398 K T. Patton : 



height generally appears lower than in the forests to the east of 

 Melbourne. No satisfactory growth was available for Blackwood 

 studies. The figures for the other curves, which are inserted for 

 comparison, were obtained as follow: — Oregon from Maw's ** Prac- 

 tice of Forestry," Fir from Fernow's *' Economics of Forestry."' 

 The curve for Cluster Pine is slightly above that for Fir. It will 

 be noticed that the curve for Mountain Ash is again a mass action-, 

 curve. The eucalypt is here again somewhat anomalous, but the- 

 extraordinay rapid growth of many eucalypts during their early- 

 life has been pointed out in many parts of the world where they 

 have been planted. Most plants grow very slowly during their- 

 early periods. The rapid growth in height partly explains why 

 the eucalypt has no competitor in our fore&ts. In ** Australian 

 Forestry," by E. D. Hutch ins, it is recommended to under pi ant 

 our Eucalypts Avith pines, but as these are light demanding, and 

 as they are in general slower in groAvth than the Eucalypt, it is; 

 possible that the pines would be suppressed. 



A good deal has been written about the height of our Eucalypts,. 

 and some very high figures have been given, but never proved. 

 The tw^o tallest I have seen were 261 and 249 feet. The official 

 record is 326 feet. Whether or not we have the tallest trees is of 

 little consequence. What does matter is which tree will reach? 

 merchantable size in minimum time, and in this respect Mountain 

 Ash probably holds the record. 



Taper. — The trunks of Mountain Ash are almost cylinders.. 

 The nearer the trunk approaches a cylinder the less waste in the- 

 conversion of the log. I have taken lengths up to 120 feet and 

 have averaged the results. For every foot of ascent the taper is. 

 .36 inches of circumference. 



Density of Trees per Acre. — In tlie managed forests of Europe- 

 the number of trees, on any area, at each deeade is well known. 

 Forestry has been practised under different systems for centuries, 

 and the results are knoAvn and set out in tables.. Graphs have- 

 been used only slightly. We have no such tables, nor have we any 

 young forests which would give us this information. In those 

 forests which we have, density of stocking has never been attended" 

 to. The aim of the forester must be maximum wood production 

 per tree, combined with maximum number of trees per acre. The 

 more trees per acre the smaller the crown, and hence the smaller 

 the amount of wood formed. The converse is also true, within 

 limits, but a large head is antagonistic to long clean boles. In 

 order to construct a yield table this ciuestion of density per acre- 



