228 FORESTRY IN QUEENSLAND. 



SECTION II.— FORESTRY IN THE AUSTRALIAN STATES. 

 I. QUEENSLAND. 



[Latitude llth— 29th degrees.] 

 1. General Notes. 



Approximately one-half of the area of the State is situated on 

 each side of the Dividing Range. The eastern part consists 

 chiefly of stratified rocks of different ages from oldest palaeozoic 

 to recent origin ; granites are found over large areas. The 

 western interior consists almost entirely of lower cretaceous rocks 

 overlaid in places by desert sandstone of upper cretaceous age. 



Soils. — Red soils, derived from basalt and allied rocks, are 

 found on the high plateaus in the coastal belts. Black soils 

 occupy areas subject to flooding, and sandy soils prevail in the 

 south-eastern part of the State. The interior country has mostly 

 sedimentary soils over sandstone, red and grey on the higher 

 part and black where subject to periodic flooding. 



Rainfall. — Thirty to 145 inches in the coast belt, 5 to 30 in the 

 western half ; generally heavier in the north than in the south 

 part of the State. The mean temperature on the coast ranges 

 from 52 to 78 in winter and from 73 to 86 in summer. 



2. Main Types of Forest Growth. 



Queensland has more or less open hardwoods and the most 

 important softwoods of the Commonwealth. 



The Araucaria Type is abundant in the south-west part of the 

 State. Principal species are " Hoop " pine {A. Cunninghamii) 

 and " Bunya " pine {A. Bidwilli). The natural stand is 10 to 20 

 trees per acre in mixture with other species. Mature trees give 

 up to 500 cubic feet of sawn lumber. These pines are the chief 

 building timber of the State, and are also used for butter boxes, 

 plywood, &c. Associated with the pines are three species of 

 FHndersia, all valuable hardwoods, also White beech {Gmelina 

 Leichardtii) a fine soft wood for carving. Bally gum {Litsea 

 reticulata), and pink poplar [Euroschinus falcata). 



The Jungle Type. — Where the contents of moisture increase, 

 the Araucarias are displaced by more robust moisture-loving 

 species especially of Meliacew and Laurinew, which grow into trees 

 of large dimensions. In the south-west corner this type con- 

 sists of southern maple {Cryptocarya glaucescens), silky oak 



