108 AN AUSTRALIAN STUDY OF AMERICAN FORESTRY 
and silvical knowledge upon research ; the whole waits upon organisation of a 
trained forest personnel and the working out of system. The annual forest 
plan is the vehicle which will bring to Australian forestry the true final 
working plan, as it is known in Europe. 
Such are the foundations. Upon the manner in which they are laid to-day 
depends the entire future of Australian forestry. To establish them ‘effectively.. 
all the funds available will be required. 
Meanwhile, the Crown timber reserves should be withheld as far as 
practicable from operation. The longer exploitation is deferred, the better 
the prospects for management. These limited areas ultimately will have to 
shoulder the whole burden of supplying Australian needs. In the meantime, 
alienated and alienable timber lands are being cleared for settlement pur- 
poses, and large bodies of wood are being wasted. It is most important that 
this material should be utilised, so that, apart from questions of mnagement, 
the supplies in the national reservoirs may be to the same degree conserved for 
the future. Australia is not so blessed with forest abundance that it can 
afford to neglect this essential economy, or so far insolvent as to be obliged 
to liquidate its forest estate forthwith. The quest for revenue has been the 
curse of most Australian forest services. Alienated and alienable timber 
lands should assume to the utmost the responsibility of supplying present 
requirements. 
The recent history of the North-West Forestry District of New South 
Wales offers a valuable instance of the carrying out of such a policy. In 1912, 
timber-getters were weaned from the Crown reservations, which have remained 
closed to operation ever since. Exploitation was diverted to vacant Crown 
lands, leaseholds, and private property. As these became cut-out according 
to the then existing ideas, the logging standards became reduced, until 
ultimately the closest utilisation ensued. White cypress pine was the major 
species. A stumpage height of 8 in. and a top diameter of 5 in. were 
established. Trees down to 7 in. DBH were used ; drought-killed stands were 
converted. The second-grade black cypress was introduced to the market, 
as were other lesser species. 
Meanwhile, the forests had been surveyed, and organisation was pro- 
ceeding. The closer reserves had been subdivided into convenient units with 
complete road systems calculated to cheapen transportation. Forest overseers 
were appointed and timber-getters were employed to convert the trees on the 
roads to saleable material, mill logs, sleepers, round and split posts and 
rails, or whatever they were best suited for. Costs were carefully recorded for 
each operation, and it was found possible to sell below the casual contract 
rates. Situated on the edge of the North-Western plains, there had been a 
passive demand for such rough building material. The demand was galvanised 
into activity by advertisement, and a strong trade developed. 
Improvement thinnings were then undertaken in the compartments, and 
all dead, damaged, defective, and inferior trees were removed, converted, and 
sold. In five years, the practice of forest spoliation had been replaced by that 
of forest betterment ; 50,000,000 superficial feet approximately of timber of 
first-class quality from the Crown reservations had been saved; the timber 
trade had been educated to conservative timber-getting, and real forest practice 
had been initiated. 
When of necessity the timber reservations have to assume once more 
the burden of supply, they will be in a position to do so with safety, and the 
fifteen years’ gap between the mature and immature stands will have been 
bridged. The foundations of forestry having been established, the rest must 
follow in natural sequence. 
