no WiLi.iAMSO'N, Botanical Notes of a Trip io Mildura. [vof^xxx 



I saw several Leadbeater's Cockatoos in ca}:»tivity, and heard 

 that both they and the Pink-breasted (Galahs) were common 

 round about. 



In conchision, I wish to thankfully acknowledge the assist- 

 ance I have received from Professor Ewart and his staff in 

 determining doubtful species of plants collected, and also to 

 express my thanks to Mr. H. W. Casey, of Mildura, for informa- 

 tion kindly supplied. 



A Plea for the Murray Pine. — Some years ago, when 

 visiting the Riverina district in the vicinity of Moulamein, ni 

 company with Mr. A. J. Campbell, I was grieved to see the 

 rapid disappearance of the Murray Pine, Callitris robusta, var. 

 T/t'rr^/cc^a, before the axe of the settler. This tree yields perhaps 

 the most useful of Australian timbers in the interior, being- 

 white ant proof, but, unfortunately, is generally of small size, 

 rarely exceeding 15 to 18 inches in diameter at the base, and 

 as the trunk tapers rapidly, it consequently takes a large 

 number of trees to furnish sufficient timber for a moderate- 

 sized building. At a saw-mill which we visited the waste was 

 very great. Seldom did a log produce many boards six inches 

 wide from fourteen to sixteen feet long. These w^ere sold at 

 from I2s. 6d. to 14s. 6d. per hundred feet running. Mr. 

 Williamson, in his paper on the botany of Mildura, speaks 

 of this pine furnishing the stakes required in the vineyards, 

 and, as the smaller trees are used for fencing posts, the de 

 mand must soon exceed the supply. Another use to which this 

 pine was put some three or four years after our visit was to 

 furnish food for the settlers' sheep during a severe drought. 

 For this purpose the friends with whom we stayed used no 

 less than 1,700 trees, the sheep being particularly fond of the 

 foliage. These trees, it may be mentioned, were all cut by 

 the two girls of the family, their brother being ill in bed at 

 the time. Notwithstanding the demand for this timber, we 

 hear of no steps being taken to replant to meet the demand 

 for future supplies. I have written these notes in no spn-it 

 of fault-finding, for I fully recognize the many and various 

 uses to which the timber can be put, but to me it is lamentable 

 that for so many years no effort has been made to provide 

 for the future. Here is an opportunity for the Forest League 

 to do practical work in calling attention to the immediate 

 necessity for placing the Murray Pine timber trade under 

 some sort of control. It seems strange that all remedies for 

 good have to be forced physic-like on those most interested. 

 Our own Club also, composed as it is of lovers of nature, 

 should assist in bringing into prominence the rapid disappear- 

 ance of this pine on the Victorian side of the Murray, and 

 the urgent necessity for some steps being taken to prevent 

 its ultimate extinction. Those who have seen a pine ridge 

 will not readily forget the peculiar charm of the sight. We 



