94 



of supplies. Consequently, it may be bad practice to set a man to indiscriminately 

 ringbark an area. Kingbarking is, in fact, an operation requiring scientific direction, 

 and no landowner should turn a number of axemen into his property to ringbark without 

 very cautiously directing their operations. 



It is a pity that the operation of ringbarking should be more difficult than is 

 usually supposed, but we cannot contravene nature's laws without taking the con- 

 sequences, 



8. COPPICE-GROWTH (SUCKERING.) 



Coppice-shoots are what Australians know as " suckers," and it is obvious that, 

 whereas suckers of worthless trees are a curse to the pastoralist and perhaps to others, 

 suckers of useful trees may be valuable to the forester from the points of view of the 

 production of timber and of leaves for oil. 



Hutchins (" Discussion on Australian Forestry," p. 91) has some notes on 

 Western Australian species. He says : — 



The coppicing power of the different species of Eucalypts, by which I mean their ability to shoot 

 from the stump when cut, is a subject which will be more studied with the advance of systematic forestry 

 in Australia. Karri (E. diversicolor) seems to coppice well, Jarrah (E. marginata) fairly, and Red Gum 

 of Western Australia (E. caloplnjlla) very well. I have seen stools up to 3 feet in diameter shooting 

 freely and vigorously. Yate (E. cornufa) is said to coppice readily, but not so strongly as the Red Gum, 

 with which it is associated. This might account for the patchy distribution of Yate, for a great deal of 

 shooting in the natural forest takes place from more or less badly-burnt trunks. Here, again, it should 

 be noted that a tree will often coppice when cut, but fail to coppice when burnt. Appearances seem to 

 indicate that Yate does not shoot again so easily as many species when the forest has been burnt. Thus, 

 the effect of fire protection may be to bring in more Yate. It is certain that Yate does coppice fairly 

 freely, since I have seen large old stools, or the remains of them, with three or four big trees growing from 

 them. 



The coppicing power of all Eucalypts varies with the season. It is best in winter and early spring 

 worst in late summer. Many Eucalypts, if cut in the middle of a dry summer, will die straight away, or 

 shoot badly with the return of better weather. Brushing off the shoots, as by cattle, will often destroy 

 young copse. If the shoots are systematically knocked off, the stool will inevitably die. This has to be 

 remembered in clearing for fire-lines. 



The late Sir D. E. Hutchins is quite correct in hinting that but few definite 

 observations have been made in regard to the coppicing proclivities of various species 

 of Eucalypts in Australia. It is a forester's job, and this officer can now systematically 

 record his results far better than he could before the taxonomy of the species was as 

 settled as it is to-day. 



Here are a few brief notes on the subject — a mere casual selection from my pocket 

 books : — 



E. pilularis has high reproductive power. See Part I, p. 30. 



E. gigantea is quoted as " absolutely the best re-afiorester in the State." (See my " Forest Flora," 

 Part LXI, p. 6.) 



E. populifolia (Bimble Box) becomes a great pest when improperly rung or grubbed, for not only 

 do the stumps sucker freely, but the consequent access of light and availability of plant-food cause 

 abundance of seedlings to spring up, and thus large areas of country may be thrown out of occupation-. 



