49 



hamlets of a few houses, and somewhat family system 

 of living, would perhaps find a communal forest an 

 entirely strange conception of doubtful value to him. 



So little has been done regarding the minor forest 

 products tlu.it I can at present only recommend the 

 growing of one species— sandalwood. When research 

 work has shown what the Papuan forests contain in 

 the way of oils, resins, gums, fibres, drugs, &c, it may 

 prove profitable to grow some of those species which 

 yield products of proved value. Sandalwood is known, 

 and the analysis which will be found on page 173 under 

 minor forest products is certainly very satisfactory. 



Sandalwood occurs in the Central Division dry belt, 

 and grows both in the savannah forests and in the 

 gully forests. It is not known yet what is the dif- 

 ference in the rate of growth and in the oil content 

 between the wood obtained from exposed trees and 

 those growing in the shade, but I anticipate that the 

 savannah forest tree grows more slowly and contains 

 more oil. The making of large plantations of sandal- 

 wood would certainly be sound forest policy. The 

 work will not prove expensive, and the profits should 

 be satisfactory. Experiments should be made with 

 the Mysore sandalwood, Santalum album. There is no 

 reason why it should not do well here, and it has 

 always been regarded as the official sandalwood for 

 medical purposes. 



• n 



Mid-Mountain Forest Policy. 



I pass over the large tract of country made up of 

 broken foothills and covered with very poor timber. 

 Minor product research may yield information as to 

 the valuable barks, resins, etc., but I doubt whether, 

 at any time, this belt can be used for the growth of 

 timber. It should always prove a valuable native 

 agricultural area. The mid-mountain forests, though 

 of limited depth, contain species of the greatest im- 

 portance, and though to-day they are regarded as in- 

 accesible, they will not, I think, remain long in that 

 condition. The stupendous shortage of sor woods in 

 Australia is such that a coniferous belt in Papua, even 

 at 6,000 feet altitude, is of great potential value, and, 

 awaiting the day when its careful utilization can be 

 undertaken, a systematic policy of improvement should 

 be adopted. I have shown that the most important 

 species — hoop pine — is confined to the stony edges of 

 the spurs, and that the better slopes and better soils 

 are taken up by broad-leafed species and a few con- 

 ifers. When hoop pine has established itself on these 



dopes it is in every way as fine as the specimens on 



the spurs, but it requires 



to let the sapling up to the light which it appears to 

 demand at a fairly early age. My knowledge of the 

 sylvicultural requirements of hoop pine is the scan- 

 tiest, but fortunately this species has been under ob- 

 servation for some time in Queensland, and there has 



been published a valuable bulletin by Prof. X. W, 



Jolly/"* I have extracted the following from the pages 

 dealing with hoop pine: — 



a big hole in the canopy 



Though trees attain their best development on 

 moist, rich soils, the species thrives on soils of 

 all descriptions, from drift sand to basalt, pro- 

 vided that the average annual rainfall exceeds 

 30 inches, and the drainage is satisfactory. It is 

 a tree of the coastal ranges mainly, but is not 

 found above an altitude of 3,000 feet. Owing 

 primarily to the elimination of the competition of 

 less hardy species, the densest stands are found on 



soils derived from sand, granite and shales, this 



being particularly evident on Fraser Island, in 

 the Goodnight scrub, and in parts of the Gympie 

 and Nanango Districts. 



Although hoop pine is able to exist for many 

 years under the shade of evergreen shrubs, eventu- 

 ally struggling through their dense cover and 

 forming merchantable timber, healthy and vigor- 

 ous development requires a free aceesi of light 

 as soon as the seedling growth is firmly estab- 

 lished. 



The rate of growth in height is slow for the 

 first year, but rapidly increases as the root system 



develops, annual shoots of 10 feet or even more 

 have been recorded. The girth increment of nat- 

 urally grown trees in virgin scrubs is slow, the 



measurements recorded 



iod of three 



years showing an 



over a per 



increase varying from nil to 



1J inches per year, with an average of less than 



2 inch. This growth is due largely to the dry 



seasons experienced since measurements were in- 

 stituted, and to tin 1 fact that adverse conditions 



under which the trees have developed, unaided, 



against the competition of other species, have re- 

 sulted in the formation of hard, tight hark which 

 is not readily shed, and which by its pressure 

 exerts a strong retarding influence on the growth 

 of the cambium layer. The rapid development of 

 trees grown in the open gives rise to the expecta- 

 tion that an average girth increment approaching 



I inch per year will be obtained in 



managed forests. 



w 



ell- 



('0 Sylvi'ultural Notes On lOnst Trees of Queensland, No. 3, Tart 1. 



Government Printer, Brisbane. 



Reproduction and Management. 



Hoop pine coppices better than the average 

 conifer, hut not, as far as is yet known, with suf- 

 ficient vigour to exercise any influence on forest 



management. It flowers generally in the spring, 

 and fruits from January to April, the cones tak- 

 ing one and a half years to mature. Seed may be 

 collected in small quantities every year, but gen- 

 eral seed years occurred in 1013, 1916 (most in- 

 fertile), and 1917, very large crops being borne. 

 The seed, which is winged on two sides, is hard 

 and "woody, enclosing an insignificant kernel, and 

 averaging when well developed about 1,400 seeds 

 per 1 lb. weight. The distribution by wind is fair, 

 seedlings having been found in open country up 

 to 7 chains from the mother trees, but in the 

 dense scrub the radius of distribution rarely ex- 

 ceeds 1 chain. 



The successful natural regeneration of hoop pine 

 is dependent very largely on the wet seasons, the 

 frequent failure of which has to a great extent 



accounted for the irregular distribution of the age 

 classes, good reproduction apparently having oc- 

 curred only on the comparatively rare occasions 



on which a good seed year coincided with a very 



favorable season. The large size of the seed com- 

 pared with its weight is a considerable handicap 



satisfactory reproduction as large num- 

 bers of seeds, instead of penetrating to the mineral 



-oils, rest lightly on the leaf litter, germination 

 being thus lessened considerably, while in addi- 

 tion a short spell of dry weather is sufficient to 



kill many seedlings before the tender young roots 



have reached the mini ral soils and become firmly 

 established. For this reason mainly, natural re- 

 production is generally mostly in evidence on the 

 edges of hoop pine scrub, though the destruction 

 of seedlings caused by scrub turkeys and other 

 scrub birds is also an important factor. On the 



other hand, the protection againsi insolation ami 



fire which is afforded to the young seedlings by 



