8 MINUTES OF EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE THE SELECT 



Dr.'j. c. Brown foreign species; and if so, what were the results, and what 

 Aug. IP, 1865. were supposed to be the causes of success or failure ? " 

 On this subject much information has been supplied. The 

 sixth query is, " What trees do you consider most likely to 

 prove profitable in cultivation, what are the grounds on which 

 your opinion rests, and what is the course of procedure you 

 would recommend as most likely to secure success?" In 

 answer to this, a large mass of information has been received, 

 tending to show that is most expedient to attempt the artifi- 

 cial cultivation of Australian and European trees. 



37. Mr. Wicht.] If the Australian trees are exposed to 

 frost, does it not tend to destroy them ? It does, but there 

 are many districts of the Colony not subjected to frost ; and 

 there are European and other cone-bearing trees which can 

 withstand intense frost. 



38. Chairman ] What sort of trees do you think ought to 

 be planted as the best species for this climate ? Bluegura 

 and other species of Eucalyptus ; blackwood, and other 

 species of Acacia ; cluster-pine, or spar-denne ; stone-pine, 

 or kroon-denne ; and different species of oaks. 



39. Do not pines stand drought better than any other 

 tree ? I cannot say that they stand it better than all other 

 trees, but they do withstand drought, and grow in sandy 

 soil. 



40. Mr. Pote.~\ They love a rocky habitat, do they not ? 

 Several do. 



41. Chairman.] Why are Australian trees preferable? This 

 is a climate according to their native habitat, and, as a general 

 rule, we find that plants manifesting some of the specific quali- 

 ties which the species of Eucalyptae do thrive well in other 

 districts than those in which they are indigenous. For example, 

 it is alleged by Darwin : "Widely-ranging species, abounding 

 in individuals, which have already triumphed over manycom- 

 petitors in their own widely-extended homes, will have the best 

 chance of seizing on new places, when they spread into new 

 countries. In their new homes they will be exposed to new 

 conditions, and will frequently undergo further modification 

 and improvement ; and thus they will become still further 

 victorious, and will produce groups of modified descendants." 



42. You state in your letter to the Colonial Secretary, 

 quoting from a report as to the conservation and extension 

 of forests, the following statement : " The expense incurred 



