NATIVE FOREST AND PLANTATIONS OF INTRODUCED TREES. 157 
compare thus. At page 6 of U.S.A. Forest Circular 171, comparing 
millable forest, United States of America, with millable forest, New Zea- 
land, average figures show :— 
Millable Forest, New Zealand and United States of America. 
General average figure accepted for thirty years in Sup. Feet 
New Zealand (see also Lands Dept. Forestry Re- per Acre. 
port for 1916, p. 3) mn ae ... 15,000 
Reliable estimate of the original virgin forest in 
United States of America ... 6,118 
Present forest of all classes—public, private, virgin, 
and regrowth és 43 4,550 
Public forests—Federal and State 4,842 
From which it will be seen that the average millable forest of New Zea- 
land carries about two and a half times the timber ‘‘ stand’ per acre 
that there was in the original virgin forest of America, and rather over 
three times the average timber ‘‘ stand ’’ per acre in the present forest, 
whether public or private. 
New Zealand and Australia. 
Compared to Australian forests, the difference in favour of the New 
Zealand forest is even greater. That will be readily understood on 
account of the greater dryness of the Australian climate. In certain wet 
areas, such as the Karri forest of the west and the Fucalyptus regnans 
forest of the east, there are very heavy stands (‘‘ Australian Forestry,”’ 
p. 106). But to consider the best Australian forest that is left extending 
over any large area—the Jarrah forests have an average stand estimated 
at only 2,500 sup. ft. of sawn timber. 
Over the reserved forests of New South Wales, which are mostly in 
the heavy rainfall area of the ‘‘ Northern Rivers,’’ the Conservator esti- 
mates 5,000 sup. ft. as the average ‘“‘stand.’’ (‘‘ Australian Forestry,”’ 
p. 102.) We have then— 
Average Timber Stands. Sup. Ft, 
Millable forest of New Zealand ... eae .., 15,000 
Jarrah forests of Westralia ‘7 re ., 2,500 
New South Wales (Cons. Rep., 1915-14) ... .., 9,000 
Thus one may say that the average timber ‘‘ stand ’’ over the millable 
forest of New Zealand is exceptionally good compared to the wild forest 
of other countries taken over any large area. Naturally the New Zea- 
land timber ‘‘stand’’ is inferior to that of the cultivated forests of 
Europe. Nature has done a great deal for New Zealand. It would be 
asking too much to expect a fully developed country with roads, railways, 
and cultivated forests ready to hand ! 
SENTIMENTAL FORESTRY: AN ANTITHESIS. 
In Australia, where the natural forests are mostly hardwoods, of which 
the utility is restricted to certain employments, the national sentiment 
is in favour of preserving the forests instead of making softwood planta- 
tions. The official journal of the Forest League is called the Gum Tree. 
Yet it is certain that the Australian forest, if it were composed of good 
softwoods, would have at least double its present value. 
