ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS. 67 
c. Forestry—We have much to learn in regard to the geo- 
graphical distribution of even our principal forest trees ; much 
more then, is there scope for enquiry in regard to the distribution 
of those of less frequent occurrence. The matter is of importance 
from a utilitarian point of view, because of the fact that be a 
timber ever so desirable, it cannot be utilized commercially unless 
a continuous supply be available, and to obtain supplies we must 
know the localities of its occurrence not merely in general terms. 
The value of a botanical survey would be most immediately felt 
in regard to our forests. We could by the aid of it take stock, 
as it were, of our possessions, of our standing timber, and prepare 
a scheme for scientific conservation. A general statement to an 
outsider as to the vastness of our timber supplies is at once met 
by the plain questions,—Where are each of your timber-trees 
found, of what size are they, and in what abundance ? 
Measurements of Trees.—One of the matters to which attention 
would be given by a botanical survey would be that of ascertain- 
ing the heights and trunk-diameters of various kinds of trees, 
different observations being made in regard to the same species 
in different districts. In this way a ready index would be obtained 
4s to the climates and soils in which various species flourish best. 
Notes would also be taken of the sizes of abnormally large trees. 
These are of course becoming rapidly fewer ever since the advent 
of the white man. If the identity of individual trees be noted, 
either by marks on or near the trees themselves in the forest, or 
on the maps, it would be easy to prepare records of the rates of 
growth of our Australian trees, a matter of considerable economic 
™mportance, and of some scientific interest, but in regard to which 
We possess very few data at present. 
Rate of Growth of Forest Trees.—This is a forestry matter 
Which might well engage the attention of a Botanical Survey. 
e have a few scattered notes on the growth of indigenous trees,’ 
but no enquiry of this nature, on a large scale has, to my know- 
* For example, Agric. Gazette N.S.W., Vi., 504, (August 1896). 
