116 ON THE TIMBER SUPPLY OF AUSTRALIA. 



and fixed to within a few hundred cubic feet." Compare with our 

 happy-go-lucky style the grand success in planting with Pinus pin- 

 aster, the Dunes or shifting sands near the mouth of the Gironde, 

 150 miles in length ; and the equally grand success of making the 

 poor, swampy, formerly uninhabitable Department des Landes, by 

 draining and planting, productive and habitable. I think, there- 

 fore, with Dr Schomburgk, " that a Forest Board, consisting of 

 men enthusiastic on this question (and if possible having some 

 knowledge of forestry), not merely friends of Chief Secretary or 

 Commissioner, should be a sine qud non." Victoria also has called 

 into life a Board of Forests, with an Inspector of Forests, and 

 under this direction the preservation of forests and young planta- 

 tions has been secured. Local Forest Boards do not seem to have 

 given much satisfaction where tried in the neighbourhood of the 

 gold mines. Eventually Local Forest Boards may be desirable ; 

 but, for the present, unity of action under one Conservator may be 

 preferable until the extent of our plantations may make a division 

 desirable. The necessity of one such board, however, and the 

 appointment of a well-qualified man as conservator, is, in my 

 opinion, obvious. Although the Government cannot undertake 

 the obligation of providing firewood or other timber for the people 

 throughout the country, and experience may eventually show that 

 our Government cannot accomplish such undertakings so success- 

 fully, or at least not as economically as private individuals; and 

 although it might be impolitic to monopolise a branch of industry 

 which ought to attain considerable importance, it is still very 

 desirable that a well-conducted example should be set to the people 

 in different localities, where it is quite unlikely that private enter- 

 prise will step in. It is desirable to obtain really reliable informa- 

 tion on the subject of growing timber and firewood by commencing 

 a series of systematic experiments as to the best description of 

 trees for the respective purposes in different localities, the best 

 time and mode of planting or sowing, the proper number of differ- 

 ent kind of trees to the acre, the best age at which to cut, etc. I 

 know, of course, that in Germany the State derives a very large 

 profit from State forests ; and here also the Government may be 

 forced, through the neglect of private enterprise, to grow timber 

 for the necessary public works, especially railway sleepers. Every 

 mile of new railway requires at least 2000 sleepers — to be 

 renewed in perhaps ten years. I can, therefore, subscribe to the 

 following passage, being an extract from a letter, addressed by the 



