XX 



a marketable tree is left, and beyoiul that, 

 the point ou which I wisli to lay especial 

 etress is this, that in most cases in inhab- 

 ited countiies, no first rate tree will ever 

 grow in that forest again. What is called 

 rubbish will grow, and that, with the 

 debris of the tops, will so smother the 

 young growth, that those plants that force 

 their way through will be permanently in- 

 jured, will tend to branch instead of form- 

 ing straight trunks, and, roughly speak- 

 ing, will never again form good timber- 

 producing trees of their class. This is iiot 

 theory, but fact, that has been proved 

 over and over again in every part of the 

 world where civilised man has come. In 

 new countries where the licence system ob- 

 tains, the destruction of the forest is 

 brought about very rapidly, and in older 

 countries the effect is kept up by simiL-iv 

 systems, and by rights of commonage, and 

 the task of converting the forest again to 

 a productive state is one that req xires 

 considerable expenditure, and a length of 

 time that miast be measured by genera- 

 tions. 



The project before us is a modest oi.t, 

 i.e., that a small piece of land shall It; 

 taken whereon to raise trees, for tl e 

 planting of denuded tracts, watercoUx-'jes, 

 and sand blows, and, incidentally, to 

 spread abroad the meaning of the old fay- 

 ing that "He who plants a tree is an un- 

 selfish man, in that he benefits not only 

 himself, but also his neighbour and pos-- 

 terity." 1 must beg your forbearance if 

 I have appeared in what has gone before, 

 to have wandered from my subject, but in 

 ■all -works that are undertaken, no matter 

 how limited the present means may be, it 

 is well to begin Avith a plan uiat is com- 

 plete iu every respect, instead of provid- 

 ing for the apparent needs of the present 

 moment only. It is the especial object-of 

 this society, by its discussions, to bring 

 before its members, and through them the 

 Government, and the inhabitants of Tas- 

 mania, the advantages to be derived from 

 a right knowledge of the natural products 

 of the State, and I think that every one of 

 us has realised the immense latent value 

 that there is in our forests. The trees 

 produce fuel, both wood and charcoal, 

 structural material, fibre for the purpose 

 of making paper, acetic acid, tar, potash, 

 ■and various essential oils, all of them 

 valuable in commerce, and when worked in 

 conjunction, one with another, adding 

 very largely to the profits of forest pro- 

 perty. 



It is well known that by one method 

 we may exhaust the whole of the commer- 

 cial vaiue of the source of these natural 

 products in one or two generations, and by 

 the other, that the output may be consid- 



erablj' increased, and kept at that increas- 

 ed rate for all time. It is, therefore, from 

 a national point of view, well worth while 

 to launch this scheme with an eye to the 

 future, and upon the most perfect lines of 

 which we are capable. A beginning i* 

 valuable as a beginning — the planting of 

 trees for shelter and ornament will be ad- 

 vantageous in many ways, as well as com- 

 mercially. Every man who plants a tree- 

 values trees more highly, and an adheient 

 to the cause of forest conservation is 

 gained. I would beg of you not to treat 

 this scheme that I have outlined as 

 chimerical, because it ia not immediately- 

 attainable, but so to use your influence 

 that the proposed nurserj^ of forest trees 

 shall, in the future, develop into a com- 

 plete and profitable system of forest con- 

 servation for Tasmania. 



Mr. Targett said that afforestation 

 would, if started in Tasmania, give em- 

 ployment to a number of people, prove 

 an immense boon in the immediate fu- 

 ture, and help to preserve the beauty 

 spots. 



Mr. Counsel wished it to be under- 

 stood that he criticised Mr. Heyn's paper 

 in the very best spirit. They all owed 

 Mr. Heyn a debt of gratitude. Mr. 

 Green's paper contained sound thought, 

 but many of his recommendations were 

 not practicable; no country could carry 

 them out. In a district suited for agri- 

 cultural settlement the timber had to 

 be cleared; a country could not be opened 

 up by the timber trade alone. In West 

 Australia, as in Tasmania, they had no 

 State forest, but the agriculturist Avork- 

 ed hand in hand with the timber-getter. 

 Good land in this State is too good to be 

 utilised as timber land. (Hear, hear.) 



Hon. John Henry thought it would be a 

 good thing to, at an early date, re-initiate 

 a system of State forestry. Mr. Green's 

 paper was excellent in many respects, but 

 was not sound on the practical side, in 

 this country, the circumstances of -which 

 had to be first considered. On the rich 

 lands of the North-West Coast, it would 

 be. for instance, impracticable ; it would 

 mean delaying the opening up of good 

 country for settlement for a remote 

 period! There the settlers must get 

 rid of the timber, and that was their 

 difficulty; if only used for forestry pur- 

 poses, that land would only support a 

 few. He agreed with Mr. Counsel that 

 good laud was too valuable to maintain 

 as forests, whilst there were consider- 

 able areas that would grow useful timber, 

 such as the stringy bark, that were not 

 suitable for cultivation, hence the neces- 

 sity for re-introducing the State forest 

 system. 



"^Mr. Macnaghten, in an interesting 



