EUCALYPTUS TBEES. 69 



enlightened nations abroad do far more than this, and 

 would not rest satisfied with the greater facilities here 

 enjoyed ; they provide, with keen forethought and 

 high appreciation of their duty for their followers, that" 

 beforehand which cannot be called forth at any time 

 at will. If we examine this part of the question 

 more closely, we shall find much to think about — 

 much to act upon. Not even all our Eucalypts are of 

 rapid growth ; they, further, belong to a tribe of trees 

 with a hard kind of wood, which, though so valuable 

 for a multitude of purposes, cannot supply all that 

 ^he needs of life daily demand from us for our indus- 

 trial work. 



The quick - growing Eucalypts, among which the 

 Blue Guni-tree of this colony and Tasmania stands 

 pre-eminent, are comparatively few in number, nor 

 are these few all of gigantic size. They are, more- 

 over, restricted in their natural occurrence to limited 

 tracts of country, from which they must be estab- 

 lished by the hand of man in other soil for the neces- 

 sities of other communities — for the gratitude of other 

 populations. Then, again, the Pines of foreign lands, 

 often impressipg a splendor on their landscapes, must 

 be brought to our shores — to our Alps — with an inten- 

 tion of utilizing every square mile of ground, how- 

 ever unpromisipg in its sterility ; for, after all, that 

 square mile represents a portion, albeit so small, of 

 the land-surface of the globe. Look at the picture 

 on this wall; see how the Norway Spruce (which 

 gives us so much of our deals and tar) insinuates its 

 massive roots through the fissures of disintegrating 

 rocks, or, failing to penetrate the stony structure, 

 sends its trailing roots over the surface and down the 



