IVl 



I 



counties of England. Th« trooble with 

 US is that oar rainfall is not ased 

 economically. We have a fall of rain 

 falling mostly on hardened exposed 

 surfaces, the bulk of it flows immedia ely 

 off into the creeks, down the rivers, to 

 the sea. If we have a very heavy down- 

 pour the fljw off is so great the creeks 

 swell, and that which would be a 

 blessing and a godsend for months 

 to come, could it be retained, 

 bursts over the banks cf our rivers 

 deatrojing crops, stock, and buildin^a, 

 rushes away from the land where it 

 would have done good to mingle with 

 the sea where it is not wanted. 'I lien, as 

 usual, the sun comes out, whet water has 

 not flown off rapidly becomes evaporated. 

 Little or none soaks into the subsoil. 

 The farmer a few weeks after is raising 

 his voice that his creek has little water 

 for his slock, and less for his crop. No, 

 the principal reform we require on cur 

 laud 18 to prevent this prodigal wafete of 

 nature's gifts; to naturally so protect ths 

 surface from «^x^esdve evapoiatioQ, and 

 so retain the water in the spongy soil, 

 roots, and detritus that the water whch 

 at present is sent into the sea atd the air 

 wiih the quickebt possible despaich may 

 be retained and retailed to us in a slow 

 constant supply extending over months. 

 How 18 it thit in Europe, where the 

 rainfhli is no gteater than with us, they 

 have their brooks and streams carrying 

 almost the same waier ail the year round, 

 while in Tasmania we have only creeks 

 that are three parts dry eleven months 

 outofiheyear ? Itis simply the difference 

 in the natural reservoirs. Thexe tney have 

 ibeir woodlands w.tli deose canopies of 

 foliage through wnich the sun's rays 

 cannot penetiate, into which the rain 

 pours and IS stored up as in a sp Djje ; 

 while hero we have our light foliaged 

 trees that give so little fchade that the 

 water ^ets out almost as freely as it 

 gets in. 



Tnis is the main plea for forest culture 

 in Tasmania. if small but natural 

 water conserving areas were planted with 

 trees v»hcfee foliage was suitable for soil 

 protection, fcuch arets would scon more 

 iban pay ^^^ ihcmstlves by tLeitgula- 

 tiou ci the water tlat \stu!d flow (ut 

 Ircm ihtm. In a liUle time the tciTan- 



tage would be so apparent that forest 

 planting would be undertaken as a matter 

 of course, without longer requiring the 

 stimulating and direct effort that Go- 

 vernment would have to put forward at 

 the outset. This is no imaginary picture, 

 this is the experience that has brea 

 dearly purchatied by many in the 

 Northern Hemiaphere. I could give 

 you masses of instances from the 

 bulletins of the United States, all 

 pointing th<) same way ; loss of water 

 from forest denudation and the necessity 

 of replanting I do not think you would 

 hav4 to go beyond any settled district 

 in Tasmania for proofs. Indeed, I think 

 a study of IVCount Wellington an ample 

 object lesson. Time does not permit me 

 t:> dip into this part of the subject, as 

 it deserves, more especially as I wish to 

 refer to the i.flaence of forests on 

 climate. I am aware that the larger as- 

 pect of this does not come within our 

 8C0i?e of practic-il enquiry. That forest 

 protection and cultivation will have to 

 come about for lesser reasons, and the 

 larger reHult will be a fortunate 

 corollary. The immediate plantation of 

 huge forests for th« purpose of modifying 

 our climate would be rather Utopian, 

 Bu^< we may be allowed to think of 

 i^. Within the sope of influence on 

 climate are included two sets of 

 phenomena, the general and the local. 

 General climate is mostly cosmic. That 

 is, the atmospheric dispositions are due 

 to causes in no way referable to the io^ 

 flueiiCa on the immediate locality affected. 

 i3ut the question that interests us and 

 has exercised the minds of many both 

 now and in the past is, Are not these 

 atmospheric conditions bomewhet modi- 

 fled by the character of the area over 

 which they spread? 



The temperature of a forest and its 

 immediate looaliiy is, except in very cold 

 Weather, lower than that of open country, 

 also except in damp weather the air in 

 about or above forests carries a greater 

 percentage of moisture. From this it is 

 easily coi/ceivable that condensation with 

 rain will occur over a country pretty 

 well woodtd with true foi-ests, while on 

 the other hand expansion with no deposit 

 of moisture viiU tisko place over open and 

 tLerefore hot, diy places. That is to 



