24 



municipal laws will make, however, any operations of this 

 kind, even without great expense, a success, as in consequence 

 of my advice has been shown at Queenscliff. Wood-culture on 

 drift-sand carries with it also the recommendation of providing 

 the needful belt of shelter, which each coast should possess. 

 There are a few other pines for instance, Pinus Taeda, the 

 loblolly pine of North America, and several other trees which 

 grow fast in sand whenever it is no longer moving; they 

 endure the sea-storms, gradually consolidate the soil, and render 

 it in course of time arable. In South Africa some Protese 

 and Leucospermunis, the Virgilia, also Myrica, grow in coast 

 sand. All these planting operations must be performed very 

 early and in the cool season. The grasses and herbs must 

 precede the pines and other trees. Technic industries will 

 gain from these pines in due time. 



I now beg to offer some brief data in reference to the 

 present consumption of wood in Victoria. 



After the perusal of various official returns, I am inclined 

 to assume that twenty tons would be a fair average of the 

 quantity of fuel consumed in each household. This would 

 amount to rather more than three millions of tons of wood 

 as the present annual requirement of domestic fuel in this 

 colony. In the city and suburbs the consumption is consider- 

 ably less than in the farming districts, on account of the use 

 of coal. In reference to the return of mining wood, quoted 

 on this occasion, a large allowance must yet be made for the 

 enormous mass of wood from the felled, trees, which is left 

 unutilised in the ranges, the distances in many cases being too 

 great to convey the off-fall of the timber for the purpose of 

 fuel. The following data convey some information on the 

 annual consumption of wood in various districts. 



Tons. 



Ararat (under license) ... ... ... 13,146 



(without ) 13,146 



Blackwood Mining Division 12,000 



Buninyong 40,000 



Colac (for saw-mills, 6000 tons; posts and rails, 

 6000 tons; shingles, 2000 tons; fuel, 

 30,000 tons) 44,000 



Creswick (sawn timber for Clunes, 15,000 

 tons; sawn timber for Amherst, 2000 

 tons; sawn timber for Creswick, 2500 

 tons; fuel for Clunes, 30,000 tons; fuel 

 for Creswick, 20,000 tons) ... ... 69,500 



