The immense extent of forest land in Tasmania has struck

every visitor to the island from the time of Abel Tasman to

our own day. On the visitors who came to stay as settlers,

this fact made an unfavourable impression, as its signification

to them was the cost of clearing land for cultivation. And

this impression has coloured and affected all that has been

done in the way of dealing with forest land in the State.

Trees have been regarded almost exclusively as impediments

to agriculture, and not as possessing any intrinsic value worth

consideration

Mault, Alfred

University of Tasmania Open Access Repository

127PR\OTJOABLE FORESTRY IN TASMANIA ANDELSEWHERE.By A. Mault.The immense extent of forest land in Tasmania has struckeverv visitor to the island from the time of Abel Tasmau toour own day. On the visitors who came to stay as settlers,this fact made an unfavourable impression, as its siL'nificationto them was the cost of clearing land for cultivation. Andthis imijjression has coloured and affected all that has been'lone in the way of dealing with forest land in the State.Trees have been regarded almost exclusively as impedimentsto agriculture, and not as possessing any intrinsic value worthconsideration. Consequently every suggestion made forforest conservation has been regarded with suspicion as pos-sibly entailing something to be done for forestry at the ex-pense of agriculture and settlement. It is time that thissuspicion should be banished. There can be no doubt butthat agriculture is the mainstay of the country, and thatnothing should be allowed to hamper or obstruct it. But aproper system of forestry, iusteid of doing this, would reallybenefit agriculture by improving climatic conditions. In factforestry need not enter into any competition for land withagriculture. Land altogether unsuitable for agriculture isvery well suited for tree growing. I know great tracts ofcountry in France that could not be let for half-a-crown anacre per annum for farming, but which yield more than thirtyshillings an acre under forest cultivation. There is an im-mense extent of similar country in Tasmania, and some ofthis could be better used for forestry than for anything else.The rule to be followed in the appropriation of land for anypurpose, is to appropriate it for the purpose that will yield thelargest return. By all means reserve for settlement, and foragricultural and horticultural purposes, all the best of theland ; when that has been done there will be plenty left forpastoral purposes and forest conservation.V\rith regard to forest conservation itself, there is a greatdeal of misapprehension. To judge by the manner in whichit has been discussed in these rooms and elsewhere, one wouldthink that the advocates of forest conservation proposed tosubject the whole of the Crown woodlands in the Stateto a regime of conservation. Such a proposal is not onlyimpracticable, but useless, as it would be sure to break downunuer its own weight of responsibility and costliness. Thismistaken idea of what is proposed has arisen from a misun-derstanding of what has taken place in other countries. Itis true that in France, Germany, India, and other countries128 PRACTICAL FORESTRY IN TASMANIA AND ELSEWHERE.where a system of forest couservation exists, the systemapplies to all the State domairis ; but these countries are allold settled ones, in which the State domains form but a com-paratively small proportion of the area of the whole territory.The woodlands of these domains are therefore only of such,an extent as can be j^ractically dealt with. It would be follyin Tasmania to do more than deal with a reasonable portionof its woodlands.The first thing to be done is to determine what this pro-portion shall be, and to select the sites of the reserves. Inmaking this selection, after taking care that land is nottaken that is better suited for other purposes, the mostimportant condition is position and accessibility ; then thequestion of adaptability of the climate and soil of the localityto the kind of timber proposed to be grown and conservedmust be considered. As the position of the reserves is thusso important, no time should be lost in determining thispoint, at least with regard to those in the more settledparts of the country. I understand that of the 12,000,000acres of still unalienated Crown land in the State^about 175,000 acres have been j^roclaimed as forest re-serves. This area I think quite insufficient in extent forfuture requirements, but it is still more inadequate whenthe location of the reserves is considered. Not onlyshould there he large national reserves for industrial andcommercial purposes in accessible places, but there shouldbe smaller ones in the neighbourhood of all townships forlocal requirements of all sorts. The advantage — not tosay the necessity—of doing this, seems to have been alto-gether overlooked in Tasmania hitherto, with the result that insuch a simple matter as the supply of firewood the cost in manyplaces has doubled within the last dozen years—and the fire-wood industry is an important one from the point of view ofthe general population. In many places also—especially placeswithout railways — wood for constructional purposes hasgreatly appreciated in value. In some other countries greaterprevision has been shown, particularly in France, where manyof the communes have woodlands that are managed for themby the National Forest Department, with the result that insome of them the revenue derived is suflBcient to pay for thewhole cost of local government without any recourse to ratingfor either municipal or educational purposes. The provisionof all these necessary national and local reserves can now bemade with far less difficulty than in the future, and I wouldstrongly urge that it be at once made.There is no necessity for any further legislation to carryout my recommendation thus far. As the Groimi Lands Guidesays, *'The Governor-in-Council may, by proclamation in theBY A. MAULT. 129Gazette, except from sale, and reserve to His Majesty suchland as he sees fit for the preservation and growth of timber."Under this power 175,000 acres have, as I have before said,been reserved, but so far as I can learn no special action hasyet been taken to preserve or grow timber on these reserves.So that what is required is not only that the reserves shouldbe increased in extent, but that they should be actively andpractically administered so as to fulfil the object which is thepretext of their reservation.It will be noted that in all this, when once the reserves areproclaimed, there is no interference whatever with the presentadministration of Crown lands, even that part of it whichdeals with exploitation of timber in forest lands that arenot reserved. All the present system of sawmill leases andtimber licenses may be carried out hs set forth from page 31to page 52 of the Crovni Lands Guide. I express no opinionon that system if forest reserves are more expressly withdrawnfrom its operation ; but only wish to make it clearly under-stood thai the forest conservation I advocate will not in anyway interfere with the revenue derived by the Lands Depart-ment from its leasing and licensing regulations.With regard to the larger forest reserves of the State, somewill have to be for general purposes, and some for special;and the locality selected for each of them will, of course,depend on its purpose. As before mentioned, good arableland is not necessary—in most cases it may be said—is notdesirable. Some part of every large reserve will be found topossess such better quality of soil as may be desired for thenursery that should be attached to every reserve. Usuallythe larger reserves, at the time of their selection, "will con-tain trees of several kinds, and of course these kinds will beconserved to their maturity ; but in the long run it willprobably be found best to select for the permanent affores-tation of each reserve the cultivation of the special tree thathas proved the most successful in its region. Thus, in timewe shall have large regional reserves of all our most market-able kinds of eucalyptus, such as blue gum, peppermint,stringy -bark, and iron-bark ; of pines, such as Huon, KingWilliam, and celery-top ; and of blackwood, myrtle, and otherwoods. At the same time persistent efforts should be madeto introduce suitable foreign timber trees for the local pro-duction of industrial woods possessing qualities that arewarn ing in the Tasmanian ones.With regard to the smaller local forest reserves there willprobably be in many cases but a very restricted scope forselection. Still the selection should be made, even if it in-volve<l the reafforestation of land that has been partiallycleared for pastoral purposes, or has never been corered with130 PRACTICAL FORESTRY IN TASMANIA AND ELSEWHERE.bush. In such cases probably the >»est initiatory processwould be wattle planting, with or without some tree plantingfor permanent timber. Till the timber has grown tomaturity, the wattle might be subject to a 13 or 15 yearrotation for bark and lirewood, and from the first rotationcoming in the expenses of the reserve should be more thanmet In the cases in which the reserve is already wooded,the regim*- would be similar to that of the large reservescarried out on a smaller scale.Each reserve should have an adequate statf to properlytake care of it - not necessarily an expensive staff, but onesuitable to the condition and extent of the reserve. Butthe central administration should be virtually a school offorestry. It should consist of a properly qualified conser-vator, and two or three mor--^ or less qualified assistants.When the system of conservation best udapted to our condi-tions here is duly decided upon, it should be systematicallybut gradually carried out in all the reserves. The systemwill be based uj)on a thorough practical knowledge ofi'orestry in general, and of the timber trees of Tasmania inparticular. Of course in the lar^e reserves the trees will atfirst he there, and the conservancy will have to decide whatis the best to be done with them in their present condition—that is, to make the best of them as they are, and with theview of enabling the introduction of a proper system of rota-tion, which is the basis of all economical forestry. Some ofthe timber will require a long period of rotation, probably100 years, and the reserve will have to be divided into a cor-responding number of sections or " cantons," as they areusually called. It is evident that this cannot be done atonce, for jDrobably in all the cantons as at first defined therewould be mature trees that would be s2:>oilt if made to wait fortheir turn in the rotation of felling. It will be in arrangingfor and meeting this condition of things that the skill anddiscretion of the conservancy will be proved. It is not aninsurmountable difficulty, and with patient perseverance itwill be astonishing in what a short time a reserve will bereduced to comparative order, showing one canton in processof being cleared by the current year's felling, last year'scanton being prepared for planting and in process of beingplanted, and those of previous years being watched, tendedas required, and periodically thinned. This latter operationis timed to secure, if possible, a market according to the ageof the thinning for hop poles, telegraph poles, fencing,mining timber, railway sleepers, piles, and wood for such likeservices, and if the waste cannot be sold as firewood orcharcoal, it is burnt to disencumber the ground. Under thissystem by the time the last canton of a forest is felled, theBY A. MAULT. 131trees in the first will have arrived at maturity, and themarket will be kept regularly supplied with timber andwood of all sorts and kinds.The conservancy will have to settle the questions of theproper time of felling the various kinds of timber trees, theproppr manner of planting, the best method of seasoningwood, including seasoning hard woods while the trees arestanding as practised in the teak forests in India, the timeand manner of selling the wood, the means to be taken forprotecting the forests from fire, and all such details of forestconservation. The carrying out of all its duties by the con-servancy will naturally train its staff to the fulfilment oftheirs, so that in time they can be entrusted with the chargeof the various reserves under due direction and supervisionfrom headquarters. The varying importance of the State andlocal reserves will atford means of duly recognising zeal andability bv promotion. But the importance of getting a well-trained staff emphasises the necessity of securing a tho-roughly capable conservator, for there cannot be good train-ing without a good trainer. It would be the falsest economyto get an incapable or badly trained man who could onlyintroduce or perpetuate a bad and slovenly system.It will naturally take some time to get the conservancyinto full working order, so that it can shoAV paying results.The length of this time will very much depend upon theconservator, and the means given him to make a proper start.This can be done by at once establishing an importantlocal reserve at headquarters. I would suggest that the areaof Mount Wellington proclaimed by the Governor-in-Councilof the "ioth September, 1871, as a "water reserve for the supplyof the City of Hobart, should be also proclaimed as a forestreserve, together with all tiie adjacent unalienated Crownlands. That such lands are not well adapted for ordinarysettlement is, I think, shown by the fact that they are notalready taken up. What the area of this reservp would be Icannot say precisely, but probablv such parts of it as couldbe conveniently held and administered, together wdth thewater reserve, would form a forest of five or six thousandacres, quite a sufiicient area for the proi:»er instruction anddevelopment of a School of Forestry. Such a procla-mation would not interfere with the water supply of Hobirt,but on the contrary further protect and increase it bythe re-afforestation of much of the mountain that by firesand neglect has been left bare, and led to the continuousdiminution of the rainfall there. Neither should it interferewith the enjoyment of the mountain by the people of Hobartand their visitors, but greatly increase it by adding the addi-tional charms of judicious planting, and, by careful guarding,132 PRACTICAL FORESTRY IN TASMANIA AND ELSEWHERE.restra'm the mischief and dirty doings of the larrikin elementin our midst. On the other hand the great diversity of soiland climate to be found on the mountain with its slopes andvalleys exposed to every aspect of the heavens, and shown bythe wealth of its flora, point it out as eminently fitted as beingthe training ground of our School of Forestry. All but threeof the eight woods I mentioned as the chief marketablewoods of the State already grow there naturally ; andthe other three, with perhaps the exception of iron-bark, would probably grow if proper conditions wereobserved. In fact the experimental observation of whatwould grow, and what would not, and what conditionshad to be observed, would form most useful object lessonsin the course of study and | racti^al work both with re-gard to native trees and to attempts to introduce European,American, and other pines and hardwoods. The scientificand technical education of the higher grades of the con-servancy officers could be easily arranged for, and the re-sults of the manual and technical training of the lower gradesof forest guards should more than pay for such training whencarried on so near to such a market as Hobart. But apartfrom this, the occupation of the mountain for this purposewould greatly add to its value in all respects, and the trainingcould be easily and continuously supervised so as to insure anearly supply of the officers required for the whole State. Iam convinced that this is the best, the easiest, and the mosteconomical method of properly inaugurating a system of forestconservancy on the State.I need not expatiate on the necessity of taking early meansof establishing this system. Forestry, like agriculture,deserves every encouragement, for like agriculture it adds,when properly carried on, to the wealth of the soil on which itis exercised by continually renewing its fertility, whereasmining, though productive of immediate large returns,permanently impoverishes the ground by taking out itswealth once for all. In a young community of coursemining is encouraged, so that money may be earned,and become available in a short tune. The timbertreasure of the State has for the same reason beenworked on the same lines as the mineral wealth—it has beenallowed to be worked out without making any provision forits renewal, though such renewal is as practicable in regardto timber as it is impossible in regard to minerals. It istrue that the land from which trees have been removed issometimes improved by the removal, and fitted for other pur-poses ; but it is rarely so in the case of land leased for saw-milling purposes, and on which felling and splitting licencesare valid ; for such land is usually left so encumbered withBY A. MAULT. 133rubbish and tree stumps and so quickly overgrown with scrubas to be more difficult and costly to clear than when inprimeval forest.It is time that a new policy in regard to this matter should beadopted, or at least that a new system should be introduced tosupplement the present one. The rate at which our availableforests have disappeared and are disappearing is great,and continually becoming greater. As nearly as I can esti-mate from the replies received to my enquiries, from70,000,000 to 100,000,000 square feet of sawn timber are pro-duced yearly in the State, "f which about one-tenth isexported. What the quantity is of unsawn and hand-sawntimber, timber used for mining, fencing, splitting, and suchlike purposes, wasted by splitters and burnt by bush fires, itis almost impossible to guess, quite impossible to estimate;five or six times the quantity sawn is probably far below thereal quantity. So it is quite time to arrange how we aregoing to supply such a consumption from our availablesources—that is, from accessible sources ; for there aremillions of acres no more accessible at present than if theywere in the moon. On the other hand, there are evidentsigns that if we wish to secure any important share in themarkets of continental Australia, and South Africa andEngland, we must be ready not only with an assuredsupplyof marketable timber, but with one of properly seasonedtimber. It behoves us, therefore, to prepare for action.The best preparation we can make consists in organisingmeasures, one of the chief of which will be forest conserva-tion. In adopting this we may dismiss all misgiving by theknowledge of the fact that no country which has adopted ithas ever regretted its adoption.

Practicable forestry in Tasmania and

elsewhere

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Practicable forestry in Tasmania and elsewhere

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