PROCEEDINGS OP SECTION D. 338 



As regards the Australian, " the gum trees " have always been 

 Avitli him, hence his lack of appreciation of their good qualities, 

 for when he wants a piece of their timber, he could go into the 

 bush and cut it. But that day is rapidly passing, owing to the 

 opening up of the country by settlement, and the ruthless destruc- 

 iioji of o-^'r native eucalyptus forests. It therefore behoves the 

 Australian to take time lay the forelock, and make provision for 

 the futui-e requirements by an intense system of eucalyptus culti- 

 vation, otherwise eucalyptus timber will have to be imported : 

 nye, and from countries which have obtained the seed from here, 

 and practically planted the whole country side with " gum trees " 

 as obtains to-day in South Africa and the Western States of North 

 America. 



The up-to-date literature in eucalyptus culture that is being 

 issued by the Department of Agriculture, Washington, should be 

 i'.n object lesson to Australia. 



If one wishes to know dimensions or size of growth of the re- 

 ay cctive species at different ages of Chese Australian trees, one 

 must go to American literature, for no such investigations have 

 been carried out here, and these data go back for forty years. 



It is rare to see the gum tree, as a tree, used for any purpose 

 whatever in Australia ; yet, in America, one finds it used for such 

 purposes as street decoration in avenues in main thoroughfares, 

 windbrefiks for orchards, houses, &c. 



A correspondent, writing to a Sydney weekly, 2nd January, 

 1912, states: — " Here I am in Nice, held by-many to be the most 

 beautiful city on earth. Sky and sea are of an Australian blue ; 

 and there is sunlight, bright and clear, just as at home. And 

 there are gum trees. One whole avenue is lined with them — the 

 Avenue Thiers. Baedeker's Guide Book specially turns your nose 

 towards tiie " beautiful eucalyptus.' And Nfce itself proudly 

 shows the Thiers as one of its most beautiful streets. These people 

 recognise the decorative value of the tree. Public and private 

 gardens are planted freely with them. Look down any street, and 

 you will see one or two of them waving proudly above their neigh- 

 bours. And then the Australian abroad begins to wonder why 

 the beautiful tree, which adds so much charm to the Riviera, 

 sliould be banned in Melbourne and Sydney, and other town? 

 at home — -should be deliberately banned from the streets, from the 

 gardens, from the parks. Is there one town in Australia where 

 gum trees are used for their decorative value?" 



Adelaide is the only Australian capital that glories in the 

 beauties of the gum, and the way they are planted in that city 

 of parks should be an object lesson to the rest of Australia. 

 Bendigo, Victoria, however, has some fine avenues of gum trees. 



