24 FOKEST CULTURE AND 



engaged in mining, wood-cutting lumbering, con- 

 structing telegraph lines, etc., etc., I have learned the 

 following : That the general character of the country, 

 the climate,^ the quantity of rain -fall — except that 

 they may have a little more rain in Summer in Aus- 

 tralia and Tasmania, where the Gum Trees grow — is 

 very similar to the Redwood districts of California ; 

 the growth being more rapid and the trees larger in 

 the coast ranges, ravines, and valleys than in any 

 other localities — the nearer the foot of the ranges the 

 better. The thicker they are planted, and the thick- 

 they grow, the better, as they will shade each other. 

 I have always noticed that all trees ' grow taller and 

 straighter where they grow close together. "All 

 trees grown on an open plain, exposed to the sun and 

 wind, will not grow tall, like they do in the forest, 

 where they are protected and shaded. I have seen, 

 in Australia and Tasmania, Blue Gums larger and 

 taller than I have seen Redwood ; many of the Gum 

 Trees from fourteen to sixteen feet, in diamater, per- 

 fectly sound, and, I think, three hundred feet high. 

 The Blue Gum, if it could be grown so as to make 

 large trees, I think, is the most useful, for it is not 

 only good for posts and rails, but ties and piles. 

 While I was in Tasmania there was a test made as 

 to the value for war purposes. It was found that a 

 cannon-ball would pierce the planks, cutting a round 

 hole, and passing through, without splitting the 

 planks. The experiments were so satisfactory that 

 the wood was pronounced as good as English Oak. 



" I was appointed to superintend the construction of 

 a telegraph line from the river Lamar, on the north 

 coast of Tasmania, to Hobart Town, on the south 



