27 



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

 for ring-barking is 2s. Id., and sapping, Is. IHd. 



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

 The Wagin- Arthur Farmers' Alliance return puts the cost of 

 clearing, both before and after the destruction of the timber, at 3 

 10s. 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 Broome Hill Agricultural Society's 

 return put the cost of clearing prior to ring-barking at ,3 per 

 acre, and after the timber is dead, at 1 10s. 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, 

 sheaoak. 



Method and time of destruction. The Beverley branch advises 

 ring-barking all the eucalypti, while the York branch advocates 

 sapping without any reservation. The Greenhills Progress 

 Association advises that old York gum trees should be sap-ringed, 

 and that young ones should be ring-barked ; that white gum, 

 salmon gum, cassia, and jam, should be sap-ringed, and that the 

 blue bush should be cut down. It will thus be seen there is a 

 preponderance of opinion in favour of sap-ringing. 



From January to April is the opinion of the York and Beverley 

 branches for ring-barking or sapping all trees, while the Greenhills 

 Association advises November to April for ring-barking York gum, 

 and May to October for sapping this tree. November to May is the 

 period advised for destroying white gum and cassia, and " any 

 month " for the remaining trees. 



Mr. W. Padbury filled in a return embracing his experience in 

 the Eastern Districts, the Victoria Plains, and at Yatheroo. His 

 remarks may be inserted here. He says : " I would not cut 

 through the sap of trees on land I wanted to cultivate ; as when the 

 tree is dead and the tree-puller is put on to it, if it has been cut 

 through the sap, it is liable to break off and leave the stump in the 

 ground. I prefer using the tree-puller in clearing, to the ordinary 

 grubbing, as it pulls more roots clean out, and in ploughing after- 

 wards you do not find so many obstructions. For red gums, white 

 gums, salmon gums, and York gums, I find sapping the best, and 

 the time I do it is as soon as the bark will run after the first 

 winter rains until the sap goes down again. With flooded gums I 

 find you must cut through the sap, as they will not die otherwise. 

 My experience is that trees that have been sap-ringed do not 

 generally throw out so many suckers. Some trees take two or three 

 years to die, according to the nature of the tree and the land on 

 which it grows. I think when the sap is well up, say September, 

 October, and November, is the best time for ring-barking, as the 

 tree dies more quickly if the work is done at this time." 



