784 



Journal of Agriculture. 



[10 Dec, i909-„ 



seed is about 4 ozs. per acre^ 

 (:!ei-raination takes place in the- 

 (ourse of a few weeks, and the- 

 tii'st thinning is carried out the 

 following autumn, and each succes- 

 sive year thinning is repeated. 

 Experience has shown that the 

 Sugar Gum is the tree which in 

 practice gives the best results, but 

 in addition to these there are 

 long lines of Pinus insignis and 

 other pines, some of them now 

 reaching a height of from 30 to 40 

 feet. At first sight it seems a 

 waste to allow so much of the 

 land to be monopolized by planta- 

 tions, but the experience on the- 

 treeless western plains will doubt- 

 less be verified in many other parts 

 of Victoria. It is found that the- 

 amount of shelter for Hocks and 

 herds and the benefit to the grow- 

 ing crop which accrues from break- 

 ing the clear sweep of the winds 

 both in summer and winter pro- 

 duce an effect which far more than 

 compensates the loss of one acre in 

 every seven. In addition to this, 

 the plantations themselves begin 

 to be revenue producing from the- 

 time that they are four or five years, 

 old. The small saplings at that 

 time are of use for firewood and 

 other purposes, while in the course- 

 of two or three years more they 

 become thick enough to furnisli 

 fencing posts and other props. By 

 the time the saplings are about S 

 inches in diameter, that is usually 

 after they have been planted eight 

 or ten years, they are readily sale 

 able at a shilling a piece, and as 

 the number per acre of saplings this 

 size usually numbers from 600 to- 

 1,000 trees, it will be seen that the- 

 thinning produces a steady source- 

 of revenue. 



The cultivation methods adopted 

 are almost exactly on the lines 

 laid down in the former part of this 

 article. Wheat forms the basis of 



