400 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [l May, 1900 | 
stranger is immediately struck by the number of rivers indicated, and naturally a0 
concludes it to be a well-watered land. But, as a fact, nine-tenths of the rive 
and streams marked are merely dry watercourses, which run only for a fet 
hours after heavy rains. A closer examination of the lower deposits shows that 
many of these mountain torrents were formerly slow-moving rivers. Had not | ( 
Government stepped in with a very strict forest law, and liberally restockel | 
the forests wherever necessary, the Island of Réunion would, in the course ? 
100 years or so, have been as barren as the rocks of Aden or the denudét 
deserts of Abyssinia. It takes, however, only a few minutes to cut a Me | te 
down, but many years to bring a new one to perfection, and the mischief dov® | to 
will take very long to repair. The mischief is arrested, but far from completely | 
stopped. The forest laws apply in only a very limited way to private lands, a | 
the smaller owners, who live from hand to mouth, seek only how to make the | 
most ready-money possible out of the forests, and think not of the future or th® | 
result to their own and their neighbours’ lands. As a matter of fact, fore |i 
clearing, and especially on steep slopes, is even now carried on in far too reckless 
a manner. 
The above remarks are taken from Consul Bennett’s report on the indu* \i 
tries of the Island of Réunion. 
They apply equally to Queensland. Ever since the colony was settled, * | 
constant warfare has been waged against the forests by the settlers. Hundred | hi 
. of acres have been denuded of every scrap of timber, and have afterwards be? 
abandoned. The most injurious clearing which can be done is that on the }m 
higher slopes of the hills. Not only does such clearing injure the settlers the! | 
themselves, but their insensate labours cause widespread trouble in the lov | 
lands. The rivers and creeks become choked with rocks, gravel, and saD© | 
carried from the denuded heights, and thus the heads of the former, which, a 
previous to settlement and “improvement,” meandered peacefully along th® | 
ullies and valleys, without even disturbing the alluvial banks, have been trad | jy 
ormed into roaring torrents, which during heavy rains carry down vast mass® | 
of water and débris, overflow the neighbouring lands, destroy bridges, aworl }i 
away houses, stock, and crops, flood out mines, and do a great amount © | 
damage, the whole of which is the result of carrying clearings up the hill side | 
as soon as the low lands were occupied. : 
There is no getting out of the truth of these statements, for it has been th? |t 
bitter experience of all European, Asiatic, and American countries. Clearl3 | 
the summits and higher slopes of the hills spells eventual ruin to the farm@ | 
and Aer first, and to the dwellers in cities afterwards. And much of thi§ |. 
could long ago have been prevented by adequate Forest Laws. Fortunately | 
the Government, with the unanimous consent of both Houses of Legislatw™ | 
have determined to step in and put a stop to the iniquitous destruction ° 
timber all over the colony. It is well known that for years men have taken UP | 
selections stocked with many kinds of valuable timber. They took these sele — 
tions as homestead areas or on conditional purchases, at from 5s. to 10s. aD 
acre, purchasing value. They at once set to work, after paying the survey 1 
and first, and, perhaps, second year’s rent, to fell and remove all the bes 
timber. That done, they threw up the selection, paid no more rent, and it W® _ 
duly forfeited, but the selector had done a good stroke of business at the | 
expense of the whole colony. We instanced a case a little while ago, in which 
selector took up a homestead selection with the bond fide intention of cult | 
valine the land and making a home for himself. Ina deep gully he one 
found three cedar trees of splendid proportions. He naturally set to work ™@ 
get one of them to market. ‘The result was a cheque for £100. The price — 
the selection of 160 acres was £40, and the man has yet two more trees to ei ] 
out. ‘This statement is vouched for as correct by one who visited the place 4? 
there obtained the particulars, 
a ee no 
elt ile cal iy os yl as 
et pe peed 
