Measurements on leaves from a provenance trial at Keravat

RAINBOW EUCALYPT MAN A Parallel Journey John Davidson

(Part 7)

CONTENTS

PART 1

1967

2

Botanical exploration

2

Preparation of a paper for the Ninth Commonwealth Forestry Conference Natural regeneration of E. deglupta Artificial regeneration of E. deglupta from seed Grafting E. deglupta

29 30 32 33

Growing cuttings of E. deglupta

37 Confirmation of E. deglupta as a major native tree species for continuing study 44 I enrol in a Master of Forestry Degree at the ANU 46

PART 2

1968

47

Ninth Commonwealth Forestry Conference

47 Duty travel to Canberra and ANU for initial wood properties examination on E. deglupta 47 Density of the wood of E. deglupta 48 Structure of the wood of E. deglupta 51 Fibre length 51 Statistical design required for the proposed tree improvement programme for E. deglupta 56 Continuation of research on E. deglupta at Keravat 57 Planting trials of E. deglupta 58 Preparation of a paper for a Conference of the Institute of Foresters of Australia 59 Selection and assessment of “candidate” and “breeding” populations of E. deglupta 59 Grafting and cuttings of E. deglupta 60 First visit to Keravat by Professor Pryor of the Department of Botany ANU 62 Helicopter reconnaissance of the Gazelle Peninsula and Central New Britain 66 Flowering and fruiting studies on E. deglupta 69 Emasculation technique developed for flowers of E. deglupta 71 Vegetative propagation of E. deglupta using epicormic and coppice shoots 71 Second visit to the Territory by Professor Pryor of the Department of Botany ANU 75 Wood density variation in E. deglupta 85 Silvicultural Research Conference Bulolo 26 to 30 August 1968 87

PART 3

1968

Writing up a report on the fibre length and density work to date Ordering of a rifle for seed and scion collection Experimental proposals E. deglupta fertilizer trial Professor Pryor visits Mindanao in the Philippines to examine E. deglupta Vegetative propagation of epicormic and coppice shoots of E. deglupta Lopping and tying down branches of E. deglupta to control height growth Establishment of a trial grafted seed orchard for E. deglupta Ordering of a machine for removing wood samples from standing trees Arrival of rifle for collection of seed and vegetative material from tall trees

1969

Collection of seed and vegetative material of E. deglupta Grafting and cuttings experiments

Move to Canberra to take up PhD studies at the ANU

Aims of the experimental work to be undertaken during my PhD FAO – Forestry and Timber Bureau E. deglupta collecting expedition to Indonesia Fibre wall thickness and lumen diameter Arithmetic ratios of fibre length, wall thickness and lumen diameter Cross-sectional area of fibres, fibre wall material and lumens Arithmetic ratios of fibre cross-sectional dimensions Percentage of tissue types by volume Number of vessels per unit area of cross-section Mean cross-sectional area of vessels Co-authored paper for 2nd World Consultation on Forest Tree Breeding Formal transfer to a Commonwealth Postgraduate Scholarship Chemistry of the wood of E. deglupta End of wood parameter measurement Associations among the primary and derived variables The association between wood density and other measured wood parameters Baku Forest Station

1970

Wood sampling in standing trees at Keravat 96 96 96 96 98 98 99 99 100 102 103 105 105 105 105 104 106 107 108 109 109 109 110 110 110 111 112 113 114 116 117 117 117 iii

Growing plants in controlled environments Experimental methods for growing plants of E. deglupta in the phytotron Provenance studies in the phytotron Fieldwork in Keravat

1971

Species trial at Baku, Gogol Membership of Forest Research Working Group No 1 Forest Genetics Wood density among random and candidate populations of trees Environmental and genetic variation in wood density Heritability of wood density in E. deglupta Selection differential Selection of propagation population trees Establishment of provenance trials of E. deglupta in Keravat, Dami and Gogol Investigation of heart rot in E. deglupta Volume tables for E. deglupta

1972

Site Quality computation for E. deglupta Growth and Yield for E. deglupta

Completion of my PhD studies at ANU Bridging Report for Silvicultural Research in PNG E. deglupta seed orchard establishment in Bulolo Hybrid eucalypts Hybridization of E. deglupta and E. “decaisneana” Provenance trials of E. “decaisneana” at Bulolo Simulated pulpwood logging at Baku Confirmation of the award of PhD for my work on E. deglupta First species trial at Baku at age two years

PART 4

1972 continued

Exploration of E. deglupta in the Garaina area, Morobe Province Latest (1972), more detailed description of E. deglupta Second provenance trial of E. deglupta at Baku Reconnaissance on New Britain

119 120 122 123 126 126 127 127 127 129 130 131 132 133 135 139 139 139 141 142 142 145 147 148 151 153 154

161 161 164 168 170 iv