The mineral district of Northampton, connected with the port of Geraldton
by railway, is rich in lead and copper. Tin has been found in great
quantity at Greenbushes in the South-West. Thirty years ago these
districts were worked for their ores, but a great scarcity of labour,
combined with a sudden fall in the prices of the metals, led to the
abandonment of the mines. Since, however, the discovery of telluride ores
at Kalgoorlie the abandoned lead and copper mines have recovered their
old value, and many mining leases have quite recently been taken out
in the Northampton district for the purpose of working them, and after
the preliminary work of emptying the old shafts of the water which has
accumulated, has been accomplished, there is every probability that
smelting operations will yield a handsome profit. Coal has been found on
the Collie River district and, tested by the Government, has been proved
to be of good quality and to exist in seams varying from two to four
feet in thickness.
The Government, by way of trial, raised 1,000 tons of coal at a cost of
about 16 shillings per ton. The field is open to private enterprise, and
as the land may be leased on the lowest possible terms there seems to be
a good opening for the capitalist.
In considering other sources of revenue in the Colony I should be
inclined to put that of the timber industry at the head, and this the
more so that steps have been taken by the West Australian Government for
the proper conservation, systematic working, and efficient replanting of
the forest-lands. Hitherto in young colonies the disafforesting of
districts has been for agricultural and other purposes recklessly
proceeded with. Warned by example, the West Australian Government have
taken steps for the preservation and utilisation of their valuable
forest-lands. In 1895 Mr. J. Ednie-Brown was engaged by the Bureau of
Agriculture to make a tour of inspection in the Colony. This gentleman
having had experience as Conservator of Forests both in South Australia
and New South Wales, was eminently fitted for his position as Conservator
in West Australia. Having made his tour in 1896 he issued his report. It
is to this report I am indebted for the information contained in this
brief notice.
The principal commercial forests lie in the South-Western districts of
the Colony.
Mr. Ednie-Brown gives a list of thirty-five varieties of indigenous
forest-trees, but as only a certain number of them are known to be of
real commercial value, I shall confine my remarks to the better known and
more widely used species. These are: Jarrah (EUCALYPTUS MARGINATA), Karri
(EUCALYPTUS DIVERSICOLOR), Tuart (EUCALYPTUS GOMPHOCEPHALA). Sandalwood
(SANTALUM CYGNORUM).
In addition to these are many important but secondary forest-trees, as
the Wattle (ACACIA SALIGNA), Raspberry Jam (ACACIA ACUMINATA), Badjong
(ACACIA MICROBOTRYA), Peppermint Tree (AGONIS FLEENOSA), Banksias of all
sorts - the Sheoaks (CASUARINA FRASERIANA, GLAUCA and DECAISNEANA), the
Red Gum (EUCALYPTUS CALOPHYLLA), Wandoo (EUCALYPTUS REDUNEA), Mallee
(EUCALYPTUS OLEOSA).
There are many other trees of some value, but the foregoing represent the
chief.
The total area of the principal forest regions of Western Australia
covers no less than 20,400,000 acres, made up of: -
Jarrah 8,000,000 acres.
Karri 1,200,000
Tuart 200,000
Wandoo 7,000,000
York Gum, Yate Sandalwood,
and Jam 4,000,000
- - - - -
20,400,000
Jarrah is, without doubt, the principal forest-tree of Western Australia.
This tree is dark grey in colour, with the bark strongly marked in deeply
indented furrows. It grows on an average to a height of 90 to 120 feet,
with stems 3 feet to 5 feet in diameter, running 50 to 60 feet to the
first branch. There are, of course, very many larger individual
specimens. The wood is red in colour, polishes well and works easily,
and weighs when seasoned about 63 lbs. to the cubic foot. It is
extensively used for wood-paving, piles, jetties, bridges, boat-building,
furniture, and railway sleepers. It makes splendid charcoal, and when cut
at the proper season exhibits remarkable durability both in the ground as
fence-posts and in water.
Karri is the giant tree of West Australia. It is extremely graceful in
appearance, with a yellowish-white smooth bark, which flakes off each
year like that of our planes. The trees grow to a height of 200 feet,
with a diameter of 4 feet at a height of 3 or 4 feet from the ground, and
the first branch generally occurs at a height of 120 to 150 feet from the
base. This tree does not occur in such numbers as the Jarrah, its
field of growth being limited. Its timber resembles that of the Jarrah,
but cannot be wrought so easily, though for purposes of street-paving it
is superior. It is this wood which is so extensively used in London. It
is also of value for bridge planking, shafts, spokes, felloes, waggon
work, and beams.
Tuart is also comparatively limited in extent. It attains to a height of
100 to 150 feet, having a diameter of 7 to 9 feet at the base and about
40 feet to the first branch. Its timber is extraordinarily hard and tough
and difficult to split. It is of great value as bridge supports, dock
gates, stern posts, engine supports, &c., and it is also extensively used
in the making of railway wagons and wheelwright's work generally.
Sandalwood, which is more of a bush than a tree, runs small as a rule. It
is fairly distributed over the Colony. Formerly there was a greater trade
in sandalwood than now; but the overstocked Chinese markets being sold
out, the West Australia trade is rapidly reviving.
