XVll 



Tlie advantages of sylviculture are : — 



1. To yield the timber necessary for 

 certain i>urposes. 



2. To produce the greatest quantity per 

 acre per year. 



3. To produce the highest possible money 

 return per acre per year. 



4. To produce the highest possible inter- 

 est on the invested capital. 



5. To iiifluence the climate, to regulate 

 the draining of the country, and prevent 

 landslips and avalanches. 



The following table gives the results of 

 forest culture in several different coun- 

 tries as far as possible. Only the Crowu 

 forests are given, a.s the results of private 

 forestry are not obtainable, so the areas 

 given are very much less than those of the 

 total areas under forest: — 



'^ - o o 



o 



Ph 



•ic< 



00 



o 



^ O O O O K t^ 



2^ d^ 



5 c^ ri o"> 



"^ o g CO :^-'^ io 



O 



o ^J, ^ <=^ 5 ^ ^' 



*"• '-Ir-ToicOrH 



lO QJ 



!= !=l 



'r^ 



' o — > o en 

 ' o O o 6i 



r^ c-o >/2 o i.'o 



^^ Oi O 1-' o 





H 



r- < 



w. 



~ , T-i .— lO cc o 



'-i^ CO 05 0_'*C^I__ 



■^ CfS C5 ^D O' 

 !>. L^ -^ IC lO 



■^ Ci O (M>/3 

 O (Xi t^ T-i ->! 

 LO (X) '^__C» -.# 



O CO C5 05 lO 



W iO CO LC CO CO 



" ;£5 !>■ 1— I C-1 Cl 



1— I ).0 t- 00 LO 



■■ T-Tcot^'w'o 

 T-H CO o o CO 

 C5 Ci C3 i>y t^ 



a o 

 _ o 





■ 2 cj5 133 a; O r:^ ^ 



=1 ■■^"ro'^ op- <B O 



<» ci M -^. sr; H "^ HH 



'w >• 1:3 OT f^ ? 



c- cp i>. CO CI O 

 CD 0:1 Ci Cj <55 o 

 > I I I i I 

 >H > T :o r- 00 Oi 

 C5 5l C5 0? Ci 



The <£ in the case of India has been 

 taken, as in the official returns, as Rs. 

 10 for purposes of comparison. The 

 profit fro'm the forests in 1869 was 

 only ^139,971. Since then, although a 



large portion of the revenue has been 

 spent on reafforestation, yet the revenue 

 has largely increased. 



In European countries, which have 

 been chosen as their climate more nearly 

 approaches that of Tasmania, the total 

 acreage of Crown forests is 18,060,0'ao acre®, 

 with a net profit of c£3,376,971. or 35. lO^d. 

 per acre. This net profit, capitalised at 

 o per cent, would give £S 17s. 6d. as the 

 average value of each acre, and this is 

 including large areas, of which some are 

 inaccessible, and some valueless for tree 

 planting. 



During the last 10 years the country 

 lots of Cro'wn lands sold in Tasmania 

 amounted to, 248,924 acres, at an average 

 price of Jil 7s. 4|d. ; this, at 5 per cent., 

 would give Is. 4|d. per acre, so that, even 

 after allowing for the hours of labour be- 

 ing less, and wages being higher than in. 

 Europe, twice the amount of the revenue 

 yielded by_ the investment of the 

 money obtained by the sale would be 

 obtained by a, judicious system of 

 forestry on the same land. All the 

 best land is first selected for ag- 

 ricultural purposes, so the price of saie 

 and the small return given for perpet- 

 uity is presumably for the best land, 

 whilst the returns for European forests 

 are for all the land, including bad. and 

 in many .areas thoroughly denuded of 

 trees, this is especially the case with the 

 Cro wu forests of Sweden. 



According to information kindly given 

 me by Mr, Counsel, the area of the but- 

 ton grass land, which is absolutely 

 worthless for 'agricultural purposes, is 

 not less than 1,150,000 acres, and as it 

 has been shown that forests are neces- 

 sary for the climate, which is said to 

 have become colder during the last half 

 century, whether due to the deniidation 

 of forests or not, may be questioned by 

 some, but the excess of evidence shows 

 that forests cause milaer n-inters, whilst 

 the intense heat of summer is mode- 

 rated; for agriculture, grazing, etc., it ia 

 necessary to strip ai large area of land 

 of its covering of trees, but at the same 

 time they may be replaced elsewhere. 



On the basis of a net return of 23. an 

 acre, and a gross return the same as in 

 Europe, a rise of 28 per cent, may be 

 given for the wages, but as the age at 

 which trees mature in Tasmania is said 

 to be half that required in Europe (see 

 ''A Practical Treatise on Tree Culture 

 in South Australia,'" by J. E, Brown, 

 L.L.S.), the profit may safely be taken 

 as double. The exact profit caused by 

 quicker growth must be more or less left 

 for experience, although the age of tim- 

 ber may be judged by the ringsi. 



Taking the time required for the pine 

 tree to matu.re in Europe to be 112 years, 

 every gSlOO of initial cost of planting at 



