Der •] Hardy, The Forests of Victoria. in 



191 5 j ' 



which extends from Stawell to Hamilton, and includes the 

 Grampians, the Victoria Valley, and Black Range, where the 

 bees gather from Box (Yellow and Grey), Red Gum, Manna 

 Gum, Swamp Gum, Apple Box, Long-leaved Box, Yellow Gum, 

 and the Red and Brown Stringybarks and Messmate, the con- 

 tinuity of nectar flow and pollen for bee bread being provided 

 by the great number of plants, varied in colour, habit, and time 

 of bloom, for which that district is famous. Victoria's output 

 of honey for the year 1912-13 was about 1,450 tons (3J million 

 pounds), valued at £45,000, produced by 800 bee farmers with 

 40,000 productive hives. As a honey-producing State Victoria 

 ranks second only to New South Wales in the Commonwealth. 

 The trees which provide fodder for the. apiaries are often such as 

 are useless for sawmilling or any purpose other than fuel supply, 

 and are too remote for that. The rapidly increasing price of honey 

 is raising the value of forest land for apiculture to as high as that 

 for sawmilling. But it must be remembered that, even so. 

 honey-production is reasonably subordinated to timber-getting, 

 the one product being a luxury for which substitutes can be 

 found, while we are faced with the possibility of a timber famine. 

 As the eucalypts form the greater part of our useful trees, 

 I purpose adding, as an appendix to this paper, a list of the 

 Victorian species, with their vernacular names, as proposed by 

 the Plant Names Committee of this Club. These have already 

 been published in the Journal of Agriculture of Victoria for 

 August last, where the value of each from a timber supply 

 point of view was dealt with. However, as many of the species 

 are exceedingly valuable from their oil-producing and honey- 

 yielding qualities, and others deserve inclusion on account of 

 fencing, firewood. &c, I will add indications which will enable 

 one to see at a glance which are the most valuable species. 



VII. — Reforestation. 



Given rest from fires, the native hardwood forests perpetuate 

 and even after fires restore themselves. As matured growths 

 are removed, light penetrates more easily, and in an almost 

 incredibly short space of time several straight saplings shoot 

 up to fill the gap. The old trees, if left to decay, make breeding- 

 grounds for boring and other noxious insects and fungi ; when 

 falling destroy other growths ; and when down litter the ground 

 with debris winch prevents seedling growth for many years, 

 and makes fuel for ground fires. Against these defects there 

 is, <>t course, the benefit derived by the soil from the mouldering 

 tree in course of many years, and the advantages gained in 

 conservation of stream flow by the retarding effect of the ground 

 litter on the get-away of rains. 



In the Mallei- district, where there are no streams, and where 



