CONSERVATION.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 31, 6 February 1937, Page 11

CONSERVATION.

KAURI TIMBER TRADE.' MANAGEMENT OF FORESTS. CUTTING DOWN CONSUMPTION j With pianncd management of the New Zealand's kauri forests the supply j at present in sight is capable of lasting, for at least l<lo years. The present annual cut is in the vicinity of 8,000,0001 super feet, derived from private hold-! ings, from small lots purchased from; farmers, from native-owned forests, and from State forests and Crown lands. The cut from private holdings and; farmers' lots is rapidly approaching exhaustion, and no effort is being made; to repleiV'i <>r even hold these areas in reserve. Naturally a farmer who has a stand of kauri on his, land has only one objective in mind—to realise his assets! for cash. Natives who are fortunate] enough to have kauri trees on their land, pursue where possible the same course.. It will readily be realised that the. time is not far distant when only Crown lands and State forests will be left with standing kauri for commercial use. In so far as kauri growing on scenic remain intact, and lightly so, as long as, citizens refrain from burning or hacking, their own property, and power boards and other local bodies refrain from; heading or mutilating trees along road-j sides to allow their wires to pass. A glaring example of this destruction can iie seen along the road from Titirangi to pleasure resorts on the Manukau where: electric power lines are being extended. 1 I In Perpetuity. The remaining areas of Crown lands 'still carrying remnants, of kauri will, in some cases, have to be cut out to make room for settlement, but probably the! greater part will ultimately be added ito State forest areas in pursuance of! I the new policy of -.•onserving the kauri tin perpetuity for tip; people. The essential difference between the new policy and the old is that the cut will be controlled by what the forest will yield,!

and not by what an intensive and often fluctuating market demands. Although the market demands cannot be entirely ignored, the art o fthe forester most consist largely in balancing forest yields with market demands over a long period. In the case of kauri it is certain that no amount of forestry art or cunning can induce a yield from existing areas that will balance against the current' market demand of 8,000,000 super feet! per annum. There is not the slightest dnubt, therefore, that the kauri eon-j sumption will have to be curtailed, one hopes gradually, to an amount probably not much in excess of one-third or even one quarter of this figure. It is imperajtive that when the supply from private] Ipropertiee ceases, the State docs not yinli! ' to pressure to increase the annual cut from State forests. Good Timber. I The Commissioner of Slate Forests,' 'jibe Uo:i. Frank Langstone, is taking :i Jmost active interest in forestry, anil ;[<!uring liio northern tour visited State forest areas, and enunciated a policy of (conservation and forest management , that he stated emphatically would lie learned into effect. [. While he was at Forest Service head-; quarters at Waipou.i, the Minister wmh '■much taken by a short poem in a frame ;c,ii the office table, and asked for .-i copy. The verses arc as follow: — ! I The tree that never had to flsht i--;r sun and sky ami :iir mill llErlit, 1 That stood out 'in the "pen plain • \inl always f<,t its sliarn tif rain, . X.-vcr l.reanjn a forest klna, Km lived and died a scrubby thins. 'I The man who never had to toll, ■I Who never had to win his shnre ■ fir sun and sky and lifht anil air, i ■ N.-v.T br-eamo u manly man, I But lived and died as he ucßOn. loootl tlmher does not crow In ease. The- slmnsrer wind, tho toucher tre..s; i The further sky. the greater length; i The more tho storm, the more the strength;! .By sun and cold, by rain and snows, ; In tree or men good timber grows. •Where thickest stands the forest growth, n> Hurt the patriarchs of both. And they hold converse with the stars, ; Whoso l.roken branches show the sears Of many winds and much of strife; This is the common law of life. I Captain A. L. Owens, Commander of ■ the R.M.S. Orion, which visited Aucki land recently on her cruise from Australia to New Zealand, will take part in ■the Coronation procession, as one of the -Inide-de-camns to His Majesty, King ,[George VL