore obtained those presented by him in two of the 
Northern Districts, Moreton Bay and Wide Bay: — Mr. 
Macarthur his, in the counties of Cumberland and Camden, 
chielly from the district of Illawarra. The time occupied by 
these gentlemen, more or less, in devotion to the work, has 
exceeded six months; and, from the want of interest evinced 
by most of those to whom they applied on the subject of 
their search, from the difficulty of hiring vehicles and work¬ 
men, even at a great expense, the limited time and funds at 
their command, and other causes, they had to contend with 
obstacles, which less perseverance or skill could not have sur¬ 
mounted. The result is before tbe public. It would have 
been impossible, in such a space of time, and at the particular 
season, to cut down—saw into convenient lengths, bring to 
Sydney, and prepare for inspection in this room—a complete 
collection of the trees, which may be met within tbe districts 
mentioned; and still less throughout the colony. But much 
has been effected towards such a consummation ; duplicates 
being preserved in the Museum, with that object. In the mean 
time, a great number of distinct species or varieties are here 
exhibited, not merely (as we hope) interesting to the 
naturalist, but valuable for various purposes of utility or 
ornament. 
“ In a paper presented by Mr. Macarthur to the Com¬ 
missioners, it is stated that twenty-two specimens are of 
excellent hard-wood, many of them supposed to possess 
the essential of durability, in a very high degree:—that 
twelve will be found suitable for turning, or other manu¬ 
facturing purposes:—and that sixteen represent woods of 
considerable beauty, for cabinet and similar ornamental 
work. One specimen, also, lias been ascertained to afford a 
fine yellow colour, for purposes of dyeing. Mr. Moore lias 
prepared a similar paper, describing the woods collected to 
the north. These, it should be observed (iu consequence 
of an understanding come to at one of our earlier meetings), 
have been confined almost entirely to the useful — as 
distinct from the ornamental—kinds of trees. Nevertheless, 
his list includes about a dozen, which appear to be well 
calculated for cabinet work, and furniture purposes generally. 
Among them, are the beautiful Moreton Bay Cypress; Oxleya 
of the same district, producing a brilliant yellow dye from 
tho heart-wood, and a red dye from the bark ; the Pine-tree ; 
and others. A kind of “ dogbane ” is iu the collection, 
which has a bark (according to Mr. Moore) more intensely 
bitter than the Peruvian, and is said to be otherwise of 
the same nature. There is also a specimen, though a small 
one, of the extraordinary “ Bottle-tree," of which the height 
is often thirty feet, by a width of sixteen feet, and the centre 
is almost wholly an edible pulp. This vegetable curiosity, 
however, is surpassed by the “Gigantic Fig-tree” of the South, 
of which one is about eighty-five feet in circumference, and so 
formed at the roots that a hundred men (it is said) could be 
effectually concealed there. 
“Of building and ornamental stones, there are some 
valuable specimens. A nearly perfect collection will be 
observed, of tbe various geological indications of Newcastle 
and its neighbourhood. And there is a complete, though 
small collection, of every characteristic rock, mineral, and 
fossil, of the several formations known throughout the 
colony. 
“But this address has already exceeded its intended limits. 
The subject of our Cotton, therefore, our various Cereal 
products, our Slate and our Marble, must be dismissed with 
this single passing reference. One industrial production, 
however, our Colonial Wines, cannot with propriety be so 
disposed of. Centuries may # roll away ere the wines of 
Australia shall compete with those of France; and to send 
any of them to that country, if comparison were the object, 
would be simply absurd. But all manufactures have had 
their beginning ; and we hope, as we grow older,.to improve. 
Some of us, not unaccustomed to the delicious beverages of 
Bordeaux and the Rhine, think our wines even now agree¬ 
able ; and those who are of that opinion, as well as those 
who are sceptics in the matter, we heartily invite to taste 
(at their discretion) some of the samples which lie before 
you.” 
“Of course,” says the editor of the Sydney IlcraJd, “in a 
general and necessary cursory review like this, it would be 
impossible to give anything like a detailed description of the 
various natural and industrial products presented for iu- 
