Annual net Income, £594,370. 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
\TmswmPramnmee Coa., 
October 1, 1907 
pe ss 
This old Established Colonial Office covers every description of 
Fire, Marine, and Accident Business, 
At Lowest Rates. 
6,000,000 paid in Claims. 
SOUTH AUSTRALIAN BRANCH, 112 KING WILLIAM STREET, ADELAIDE. 
LOUIS E. WILSON, Manager. 
Active Agents Wanted. 
Wattle Growing. 
(By A, TatHam.) 
Wherever the black wattle (Acacia 
decurr:=s) grows naturally it is possible 
to cultivate it, On most properties there 
is alwys an acre or two of land that 
for some reason orcther yields no return, 
and there is no reason why they should 
not be made to do so through wattles. 
Tt would be difficult to find a soil that 
would not grow this tree, provided mois- 
ture was sufficient. But if any can be 
specially selected perhaps the granite 
country would gain first place. Those 
soils that are rich in humus are most 
favored, and often in granite localities, 
where the soil surface is made fairly free 
by the disintegration of tke rocks, a dense 
vegetation of low-growing species, espe- 
cially bracken fern, is found, causing an 
annual deposit of decaying vegetable 
matter, The wattle in its young state is 
tolerant of shade, and in fact thrives well 
in partial shade or under a leafy canopy. 
But to be at its best as far as bark pro. 
duction is concerned it should have no 
overhead shade, but ple: ty of undergrowth 
Its natural locality is a valley, but where 
the rainfall is 80 inches or over it is found 
growing well on ridges. 
The wattle seeds profuse once in three 
years. To collect the seeds, the pods 
should be gathered just as they ripen, 
but before they open, as they will do on 
a hot day, and so shed the seed. The 
pods can be laid on sacks or rick cloth in 
the sun, where they get brittle or split ; 
place all in a sack and beat it briskly 
with a stout stick, and the seed will be 
threshed out. If the sack is held up, and 
gently bounced on the ground it will be 
found that the seeds sink to the bottom 
and can easily be collected. 
The area having been selected, the seed 
can be sown any time in the early autumn. 
The cheapest and easiest way to do this 
is to strive to get a locality that has trees 
growing on it; if bracken fern exists all 
the better. Do not attempt to remove © 
any rubbish in t? 
limbs, leave all 
site for wattle 
throw the sec . 
it requires no 
plenty of dry ve_ 
2 of logs or dead 
*s isan excellent 
Ye autumn rains, 
cnet over the area; 
preparation, if 
. is present. 
Half a-pound oi seed is ample for an 
acre, in fact a quarter-of-a-pound will 
suffice, but is difficult to sow, except it is 
mixed with a bucket of sand or earth. 
On a favorable day, and with due regard 
for yourself and your neighbors, set fire 
to the block. The heat of the fire will 
assist germination, and the resulting ashes 
are sufficient cover for the seeds; injuri- 
ous insects are destroyed, and the vegeta- 
tion is burnt sufficiently to allow the 
young wattles to get a fair start in life, 
before they have to struggle through the 
quick growth of grass, etc, which will 
follow in the spring. In two years, the 
young wattles will be 2 to 3 feet high 
and beyond all interference from under- 
growth. 
So far the expense has been very slight. 
But as stock will greedily devour wattles 
the plantation must be fenced until such 
time as the young trees are too high for 
them, which ought to be in their fourth 
year. ‘The style of fence need only be 
temporary and cheap, but effective, 
ff this style of plantation cannot be 
arranged, then more expensive methods 
must be resorted to. The next cheapest 
is to run disc cultivators over the area 
where possible, throw the seed on broad- 
cast, and then brush harrow it in or roll 
it. But the seed needs preparation ; 
quick germination cannot be hoped for 
unless it has been subject to heat, soakage, 
or fermentation. To heat seed. place it 
in a hot oven and as soon as it gets fairly 
hot remove it; this will keep for some 
time should rain not fall, Soaked seed 
is too tender to handle much and is only 
of use in seed beds, and should rain not 
fall after sowing it would perish. If land 
that has been broken up by ploughing 
can be secured it generally grows good 
wattles. ven ploughed-in seed has re- 
sulted in a gocd plantation, but it is 
expensive. 
Tt is almost useless to grow wattles in 
plain country where trees have not pre- 
viously grown, as they will require atten- 
tion ef an expensive nature to insure 
success. Above all strive to grow them 
in scrubby areas, do not ring or destroy 
the natural growth except where it greatly 
interferes with the young trees, As a 
rule wattles grown in the open suffer 
severely from insect pests and blight, and 
the want of sufficient humus in the soil 
checks their growth. These trees are ag 
a rule of low growth, thin and hard in 
the bark, and as often as not cannot be 
stripped. The only way to remedy this 
evil if the soil is hard, is to break it up 
previous to sowing. On no account over- 
crowd the trees; the object to be aimed 
atis marketable bark and as much of it 
as possible. ‘The only way to get this is 
by having large stemmed and big branched 
trees. If the trees are crowded they only 
grow lanky and thin, and thinning opera- 
tions will have to be resorted to. If this 
is not done carefully the remaining trees 
will, through the weight of their crowns, 
often bend over and even cet torn out of 
the ground; they are so weak that a gale 
of wind will level them From the first, 
keep them well apert, and the after result 
will well repay this precaution, besides 
paying the cost of thinning. 
Lopping of branches may be resorted 
to, but no tree under 6 feet high needs it. 
It is after this height has been attained 
that a few branches may be removed; do 
not lop-right up, rest content to remove 
a few cnly at a time. It is advisable not 
to lop any tree higher than 10 feet; the 
branches that grow beyond this are 
needed and will of themselves produce 
both quality and quantity of bark. Above 
all cut close to the stem, do not leave a 
stub sticking out. It is necessary that 
the wound shonld heal quickly, in order 
to prevent the inroads of borers or fungus 
disease; it cannot heal properly as long 
as the dead bit of branch sticks there. 
Then again, when stripping takes place 
these stubs are a cause of trouble and 
annoyance, preventing the easy removal 
of the bark, An acre of well grown wattle 
trees ought not to number more than 
150, and, if grown in scrub, probably half 
this number. It is a great mistake to 
suppose that more trees will return a 
better profit. It is more than probable 
that an acre of 150 trees will produce 
more bark, and distinctly better quality, 
than an acre of 500 whipsticks that can 
only produce thin, inferior bark. 
The greatest enemy to wattles is fire ; 
at no period of their lives can they be 
considered safe should this element attack 
them. In most cases it kills them, and 
if not, so injures them that the bark is. 
useless for stripping. 
