34 



all leaf litter must also prevent any increase in soil fertility which would other- 

 wise result from the decomposition of humus. Such results of surface fires in the 

 jarrah bush which are not commonly recognised must have the effect of slowing up 

 the rate of growth of existing jarrah as well as preventing the development of 

 healthy young trees in any open spaces which may chance to exist. 



There are very many operations connected with the management of even such 

 a simple forest which have not been mentioned, but the object of this chapter is 

 to point out that the forester is essentially a sylviculturalist who raises crops of 

 trees according to some recognised system with the object of maintaining a constant 

 supply of timber for all time. 



Like a farmer who seeks to establish a farm in uncleared scrub country, the 

 forester must be given time to convert the "wild" into the "cultivated" forest, and 

 criticism of his methods must be withheld until such time as he has had opportunity 

 to bring order out of chaos. 



If the making of a farm takes a farmer many years of hard work and oft- 

 times bitter experience, how much longer must it take a forester whose crop may 

 take one hundred years instead of one year to mature, but is correspondingly more 

 valuable at the end of that time? 



