22 Field Naturalists' Club — Proceedings. [voKXXXli. 



affected, hut the mistletoe was not noticed on any other plant, 

 nor on the smaller second-growth hlackwoods. The other 

 native trees present in the cemetery are second-growth Acacia 

 dealbata and second-growth Eucalyptus rubida, but neither of 

 these is large. The situation is the edge of a basaltic plateau 

 extending to the north and west, on which the blackwood 

 occurs sparingly, but he had not noticed the mistletoe else- 

 where as yet. The elevation is about 1,430 feet. 



Mr. F. Pitcher drew attention to his exhibit of blooms of 

 Acacia Maideni, F. v. M.. Maiden's Acacia, and Acacia salicina, 

 Lindley, var. variant. Weeping Cooba, or Willow Wattle, at 

 present flowering in the Botanic Garden, and to a fruiting 

 branchlet of the Oueensland Beech, Gmelina Leichhardtii, 

 F. v. M. 



Mr. J. Gabriel read a note explaining his expibit of a photo- 

 graph of the nest of a White-backed Magpie, Gynuwrhina 

 leuconota, constructed on a table in a room in daily use. 



PAPER READ. 



By Mr. A. D. Hardy, F.L.S., entitled " Notes on Victorian 

 Forests." 



By the aid of a series of lantern slides the author described 

 the different types of forests comprised in the forest reserves of 

 Victoria, dealing with those of the humid south as welkas the 

 arid north-west. He dwelt upon the destruction wrought' by the 

 early settlers in the timbered areas by the universal system of 

 " ring-harking." which was then fostered by the Government, 

 and on the inlluence this reckless and senseless destruction had 

 upon rainfall and upon the flow of streams. There seemed, 

 he said, to be a lamentable lack of forethought among the 

 pioneers of new countries; all timber was doomed to destruc- 

 tion irrespective of the requirements for shelter and [or fuel. 

 In the Mallee the same system was being pursued, and it 

 remained to be seen whether the scanty sward attendant on 

 cultivation would resist wind erosion as well as the natural 

 vegetation. 



Professor A. J. Ewart, D.Sc, in complimenting the author 

 on the admirable series Ol slides shown, suggested that a 

 similar series be obtained and stored in the archives of the 

 Club, so that our successors would recognize thai we once had 

 trees. The average countryman regarded trees as enemies, 

 and if the present policy was continued the time was not fai 

 distant when Victoria would have pra< tically none. He pointed 

 out that the real action of forests is in acting like a sponge, 

 thus retaining the moisture for ;i time, and allowing it to gel 

 away gradually, and, whilst they have no direel effed on 

 rainfall, their influence indirectly on a country is incalculable, 

 and this j-, now beginning to he recognized all the world over, 



