EUCALYPTUS TEEES. 109 



Messrs, A. W. Howitt, P. "Webb, and D. Ballentine 

 had there also large returns from their hop-flelds. As 

 an instance how large a revenue might be realized 

 from forest land in various ways, quite irrespective of 

 wood supply, I adduce the fact that the income ob- 

 tained by the Forest Department of Hanover from the 

 mere gathering of fruit — chiefly bleeberries — amount- 

 ed to £21,750 during one of the late years. The Han- 

 overian forests comprise an area equal to the county 

 of Bourke, our metropolitan county, and occupy one 

 seventh of the territory. Speaking of Hanover, let 

 me add, that the laws promulgated this year in that 

 country render it compulsory on each district to line 

 its roads with trees, the widest distance allowed from 

 tree to tree being thirty feet ; similar laws were in 

 force long since in other parts of Germany ; fruit-trees 

 are among the trees chosen for these lines. Would it 

 not therefore be advisable to naturalize along our forest 

 brooks and in our shady vales such plants as the rasp- 

 berry-bush, strawberry -plant, and others, which readily 

 establish themselves ? In one of my exploring tours, 

 when it fell to my lot to discover the remotest sources 

 and tributaries of the River yarra, and to ascend first of 

 all Mount Baw Baw, I scattered the seeds of the large- 

 fruited Canada blackberry along the alpine springs ; 

 and I have since learned that this delicious fruit is now 

 established on the rivulets of that mountain. We may 

 hear of equal successes of experiments which I else- 

 where instituted. The truffle, though not an article 

 of necessity, might be naturalized in many of our for- 

 ests, especially in soil somewhat calcareous. Would 

 any one imagine that during one recent year (1867) 

 the quantity collected in France was valued at £l,- 



*6 



