2I 9 



sheoak, and manna gum, and sapping York and Hooded gums. 

 Stinkwood if cut clown, dies out. York gum and jam should be 

 rung when the sap is well up. The bark will then fall oft' every 

 limb, and the roots can be burnt right out. Flooded gum is very 

 difficult to kill. Firing round the trunk in the month of March 

 very often has the desired effect. Two correspondents state their 

 experience has shown that ring-barking and sapping may be carried 

 on all the year round with successful results if the work is properly 

 performed. The \Vagin-Arthur farmers* alliance advises that the 

 work should be done during December, January and February, 

 while the Katanning farmer's association advocates ring-barking, 

 or sapping, as the case may be, in September and October, for all 

 trees except manna gum, the period for this variety being extended 

 from September to March. Sheoak may be treated at any 

 time. 



Effect of the destruction of timber on Hie water supply and growth 

 of grasses. All the correspondents are of the unanimous opinion 

 that the destruction of the timber improves very materially both the 

 water supply and the stock carrying capacity of the land. The 

 Katanning farmers' association, however, makes a reservation in 

 favour of the retention of jam trees "Jam is the only tree which 

 does not injure the grass to any extent. When all the trees are 

 destroyed, the sun has more power over the grasses, which quickly 

 dry up. In the middle of the summer the grass is often found to 

 be green and succulent under the shade of the jam trees when it is 

 dried up elsewhere. . . . Stock eat the leaves of the stinkwood 

 and young sheoaks." 



Cost per acic of ring-barking or sapping. In two returns from 

 the Wagin district the cost of sapping is put down at is. less per 

 acre than that of ring-barking, the prices being 2s. to 33. per acre 

 respectively. In the other returns the cost of ring-barking is from 

 9d. to is. 6cl. per acre, and of sapping from is. o,d. to 2s. per acre. 

 The average cost per acre, taking all the returns into consideration, 

 for ring-barking is 2s. id., and sapping is. n^d. 



Cost per acre of clearing before and after destruction of the trees. 

 The \Vagin-Arthur farmers' alliance return puts the cost of clear- 

 ing, both before and after the destruction of the timber, at 3 IDS. 

 per acre. The other returns show that the cost of clearing after 

 the timber has been killed by ring-barking or sapping is reduced 

 fully one-half. The Broomehill agricultural society's return puts 

 the cost of clearing prior to ring-barking at 3 per acre, and after 

 the timber is dead, at i los. per acre. In the Katanning return 

 the figures are 3 and 2 per acre respectively. 



YORK DISTRICT. 



Varieties of trees. York gum, white gum, salmon gum, jam 

 blue bush, native cassia, manna gum, morrell gum, flooded gum, 

 sheoak. 



