^02 Agricultural Journal of Victoria. 



and useless. Coppice slioots always make greater growth in tlie 

 earlier period of their life than in the later. A coppice shoot in 

 Victoria will often grow 12 to 15 feet in three years, but it may take 

 8 to 9 years to grow another 12 or 15. 



It may be found that a thinning of the shoots will be required, 

 but, as a rule, this need not be done where the stools stand close 

 too-ether, for although some dozen shoots start, at the end of three 

 years or so it will be noticed that two or three have outstripped their 

 fellows, and these only will form marketable produce, the rest will 

 either die off or never grow more than a few feet. In selecting the 

 standards to be left only saplings should be chosen, or coppice shoots 

 from very young trees about 2 to 3 inches in diameter. Shoots from 

 old stools are bad, and seldom form sound trees, and, as a rule, 

 are indifferent seed bearers. 



Suckers are the shoots from the roots. To encourage these the 

 stump is grubbed, or cut below the ground ; the roots, if near the 

 surface, will throw up suckers. Peppermint and apple gum will both 

 do this, but its expense is too great to entertain from a forest point 

 of view. It is a system that might prove useful as a means of 

 checking insect pests, but other than that there is no gain in Victoria 

 by adopting it. 



Pollard. — This is the oldest method of working a forest in Aus- 

 tralia, and, strange to say, has not led to that amount of destruction 

 one would anticipate. The method is to cut a tree at three or more 

 feet above the ground, shoots then burst out along the stem that is 

 left. Laziness was the cause of the adoption of this system in the 

 past, no one ever thought of cutting a tree close to the ground. The 

 resulting growth is similar to coppice, except that the shoots, 

 being entirely dependent on the parent stem, are liable to be torn off 

 by wind or other causes. Decay sets in early in the old stem, and 

 the shoots suffer accordingly. This system is thoroughly l)ad, and 

 should only be allowed where small produce, such as willows for 

 basket making, is required, but even here this method is giving way 

 to coppice. 



Artificial Regeneration. 



The former systems were all natural methods of forming a forest, 

 and as such are the least expensive and most satisfactory, but atten- 

 tion will now be given to artificial methods. It must be borne in 

 mind that this system is adopted only where trees do not already 

 exist, or where it is desired to introduce a new species. 



Direct Sowing.— Haying selected the species most suitable for the 

 area, we next consider the best method of sowing the seed. It would 

 be useless, in most cases, to expect a good germination by sowing 

 broadcast without considering the state of the soil. Should the land 

 be infested with weeds it will require cleaning, as there is no 

 surer method of courting failure than by allowing a crop of weeds to 

 choke the seedlings ; cultivation would be required here just as in a 

 field crop. If the soil is hard it must be broken up, for unless it is 



