Australia. 373 
municipalities in addition government aid is extended 
to the extent of half the cost of planting. 
The seven Australien colonies are very variously 
situated regarding timber supplies, three of them, 
Queensland, Western and South Australia being poorly 
wooded, the others more or less heavily forested, 
especially Tasmania with 65 percent, and New Zealand 
with 31 percent. Generally speaking the forest areas 
are confined to the coast in narrower and wider belts, 
the interior being forestless or with scrubby growth. 
This portion is large enough to reduce the total forest 
percent to less than 6.5. The mountains and hill 
ranges facing the Eastern, Southern and Western 
coasts are especially heavily wooded with magnificent 
Eucalypts, Jarrah and Karri, while the Kauri pine is 
the most valuable tree in New Zealand. 
The one successful attempt at a forest policy was 
made by the almost forestless colony of South Australia, 
which in 1882 reserved its scanty forest area of 217,000 
acres and started to plant, (now 13,000 acres planted), 
employing a Conservator and six Foresters. 
In the other colonies at various times unsuccessful 
beginnings were made, and there exist in Queensland, 
New South Wales, and Victoria so-called Forest 
Branches or departments, but mostly without power or 
equipment, and no intelligent conception of forest 
policy seems practically to exist. 
In Queensland, since 1897, the Governor in Council 
may reserve forest lands and regulate the cutting by 
diameter limit. One anda half million acres have 
been reserved, but no staff for administration exists. 
