60 



THE FOREST RESOURCES OF THE WORLD. 



The distribution of forests in Australasia, as may be seen from 

 this table, is very different in the various colonies. Thus, while in 

 South Australia the forest does not occupy 1 per cent of the total 

 land area, in Tasmania it forms more than half the total area. 



The mainland and Tasmania are the home of the eucalypts and 

 wattles. New Zealand, especially in the northern island, is rich in 

 conifers, of which the Kauri pine is the most valuable. The thicket 

 forest of Australia, especially of the east coast, has a primeval char- 

 acter. The open forest contains chiefly hard woods, especially the 

 eucalypts, and the chaparral forests contain acacias. 



Recently nearly all colonies have withdrawn smaller or larger 

 areas as timber reserves, the exploitation and care of which is regu- 

 lated by law. Thus, in Queensland, of the 40,000,000 acres, 1,500,000 

 acres have been declared timber reserves; in New South Wales, of 

 the 20,000,000 acres of timber lands, 6,000,000 acres have been with- 

 drawn from settlement, but not in perpetuity; in South Australia, 

 of the 3,840,000 acres, 217,000 acres were declared reserves under the 

 forest law of 1882, but of this area only one-fifth contains timber of 

 commercial value, the rest being stocked with stunted trees and scrub ; 

 in addition, there are 13,000 acres planted chiefly to sugar gum, pines, 

 American ash, and other trees; in West Australia there are 20,- 

 480,000 acres of timber lands, and more than four times as much 

 jungle covered with small trees and scrub. 



In the following statement are shown the most important trees in 

 West Australia, the areas which they cover, and the quantity of 

 timber standing on them: 



Area and stand of timber of principal species in West Australia. 



No timber land has bee'n placed in reserves. Tasmania, with 

 11,000,000 acres of forest, equal to 65 per cent of the total area of 

 the island, has a reservation of 266,000 acres; it is, however, subject 

 to revocation at any time by the governor. 



The forest area of New Zealand is variously estimated at from 

 20,000,000 acres, or 31 per cent of the total area, to only 12,000,000 

 acres; by an act of 1885, 1,250,000 acres were declared timber reserves. 

 In Victoria, of the 11,520,000 acres, 5,500,000 acres have been de- 

 clared reserves under the act of 1890. 



Thus the colonies of Australasia possess an area of nearly 

 15,000,000 acres, corresponding to the state forests of Europe. A 

 great part of this area, however, may be reopened to settlement. 



There are only fragmentary figures regarding the cut in the forests 

 of the Australian colonies. The cutting is leased under a system of 

 royalties or licensing fees. JVhile West Australia, Tasmania, and 

 Queensland have an excess of exports over imports, Victoria, New 



