Inspecting Forester Manton, Moama, 9th November, 1895.-Inland, southwest; on Murray River; district includes county Cadell.

In suitable localities I estimate that the Murray River red-gum attains a height of about 50 to 60 feet in ten years, after that it does not grow so rapidly. It will attain a diameter of about 12 inches in twelve years, then I estimate that it increases at the rate of about three-quarters of an inch a year until it gets to about 24 or 26 inches in diameter, after which the growth is very slow.

Pine attains a height of about 25 to 30 feet in about ten years, then its growth is not so rapid, but I cannot state its rate. I estimate that it makes half an inch in diameter per annum up to 1 foot, after which its growth is not so rapid, I should think not more than a quarter of an inch in a year, until it arrives at maturity.

Forester Payten, Corowa, 28th October, 1895.-Inland, south-west; vicinity, Murray River; district includes counties Hume and Denison.

I have at different times measured forest trees found in positions where their growth was not retarded by being in too close proximity to other trees, and have come to the conclusion that they grow annually half an inch in diameter.

I have noticed in forests that are not too much overrun with stock (sheep), that where mature trees have been felled, a growth of young plants often springs up, especially with respect to the pine species of timber. I also have noticed that where red gum and pine forests have been ringbarked, in a few years a forest of young timber springs up; and where red-gum forests have been ringbarked and the ground ploughed, and left in that state for a few years, the young red-gum trees have sprung up as thickly almost as a field of wheat. It is my opinion, from observation, that new forests of timber would spring up in most localities where the timber had originally been ringbarked, provided the land was fenced in, and protected from stock for a few years.

Forester Hardiman, Narrandera, 2nd November, 1895.-Inland, south-west; vicinity, Murrumbidgee River; district includes counties Boyd, Urana, Mitchell, and Cooper.

Having measured two pine saplings on forest reserve 1,421, in the month of October, 1893, I again measured them on receipt of your circular, and found that in the interim they had increased 6 feet in height, and 5 inches in girth or stem. These saplings stand about 8 feet apart.

The pine reafforests very rapidly, as the following instance which came under my special observation will attest.

In November, 1893, a brush fence was destroyed by fire, and the space which had been occupied by the line of fence is now in possession of a spontaneous growth of young pine which have already attained a height of from 3 to 4 feet. Where the pine stands 8 or 10 feet apart, the trees grow proportionally both in height and girth, and arrive at a saleable size in about twenty years. Where the pine is too dense it springs up quickly, but the overcrowding precludes the formation of trunk, thus rendering the timber practically useless.

The red-gum tree of this district attains a height of 5 feet in twelve months, but does not form much stem. I believe it matures in about twenty-five or thirty years, and where the subsoil retains moisture the trees grow still more rapidly.

I have observed that when a wet winter succeeds the sapping performed during the summer months on these trees, the seedlings shoot up in hundreds.

Forester Wilshire, Deniliquin, 9th November, 1894.-Inland, south-west; vicinity, Lower Murrumbidgee River; district includes counties Warodgery, Wakool, and Townsend.

Since my arrival in this district, nearly eighteen years ago, young red-gum seedlings that were then only a few feet high, are at the present time a foot or 15 inches in diameter, and from 30 to 50 feet high. These trees are growing on the Murray frontage adjoining the Mullewa and Gulpa Island forest reserves. On lands that have been alienated the matured trees were ringbarked and the saplings cleared, and in some instances the land ploughed and cropped. They are growing in clumps or thickets to such an extent that they choke one another, and prevent the full development of any particular sapling. Had these clumps been thinned out at the proper time they would now have been 60 or 70 feet high, and probably 18 to 20 inches in diameter. The pine and all descriptions of the eucalyptus reafforest readily, and particularly when the older trees are ringbarked or fallen for commercial purposes. As soon as one of the old trees is removed the seeds which have previously fallen come up, and the new forest commences. This refers also to the pine on sand-hills. Then with regard to the red-gum the same applies, but in addition to this the new forest is started by the floating of the seeds on the periodical floods which occur, and the deposition of them at the highwater mark, amongst the rotten leaves, pieces of bark, wood, &c., that form a natural manure for them, and a sort of forcing bed, which results in rapid germination after the flood recedes. In all cases these red-gum seedlings come up too quickly to result in a permanent forest without attention. These funges or clumps require thinning out. Unless this is done the ground is encumbered by thousands of useless saplings, which, if systematically thinned out, would furnish the means of a splendid reafforestation.

Forester Siddins, Armidale, 29th October, 1895.

As to the readiness with which the principal timber trees are propagated by natural process, all species come from seed, some much more readily than others. Amongst the former are stringybark, messmate, blackbutt, redgum, and wattle, the seeds of which appear to be very fertile. Those sorts, the seeds of which do not appear to germinate with so much certainty, are ironbark, tallow-wood, blue, grey and spotted gums, bloodwood, box, and cedar, the last-named being apparently very uncertain; and most of the seedlings I have seen are outside the brushes, where they are exposed to the ravages of bush fires, which almost annually scorch them. They shoot again, but this checking makes the bulk of them scrubby trees, and damages their

commercial value.

Botanical names of Timber trees referred to in the foregoing:-
Acacia decurrens, var., Feather-leaved wattle.

Notes on the Colour of the Grain in different Varieties of Wheat.

BY N. A. COBB.

Irs colour is one of the most striking characteristics of a sample of grain, and this characteristic is one that in each variety remains nearly constant from year to year, except in those cases where the grain is in some seasons translucent and in others opaque. These latter cases arise principally among the late varieties. Apart from this variation in some varieties from translucent to opaque, variations in colour are confined to a slight change in tint, due to the nature of the season, a dry season causing a lighter coloured crop than a wet season. It is noticeable that all the varieties vary together, that is to say, the factors that operate to cause one variety to become darker or lighter have the same effect on all other varieties. There is ample evidence of this in the series of samples upon which these notes are based— samples grown in the years 1893-4-5 respectively at the Government Experiment Farm, Wagga Wagga, New South Wales. The soil upon which these samples were grown is typical reddish Riverina soil, such as there are millions of acres of in the Colonies of New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia, still uncultivated or already under wheat.

These notes on the colour of the grain relate to the following varieties of wheat:

This list includes the wheats principally grown for flour and macaroni in this as well as other countries.

The method adopted to secure the comparisons necessary for the construction of the following table was as follows:-The samples of wheat,

pure and true to name, were graded by means of seives as previously described in this Gazette, and the bulk grade was then placed in boxes, having tops of thin colourless glass. The samples belonging to each season's crop were then arranged in order from light to dark. From each series of samples a list was prepared and the three lists were averaged.

The grain of 1893 was darker than that of 1894, which, again, was darker than that of 1895, although the varieties maintained their relative position as closely as could be expected when we consider the variety of their annual surroundings, exclusive of the weather. The season of 1893 was one favourable to the growth, while that of 1894 was unfavourable on account of rains causing an abundant spring growth, followed by a period of very dry weather when the grain was forming. The season of 1895 was very dry throughout. On comparing these facts with the respective tables, it becomes evident that the dry season caused the formation of light-coloured grain, while a season with an average and uniform rainfall gave a darker grain to nearly all the varieties tested.

As the method was in general that adopted in determining the form of the grains of the various varieties (November, 1895) and the hardness (June, 1896), and was at that time fully explained, it is considered sufficient if the average table alone is printed here; but it may be explained that the same attention to detail has been observed in the present case as in the former tests. The average colour table is as follows:

Varieties of Wheat arranged according to the Tint of the Grain.
The light-tinted being placed first and the dark last.

1. TALAVERA de Bellevue, 2. WHITE VELVET.

3. VELVET PEARL.

4. ALLORA SPRING.

5. LEAK'S R.R.

6. THOMAS' R.R.

7. AUSTRALIAN TALAVERA. 8. WHITE ESSEX.

9. WHITE NAPLES.

10. CALIFORNIAN SPRING.

11. GOLDEN DROP. 12. WHITE LAMMAS.

13. KING'S JUBILEE.

14. STEINWEdel.

15. OAKSHOTT'S CHAMPION.

16. DUTOITS.

17. RED STRAW,

18. ZEALAND.

19. FRAMPTON.

20. NORTHERN CHAMPION.

21. IMPROVED FIFE.

22. RATTLING TOM.

23. BATTLEFIELD.

24. MARSHALL'S No. 3.

25. HUDSON'S EARLY PURPLE STRAW.

26. BLOUNT'S LAMBRIGG.

27. HEDGEROW.

28. FRENCH EARLY-BEARDED.

29. GORE'S INDIAN.

30. FILLBAG.

31. ROBINS' R.R.

32. EARLY BAART.

33. STEERES' EARLY PURPLE STRAW,

34. EARLY PARA.

35. CANNING Downs.

36. MARSHALL'S No. 8.

37. LITTLE Club.

38. FARMER'S FRIEND.
39. RATTLING JACK.
40. WARD'S PROLIFIC.
41. PRINGLE'S DEFIANCE.
42. GROSSE'S PROLIFIC.
43. ALGERIAN.

44. BROWN-EARED MUMMY.
45. BELOTOURKA.

46. WHITE FIFE (reddish).

47. DALLAS (reddish).

48. POLAND.

49. MEDEAH.

50. FULTZ (reddish).

51. BEARDED HERISSON (reddish).

52. SICILIAN SQUARE-HEADED RED (reddish). 53. SASKATCHEWAN FIFE (reddish).

54. ANGLO-AUSTRALIAN (reddish).

55. RIETI (reddish).

56. DARBLAY'S HUNGARIAN (reddish).

The main difficulties in making a decision as to relative coloration arise when it is necessary to compare the opaque reddish varieties with the opaque yellowish varieties, or either of these with the corresponding translucent varieties. The varieties beyond number 46 (in the preceding table) are reddish, except Poland and Medeah. All the others have a yellowish tint