DEFORESTATION IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 529 



to in the teeth of all representations from those who only seek their 

 own individual aggrandisement. 



The grazing of forest land acts both directly and indirectly in 

 denuding the country of timber. Many trees in their seedling stage 

 make excellent fodder, of which stock are not slow to avail them- 

 selves, and so direct and extensive is the damage done in this way 

 that in some countries some species of shrubs and trees have totally 

 disappeared owing to the incessant grazing by goats, which are 

 probably the greatest curse to yoimg trees in existence ; camels ai*e 

 nearly as bad where they are common, and sheep, though not so 

 universally the foe of every growing thing, commit very great havoc 

 in our forests by devouring annually millions of tender trees when 

 they possess but few leaves and are too small to be out of harm's 

 way. This constitutes the great dilemma in the natural regenera- 

 tion of old forests where small stock are depastured. The seeds 

 spring up by myriads in special spots where they find a suitable 

 seed bed, but only to be ruthlessly devoured imless they belong to 

 a species unpalatable as fodder. Such a species to a certain extent 

 is the red gum {Eucalyptus rostrataj, which in our northern forest 

 lands is the only tree standing any chance to reproduce itself by 

 natural regeneration, because it is evidently unpalatable, whereas 

 the sugar gum f E. corynocalyx) only rises to any height where 

 protected by, perhaps, an old brush fence or heap of wood of 

 similar dimensions that can afford it shelter from the hungry sheep, 

 too often half-starved from overstocking. It is also in a large 

 degree the inevitable result of this reprehensible practice of over- 

 stocking that so many young trees are eaten, for if grass were more 

 abundant there would be more chance for the seedlings to escape, 

 whereas when every source of food is heavily taxed they must perish. 

 Moreover, every herb and edible shrub is eaten up as well, and 

 thus, in an indirect manner, stock cause a large proportion of 

 seed of trees to fail in germinating, because, the ground being hard 

 and bare, no suitable seed bed is now available. Not only is the 

 herbage gone which would have retained the light sandy loam and 

 decayed vegetable matter collecting round it from time to time by 

 the agency of the wind, biit the incessant tramping of the land by 

 the stock cuts up all loose soil (which then gets easily and speedily 

 shifted by the first strong gale) and beats the harder soil down still 

 harder, thus destroying all chance of seed either settling down or 

 germinating. 



The practice common in some places of firing shrubs and coarse 

 grasses periodically to induce fresh growth is also a great enemy to 

 natural regeneration by seedlings and a constant factor in the 

 steady destruction of the older trees also, spite of the remarkable 

 way in which some species, notably the stringybarks (E. capitellata 

 and E. obliquaJ,aYe able to resist the injurious efi"ects of bush fires. 

 If it is possible to definitely regulate its action and efiectually 

 prevent its arising when not wanted fire can be made a useful 

 l2 



