BROWN, John Ednie (and Walter GILL from July 1890)

South Australia. Woods and Forests. Annual Report of the Forest Board with Conservator's Progress Report and Appendices for 1880-81. [Bound together with] South Australia. Woods and Forests Department. Annual Progress Report upon State Forest Administration in South Australia for the Year 1881-82; ... 1882-83; ... 1883-84; ... 1885-86; ... 1886-87; ... 1888-89; ... 1889-90; ... 1890-91; ... 1891-92; and ... 1892-93

Adelaide, Government Printer, from 1881 to 1893.

Foolscap folio, 11 reports bound together, with pagination ranging from 13 to 48 pages (totalling 269 pages) plus 8 folding maps and plans (4 in colour, including a large and attractive bird's-eye view of the plantation at Wirrabara).

Flush-cut quarter cloth and wrappers (the original green printed wrappers of the first report have been mounted on thick paper and used as the binding for the run of reports, with the spine reinforced with dark green cloth); all other reports are bound with their original wrappers, with only the blank rear wrapper lacking from the second and last reports; a few covers are chipped, marked or creased; one report is a little foxed; a few trifling signs of use and age, but essentially an excellent run.

The first two reports have 'with compliments' inscriptions (possibly by George McEwin, one of the board); the recipient's name has been erased. John Ednie Brown (1848-1899), sylviculturist, was Conservator of Forests in SA (1878-1890), Director-General of Forests in NSW (1890-1895), and the first Conservator of Forests in WA (1896 until his untimely death from influenza in October 1899, aged 50).

Bound in after the report for 1883-84 is another rare publication by Brown: 'Reports on planting Olives and Mulberries on Mallee Lands, and Dates in the Far North; also, Wattle Cultivation generally in the Colony.' Adelaide, Government Printer, 1884. Foolscap folio, 3, 8 pages plus a large folding map (530 × 580 mm). Original light blue title-wrappers lightly scored and marked; an excellent copy. South Australian Parliamentary Papers Number 178 and Number 179 of 1884; 2550 and 2450 copies printed respectively (but decidedly uncommon in our experience).

The map of the entire state shows 'some Waters suitable for Irrigation in the Northern portion of the Province', and printed in blue on it are the principal fresh-water springs north of Port Augusta, which have 'more or less small areas of land in proximity' likely to be suitable for growing dates. These include Lungley's Gully, Glen Ferdinand, Titania Springs and the source of the Read Creek, all in the Musgrave Ranges. A pencilled note on the front cover of this copy indicates that the Annual Report for 1884-85, not present in this run, was 'in separate binding'.

Item #110547

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