Four watercolours showing the Mount Crawford area. The first shows Grass trees (Xanthorrhoea australis) which are native to south-east Australia. Also known as Yuccas or Kangaroo Tail, it has very long, thin, grass-like leaves that grow up to 3 feet in length. It takes 30 years or more for the leaf tuft to rise above the trunk. The second is titled at Springfield. Mt. Crawford. SA. Springfield was established by pastoralist John Warren in the 1840s. Atop the hill is the tower known as Forbe's Folly. The third and fourth paintings are also views of Springfield, Mt. Crawford.

Land was first purchased for forestry at Mount Crawford in 1909. Plantings commenced in 1914; two species of eucalypts (Narrow-leaved Ironbark and South Australian Blue gum) and two species of pine (Radiata and Maritime pine). Plantings continued to expand until the 1960s. Many of the original plantations have since been clear felled and replanted. Survival rate for the plantings range from 90-98% depending on the season. About 70,000 tonnes of timber is harvested annually. Current reserve area is 12,367 hectares. Forestry SA

Alfred Sells was an Anglican clergyman from England who arrived in South Australia in May 1877 and became the Incumbent of Holy Trinity Church at Lyndoch and later the Incumbent at St Michael's Church at Mitcham for four years from February 1884. He returned to England in 1888. The paintings were done in England, presumably from sketches made while in Australia.