Mabel Bush is equi-distant, six miles, between Woodlands and Hedgehope railway stations, and lies in undulating country. The road to Woodlands is the best and most convenient, as communication thence to Invercargill is much nearer than by Hedgehope. Sawmilling has been carried on in the Mabel Bush district for many years and the timber is sent to Woodlands by a tramline. The local public school dates from 1885, and had an average attendance of twenty-eight in 1904. Farming is extensively carried on in the district, which has increased rapidly of late years. Between Mabel Bush and Hedgehope the country is composed mostly of pebbly hills, which are supposed to contain a little gold. The district is in the Hokonui riding of the county of Southland, and in the Mataura electorate and at the census of 1901, it had a population of 167.