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original Australian landscapes so much peculiarity, the growth 

 of bushy plants becomes, as a rule, by occupation of the 

 ground, quickly destroyed; the shelter and shade, which kept 

 the mostly rather horizontal roots of the eucalyptus trees 

 cool and moist, becomes largely withdrawn; the pendent 

 leaves and lax or distant ramifications of the tree itself, giving 

 but partial shade. The soil, moreover, remains no longer 

 porous and permeable to moisture it gets hardened, bare and 

 consolidated by traffic and heat; the necessary moisture is 

 wanting to keep the bark pliable, and to maintain the circula- 

 tion of the sap active or normal; bark and wood are getting 

 fissured and partly lifeless; and now places of seclusion, as 

 well as a wood fit for their ready attack, are given to numerous 

 kinds of coleopterous and other insects, which, by boring the 

 lignous tissue, are sure to complete the destruction of the 

 trees. Pictures of absolute misery of this kind may be noticed 

 around our city in all directions. I have succeeded in saving 

 many a venerable tree on the ground under my control, and 

 in arresting the incipient decay by merely surrounding the 

 base of the stem with earth turfed over, serving as seats; or 

 by removing the endless quantity of mistletoe, which sucks the 

 life-sap out of the branches, the invader perishing with its 

 victim, there being no longer a multitude of native birds in 

 populous localities to devour the mistle berries. In many low 

 localities again, the ground, indurated by traffic, collects a 

 superabundance of moisture, which becomes stagnant, and 

 detrimental to the trees of such spots. Various other peculiar 

 causes tend to the decay of our trees : to allude to all is beyond 

 our present object. 



How to provide, therefore, in time, the wood necessary for 

 our mines, railways, buildings, fences, and as well as for the 

 ordinary domestic and other purposes, becomes a question 

 which from year to year presses with increased urgency on our 

 attention, the consideration of which we have already far too 

 long deferred. It may certainly be argued that in the eastern 

 portion and some of the southern parts of the Victorian 

 territory abundance of forests still exist, enough to supply all 

 wants for many years to come. This is perfectly true in the 

 abstract; but how does this argument apply, when we well 

 know, that such timber occurs in secluded places, mostly on 

 high and broken ranges, without roads. And even if the 

 latter were constructed, which certainly will be required 

 gradually, at what price can such timber be conveyed to the 

 required distance? Suppose, however, that all these difficulties 



