132 PRACTICAL FORESTRY IN TASMANIA AND ELSEWHERE. 



restra'm the mischief and dirty doings of the larrikin element 

 in our midst. On the other hand the great diversity of soil 

 and climate to be found on the mountain with its slopes and 

 valleys exposed to every aspect of the heavens, and shown by 

 the wealth of its flora, point it out as eminently fitted as being 

 the training ground of our School of Forestry. All but three 

 of the eight woods I mentioned as the chief marketable 

 woods of the State already grow there naturally ; and 

 the other three, with perhaps the exception of iron- 

 bark, would probably grow if proper conditions were 

 observed. In fact the experimental observation of what 

 would grow, and what would not, and what conditions 

 had to be observed, would form most useful object lessons 

 in the course of study and | racti^al work both with re- 

 gard to native trees and to attempts to introduce European, 

 American, and other pines and hardwoods. The scientific 

 and technical education of the higher grades of the con- 

 servancy officers could be easily arranged for, and the re- 

 sults of the manual and technical training of the lower grades 

 of forest guards should more than pay for such training when 

 carried on so near to such a market as Hobart. But apart 

 from this, the occupation of the mountain for this purpose 

 would greatly add to its value in all respects, and the training 

 could be easily and continuously supervised so as to insure an 

 early supply of the officers required for the whole State. I 

 am convinced that this is the best, the easiest, and the most 

 economical method of properly inaugurating a system of forest 

 conservancy on the State. 



I need not expatiate on the necessity of taking early means 

 of establishing this system. Forestry, like agriculture, 

 deserves every encouragement, for like agriculture it adds, 

 when properly carried on, to the wealth of the soil on which it 

 is exercised by continually renewing its fertility, whereas 

 mining, though productive of immediate large returns, 

 permanently impoverishes the ground by taking out its 

 wealth once for all. In a young community of course 

 mining is encouraged, so that money may be earned, 

 and become available in a short tune. The timber 

 treasure of the State has for the same reason been 

 worked on the same lines as the mineral wealth — it has been 

 allowed to be worked out without making any provision for 

 its renewal, though such renewal is as practicable in regard 

 to timber as it is impossible in regard to minerals. It is 

 true that the land from which trees have been removed is 

 sometimes improved by the removal, and fitted for other pur- 

 poses ; but it is rarely so in the case of land leased for saw- 

 milling purposes, and on which felling and splitting licences 

 are valid ; for such land is usually left so encumbered with 



