Timber a Necessity. 



Timber is a necessity of life. We use it to cook our food, to put our food 

 upon ; we sit upon it. It is the main constituent of our furniture — whether 

 a bare necessity or a luxury; it is of this material our houses are largdy^ 

 sometimes almost entirely, built. Our nevi'spapers, books, and writing 

 materials are mainly composed of it. True, the hulls of ships are but little 

 built of it nowadays, but ornamental and other timbers are used in increasing 

 abundance in their fixtures. The amount of special timbers used for horse, 

 electric, and steam carriages is simply enormous; and the list might be 

 multiplied indefinitely. 



We have many special requirements for timber in this State, and there are 

 requirements of people in other countries that can probably be met by 

 timbers of New South Wales. 



Forest Wealth of State. 



I have no desire to use the language of exaggeration, but I can safely say 

 that New South Wales is one of the most richly-endowed countries in the 

 world as regards its forest wealth. I am an old curator of a technological 

 museum, and have been a persistent traveller in Australian forests. I should 

 be sorry to say that our timber supplies are unlimited — far from it ; but, with 

 «ur small population; we have large areas of practically virgin forest ; and, in 

 many places, as the trees are cut out, numbers of young trees are coming 

 forward and flourish without hindrance, thus ensuring the stability of the 

 supply of many of our timbers. 



With few exceptions, most of our trees cannot be artificially replanted on 

 -a large scale under present economic conditions; what is chiefly required 

 is conservation — protection of the young growth from damage by ^nimals, 

 fires, &c., and, in certain cases, what is called " thinning," which consists 

 in destroying or weeding out sickly, maKormed, or overcrowded saplings. 

 •Conservation should be our main standby. 



Most of our valuable timbers are found in the coast and coast-mountain 

 ■districts. A few, e.g., the cypress pines of the western districts, and the 

 ironbarks of Dubbo (and thence to the north-east), are found in the drier 

 • parts of the State. 



Supply of Good Timhers not unlimited. 



The demand for our timbers has been so active during the last few years, 

 and fashion has set in largely for a very few species, that a word of caution 

 is necessary. We have large quantities of excellent timber, there is no 

 doubt of that, but not so much that we can afford to cut recklessly, and 

 neglect conservation of young growths. We must not forget that the giant 

 trees, the monarehs of our forests, which hare yielded large quantities of 

 high-class timber, are being rapidly cut out. They have been maturing 

 their timber through the ages, practically uninterfered with by the 

 aboriginal lord of the soil, and are no more to be replaced than can the 

 nuggets which men can do nothing to produce; he simply reaps a harvest 

 which he has not sown. The cutting out of the forest without replanting or 

 conservation of "young forest growths is simply living upon capital, and, 

 continuing the metaphor, we should seriously ask ourselves if we are estab- 

 lishing an adequate sinking fund. 



