MAY, 1901. 



The monthly meeting of the Eoyal So- 

 ciety of Tasmania was held in the Art 

 Gallery at the Museum on Monday even- 

 ing. May 27th. His Excellency the u4.d- 

 mmiscrator, who was to have presided, was 

 prevented from attending b.y 'sldght indis- 

 position, and the Bishop of Tasmania oc- 

 cupied the chair. 



Congratulatory i-eference was made to 

 the honour recently eon'ferred upon His 

 Excellency the Administrator. 



Timber in Tasmania. 



A discussion took place on a paper writ- 

 ten b}^ Mr. W. Heyn, of th« Timber De- 

 partment, Admiralty Harbour Works, Do- 

 ver, on "The pi'esent and future prospects 

 of timber in, Tasmania." 



Mr. E. A. Counsel said he was of opinion 

 that some points in Mr. Heyn's paper were 

 likely to lead to erroneous impressions 

 without further explanation. With re- 

 gard to riug-barking, he was unaware of 

 that process being carried on to the extent 

 mentioned. There was no large exteijit 

 »f marketable timber of value in Tas- 

 m'ania that was wantonly destroyed by the 

 selectors : they were too anxious to bene- 

 fit by its proper treatment. Although 

 quantities of blackwood and pine timber 

 had been destroyed in the north-east of 

 the State, it was too far from a market to 

 pay for cartage, valuable as some of it 

 was. The best land produced the best 

 timber, and especially was this the case 

 in the matter of blackwood. Mr. Heyn^s 

 limited experience in Tasmania had mis- 

 led him into making the statement that 

 very large quantities of timber weie, at 

 times, destroyed bj' bush fires. This was 

 not so, for, although the fires traversed 

 bush country, the timber of large growth 

 was, at times, only blackened. The time 

 was opportune for initiating an experi- 

 mental plot, in order to propagate a num- 

 ber of tlie most suitable kinds of timber. 



Mr. L. llodway said he took great inter- 

 est in the matter of planting forest lands 

 in Tasmania. A country could not be de- 

 nudeti of its timber without ftffecting the 

 climate. This was the experience of all 



countries. In Australia, the vegetation 

 was not well suited for the purpose of re- 

 taining water on the land. If planting 

 were indulged in to any extent, exotics 

 must be chosen, and it would be necessary 

 to import. This could not be done, how- 

 ever, unless a State nursery was estab- 

 lished. To establish a State nursery was 

 a matter that required caution, as there 

 would be no apparent return for some 

 years to come; but the expense would not 

 be great. If we had a State nursery, 

 seeds and plants could be obtained from 

 all parts of the world, but special atten- 

 tion must be given to the varieties that 

 gave the best results. He had passed 

 through the Huon district some time ago, 

 and was astonished at the neglected ap- 

 pearance of the orchards. If a State nur- 

 sery was established, the miatter of or- 

 chard growth must be taken into consid'e'r- 

 ation, and all useful information given to 

 orchardists. 



Mr. E. E. Macnaghten said he had liTed 

 for five or six j^ears in the district referred 

 to by Mr. Heyn. He did not think the 

 damage done by ring-barking was exten- 

 sive, but the injury done by bush fires was 

 enormous. He thought that Mr. Heyn''s 

 advice and suggestions should receive care- 

 ful consideration, and he did not think 

 such a valuable paper should be confined 

 to Tasmania, but that it should, if pos- 

 sible, be produced in some of the English 

 magazines. 



Mr. R. M. Johnston said he had stated 

 m^any years ago that the waste of valu- 

 able timber in Tasmania was too great, 

 but he realised that the cost of sending 

 the timber to a market was excessive. 

 That was a positiom ni'any settlers had to 

 face, and was one of the causes of so much 

 waste. He would like to know if areas 

 could not be planted with some__of the 

 foreign soft woods plants, that would 

 eventuallj' obviate the necessity of import- 

 ing such tim<bers. Although there was 

 plenty of certain varieties of timber at 

 present, it was essential that the future 

 should b-e studied. 



Discussion of the subject was adjourned 

 until a future meeting. 



