AN AUSTRALIAN STUDY OF AMERICAN FORESTRY. 107 
A further step in the right direction would be to set apart for direct, 
management one of the timber lots opened up for sale annually on each 
forest. That lot should be exploited by the forest service itself, with regenera- 
tion primarily in view. It should serve both as an example of conservative 
timber-getting for the benefit of the private operator on the same forest, and 
as a beginning for the Australian forester in applied silviculture. In principle, 
the idea is identical with that of the “ Area of Concentrated Regeneration ” 
of Troup. 
The forest service should undertake also the planning of the road and 
compartment systems, and the actual work of construction. The timber which 
has to be removed should be worked up and sold. 
There remains the question of setting in order the areas already cut-over 
under the unrestricted conditions of the past. Victoria and New South Wales 
both have undertaken a considerable amount of what has been styled 
“cleaning-up ” work. It includes both thinning and regenerative measures, 
and also overmuch tidying-up of the forest. The work is being carried out 
by casual labour under temporary bush gangers, or by occupiers of forest leases 
under the terms of their holdings. The profits from the sale of the trees 
on the areas treated are credited against the cost of treatment. It is proposed 
to extend the operations to all the areas of past exploitation. 
The project appeals to the people who want public moneys spent in their 
districts, and there is a danger of its being erected into the be-all and end- 
all of forest practice. But it is scarcely appropriate to either the needs or the 
finances of the moment. It lends itself to unsound bookkeepeing. It is an 
inordinate undertaking for unorganised forest services. It is likely to trench 
too far on funds required for more pressing organising work. It is building 
without adequate foundation. It is a function, at all events, not for temporary 
bush foremen and casual labour, but of a trained forest personnel—which does 
not yet exist. Both forest organisation and silvicultural investigation must 
precede it. And, when all is said and done, accomplishment waits upon wider 
markets than at present exist in Australia. The requirements of small 
communities are narrow. There is little sale for thinnings, and thinning 
work, therefore, should be avoided. The forests, also, are filled with a 
miscellany of minor species awaiting a market, and immediate treatment, 
therefore, involves a sacrifice and expenditure which economic management 
would not countenance. Markets should be found in the first place. There 
should be a complete stocktaking of the goods available, a full investigation 
of their possibilities, a development of appropriate seasoning methods, an 
establishment of timber grades, a cheapening of costs by roadmaking, etc., 
and finally, a hustling of markets. 
Twenty years ago in New South Wales, such species as blackbutt, 
flooded gum, and brush box were despised and rejected—as they are in 
Queensland to-day. Yet in the former State they now furnish the bulk of the 
milling supplies. Crowsfoot Elm—a valuable timber—occurs abundantly 
in the hoop pine scrubs—yet there are no buyers. Many such useful woods 
remain unutilised because they are more or less untried, and the trade has 
been “ brought up” on big-sized logs. But since Australia is importing cheap 
softwoods from abroad to the tune of £10,000 per day, there should be no 
excuse for the neglect of the Australian product. 
“Organisation and investigation” must be accepted as the keynotes of 
Australian forestry at this stage. Broad and substantial foundations have 
to be laid before details can be added. Working plans rest upon division of 
area and investigation of silvics: division of area depends upon forest survey, 
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