2nd Progress Report - Part 2

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This transcription is complete

Capel Tuart. I have been all over the country between Sabina and Wannerup. There is no question but that the best Tuart in the country lies between Sabina and Wannerup. There is no question Beyond that I believe there is good Tuart here and there, but it is nothing like the Tuart near the Stirling Estate. There is one virgin forest of Tuart left, the only one in the world, and that is on the old Loch estate now belonging to Mr. Strickland. Otherwise the Tuart has been pretty badly cut into everywhere. I am asking steps to find out how best to regenerate the Tuart. This is the only forestry work done in the State up to the present. We have no money, and I am trying to do this with the aid of the plantation hands, and trying to find out the best way to regenerate this valuable timber. The State also took action in regard to Tuart by prohibiting the granting of licenses to people who wished to export it. The export of Tuart is now prohibited except from private land. It cannot be cut for export from Crown lands.

12128. By Mr. VENN: Do you think the pine plantation at Ludlow will be a success?—Not as it is at present. It is, unfortunately, situated at the wrong place, and the wrong class of trees has been planted. I am now at work converting the whole of it by sowing in between another species of pine, which is a sand loving pine. The Insignis is a tree which likes rich soil, it is not a sand tree at all. It gives a fine return on rich soil, but it is a farmer's tree and not a forester's tree. In Western Australia there is so little agricultural land that I shall never be able to get any of it for plantation purposes. The sandplain country will grow the cluster pine. It is a waste of time to plant the Insignis there. We have had that at Hamel, although Hamel is a much better class of soil than Ludlow. Even at Hamel I had to thin out the 17 year old trees very hard, to save what is left. That brings me to a part of the policy which I forgot; the second point is getting conservation of timber by making the miller cut only as much timber as the forest will produce during the 100 years' rotation. The third point is going over the country which has already been cut over and putting it into such shape that it will go on producing timber for ever. The fourth plank of the policy is the formation of pine plantations. Western Australia, and indeed Australia, has practically no soft wood. Our importations of soft woods before the war were very large indeed; and there is no reason why we should not grow all our soft wood requirements here. A matter of about one square mile of plantation put in annually would give us sufficient soft wood for our local needs, for use in the internal fittings of houses, and also for fruit cases, which are becoming a more and more crying demand.

12129. That would be 100 square miles of soft wood in 100 years?—The rotation would not be 100 years. It would be from 30 to 40 years.

12130. By Mr. VENN: What were the yields of the trees which you cut at Hamel?—The annual increment per acre was between 300 and 400 cubic feet, which is remarkably good for any pine. The price we got was perfectly phenomenal: £1 0s. 6d. per load standing on the ground; 75 miles railage to Perth; sawn up in Perth for cases.

12131. To what thickness in the round?—I should correct the figure I give. The price of £1 0s. 6d. was down to four inches diameter. The price below four inches was 8s. in the round. The purchaser took the timber below four inches at 8s. per load. He took everything except branches, which we burnt. These figures must not, of course, be taken as normal. They are war figures. When the war comes to a close, the value of pine may be put down, I think, in the neighbourhood of 10s. to 12s. per load in the round, provided the timber is near a market. No timber at all would, in ordinary conditions, stand a freight of 75 miles in the found. The Railway Department charged the poor man full soft wood rates, sawn soft wood rates, from Hamel to Perth; and it was only after a great deal of difficulty he managed to reduce that rate to the sawn jarrah rate, not the round jarrah rate. The cost of bringing the stuff to Perth was equal to the cost of cutting it down and bringing it the station and all the other work that he had to do, to the sawing of it up.

12132. How old were those trees?—From 13 to 17 years. They were only thinnings, only the by-product of the forest. They were not the main crop.

12133. The yield per acre in cubic feet you say was very good?—Very good indeed. There is no doubt that a pine plantation within close proximity to Perth is that should be aimed at, within 12 or 15 miles of Perth. The sandy country between Midland Junction and Wanneroo is the country I have reserved for that purpose. The scheme has been laid down, but of course nothing can be done for want of money. The £29,000 my department collected last year from the timber men has gone into revenue to pay other departments.

12133a. Can forestry as such assist agriculture as such in its development?—No discussion on forestry is possible in any part of Australia without a reference to the farmer. In the minds of many farmers, and to a greater degree, perhaps, in those of seekers after suitable country for agricultural use, there exists an impression that the forester cannot truthfully be classed as the farmers' friend. The impression is quite a mistaken one, and entirely without foundation in fact. It arose perhaps from the forester's keen desire to put the timber industry on a satisfactory basis, one that will endure for all time, by the permanent reservation of forest lands. But the forester has no wish at all to reserve any land of sufficient quality to suit the farmer's purposes. His object refers only to the millions of acres now under virgin forest, or represented by cut-out areas, all of them of so poor quality that no other crop than timber can be grown profitable upon them. Every acre of these stretches of forest land in Western Australia is not of low agricultural value. Here and there are to be found patches or "pockets" of land which the farmer may utilise with every advantage. Some of these patches have already been taken up as farm and orchard properties, and no doubt the rest will in due time be selected. The forester heartily welcomes these settlers, in the midst of or round the edges of purely forest country. Such occupation is to mutual advantage, and when our forest have ceased to be "wild," and are being scientifically cultivated, the mutual advantage will become increasingly apparent. And in the interests of farmers withing forest areas, the powers now vested in the Lands Department regarding such farms, should be transferred to the Forest Department. This is necessary for many reasons, not the least being that of prompt co-operative fire supervision. There is a