222 FORESTRY IN AUSTRALIA. 



manufacturing industry has now grown to such large dimensions 

 in the Commonwealth. When the alluvial gold mines began to 

 fail, the surplus labour took partly to agriculture and partly to 

 manufacturing. At present New South Wales and Victoria do 

 the bulk of the manufacturing work of AustraUa. 



4. The Forests. 



The valuable forests of Australia are stocked principally with 

 Eucalypts and Wattles ; they are found in the coast belt with 

 a rainfall of 20 inches and over. That belt is estimated to contain 

 about 860,000 square miles, of which about one-half is situated in 

 tropical Australia. The forest area in the belt is estimated at 

 about 138,660 square miles. On proceeding from the coastal 

 belt towards the interior, the quality of the forest diminishes 

 rapidly ; still, there are enormous areas stocked with an inferior 

 class of forest which is very useful for local consumption, although 

 it does not affect at present the general question of the timber 

 supply of the country. 



It is stated that the forest area in the coast belt was formerly 

 much larger than it is now, that a great part of the forest had to 

 make way for settlement, and that great damage was done by 

 forest fires, which destroyed considerable areas, or, at any rate, 

 caused unsoundness in the remaining timber. The Eucalypts are 

 strongly light demanding, and, in consequence, thin out naturally ; 

 the regrowth is irregular, and the leading trees easily dominate 

 the smaller stems, which then are liable to die. Forest fires 

 accelerate the process and the forests are, for the most part, thinly 

 stocked. As a result, the forests now remaining cannot, in their 

 present condition, supply permanently all parts of AustraUa with 

 the necessary timber, especially as the area covered with coniferous 

 light woods is very small, except in Queensland. While a certain 

 quantity of hardwoods is exported, especially from Western 

 Australia, the imports of coniferous timber are very large and 

 steadily increasing. All this has led to the idea of cutting down 

 natural forests and replacing them by artificial plantations of 

 conifers. On the other hand, it is pointed out that, while artificial 

 plantations would involve an enormous expenditure, by proper 

 organisation and sound silviculture the regeneration of the natural 

 forests could be effected by a comparatively small expenditure. 



