PEOCEEDINGS, JULY. xiu 



JULY, 1889. 



The monthly evening meeting was held on July 9th. The Presi'lent, His 

 Excellency, Sir Robert G. C. Hamilton, K.C.B,, presided, Lady Hamilton 

 was also present. 



Mr. F. Back, General Manager Tasmanian Government Railways, 

 was elected a Fellow of the Society. 



TASMANIAN TREES. 



CORRESPONDENCE . 



Bell-street, Domain, Hobart, Jane 12, 1889. Dear Sir, — By this 

 morning's Mercury I observed an interesting letter from Mr. F. Stanley 

 Dobson, referring to what steps had been taken in order to ascertain 

 by careful measurement the height of forest trees in Victoria. We 

 have very little reliable evidence as to the exact height of the tallest 

 Tasmanian trees. Some years ago, the Rev. T. J. Ewing, of the Orphan 

 Schools, New Town, was engaged under the authority of the Govern- 

 ment to compile a short paper on the statistics of the colony, wherein 

 was mentioned the measurement of several trees of exceptional size, but 

 none (trusting to my memory) reached ,300ft. One was stated to be 

 240ft. to the first branch, where the tree had been broken off by wind, 

 and the remaining portion guessed at 50ft. or 60ft., therefore the 

 true height was left still conjectural. Many years ago I accompanied 

 the late James Sprent (Surveyor-General) up the spurs of Mount 

 Wellington, where it was thought the tallest trees of Tasmania would 

 be found. We, however, did not meet with anything like ,300ft. We 

 measured the root of a large stringy bark {E. Bobust), and ascertained 

 its circumference to be 14ft. close to the butt. On my own farm, Circu- 

 lar Head, I had a tree felled away from the house, upon which I placed 

 the 2ft. rule, and found the height to be 218ft. 6in., 12ft. at the butt 

 in diameter. About 24 miles south of Stanley, Circular Head, I met 

 with at the foot of a steep hill, near the banks of the River Atthur, a, 

 bed of trees of extraordinary height, where some might possibly reach 

 300ft. There are exceptionally large and tall trees at Table Cape, 

 North- West Coast, growing all along its summit and in the deep 

 gullies, attaining great height, but whether above or below 300ft. could 

 only be ascertained by proper tests. I employed splitters at Circular 

 Head who produced 13,000 and 11,200 5ft, palings from two trees, 

 some of which were sold at Melbourne at the rate of 105s. per 

 100, 1852 and 1853. It would be very interesting if the Royal Society 

 of Tasmania took steps to procure authentic statements of the' 

 height of our forest trees, and to clear up as well the statement that 

 the trees of Tasmania in their growth make two rings every year ; upon 

 one occasion I put it to the proof by cutting down a young" sapling 16 

 years after it had been planted, and found 16 rings only. I think the 

 age of our trees has been much exaggerated, and that the true time 

 of growth is far less than is generally supposed. I cut a tree at 

 Piper's River evenly with the crosscut saw, and found 151 rings dis* 

 tinctlyvisible; its height was 155ft., and thickness when felled 5ft. 2iD. 

 and 4ft. lOin., or about a mean of 5ft. I refer you to Ainsworth's 

 " All Round the World," 1st and 2nd vol., for photos, of giant trees 

 of Sonera, 460ft. high. — Yours truly, 



S. B. Emmett. 



Dear Sir, — Having read the enclosed slips which appeared in our 

 paper, and observing your name mentioned in one of them, I take the 

 liberty of telling you that I discovered a clump of trees (silver topped 



