THE FORESTS OF AUSTRALIA. 43 



tropical forestry were established in Australia, it would un- 

 doubtedly attract students from South Africa. Higher forest 

 training is, of course, out of the question for one Australian 

 State to attempt. The necessary equipment would be im- 

 possible for so small a number of students ; but as soon as the 

 remaining four Australian States follow the lead of Victoria and 

 South Australia in forestry, a " Federal forest school of extra- 

 tropical forestry" will become a necessity. The Creswick Forest 

 School affords an excellent secondary forest training; and a 

 similar forest school, but not so well equipped, exists in connec- 

 tion with the Adelaide University. For the secondary forest 

 schools, it will be probably advantageous that they also some 

 day should be federal. In France there is one forest school for 

 the higher training at Nancy, and a very good secondary forest 

 school at Barre, both of these being for the whole French forest 

 service. (I might mention that my own forest training was done 

 at Nancy.) South Africa has a good secondary forest school, 

 on much the same lines as Creswick, at Tokai, near Cape Town. 

 In the course of my forest tours in Australia, I have been 

 much struck with the fact that on the forestry question public 

 opinion (Victoria excepted) was nearly absent. The man in 

 the street does not realise that _;j^i 0,000 per day is going out of 

 the country for imported softwood, which could be grown in 

 Australia as easily as it is now being grown in South Africa. 

 Nor does he understand that the criminal waste of the hard- 

 wood will cost Australia in the end probably as much as the 

 want of softwood. A rough calculation makes it probable 

 that if Australia were to-day to embark on a sound system of 

 scientific forestry, before sufficient softwood could be produced 

 to meet the importation, and before the hardwood forest could 

 be brought into a state of good productive and accessible forest, 

 the loss to Australia will run into some four or five hundred 

 millions — a figure which comes near to the total wealth won 

 from Australian soil in gold and other minerals. This figure, 

 according to the returns supplied to the British Association, 

 amounts to ^550,000,000. Scientific forestry is the most 

 important social question Australia has to face. Each year 

 brings some addition to the ;;/^io,ooo a day now being lost. 

 And that loss, too, not in a town industry, but in what should 

 be one of the most important of the rural industries of Australia. 



