INITIATING THE FORESTRY SCHEME.

Grey River Argus, 27 December 1920, Page 2

INITIATING THE FORESTRY SCHEME.

The Forestry Department is now getting gradually under weigh its plan for the formation of a skeleton forestry service organisation, the scheme for which the Executive has approved. „ Applications for Forest Conservators for Atickland, Wostlaiul and Southland, the chief forestry provinces, arc being now called for by the Public Service Commissioner. The Conservators are to be aided by a. small staff of forest rangers. It is expected that when the skeleton staff gets to work it will enable the scheme for Slate management of forest"* to be definitely inaugurated, and will mean the definite taking in hand of our timber lands as a community asset to be conserved and improved. First of all, areas will be marked out, and tho ■„• lands suited for settlement will have their soil values ascertained and made publicly known. So far- the practical work done in this connection has been confined to the North Island, and it is to bo expected that on the West Coast a start will be made in the New Year. Already the eastern slopes of the Southern Alps arc being surveyed, in order to ascertain what lands shall bo dedicated solely to forestry. Considering that on either side of the Alps there is a nißgniileent area bl iotfua, and that the water supply for Canterbury Plains is dependent to some extent on the of forests in the back country, the aim will be to select the areas least useful for farming. Tho Department intends now to appoint an expert to go into the matter of ascertaining the values of all tho different timbers in the forests. One matter that might claim the Forestry Director's attention is that of quickly stating tho new policy as it affects timber sales on the large areas dedicated as State FoTests. . No doubt, there is still plenty of timber land ' here on the Coast, apart from the more than a million and a half acres so dedicated, but millers are nevertheless asserting that*, they are hampered in arrangements for future operations by a delay in defining the policy as to sales in the case of large timber areas. No doubt the millers are looking for a hint to improve their own profits, so that the department is not obliged to consider just now what millers want to do in a few years ' time. The point is that the areas in ■question belong not to the millers,but to the State; Now it is, noticeable

that |he Department is advertising for recruits who have matriculated, and this suggests that practical bushmen will be at a discount as foresters, which should not be the case. How long will it take a youth to become fully conversant with forestry in a practical way? We suggest it will take many years, and that the best training i n this matter is not derivable from a study of Latin or French, but from the bush! We, of course, allow that the Department should be much, wiser than wg are in this matter, but in the interests of many experienced bushmen here and elsewhere, we think it only fair to say they deserve consideration in forming a forestry staff. "The decision of the Cabinet to go ahead with the forestry scheme lends interest to consideration of the exact linos of policy which are to be followed. The public will thus share the speculation of the millers in that respect. There is ah extensive move in contemplation. The new positions to be filled show that the Government has adopted some of the suggestions of its experts, and that the Dominion will be divided into seven forest regions, each in charge of a capable forest conservator, . who. will have a good deal of executive authority without the necessity of constant reference to Wellington. The Conservators of Forests for Auckland and Westland are to be paid a minimum of £700 per annum while the Invercargill officer "will receive £600 to commence. The proposed regions in charge of Conservators are Auckland, Rotorua, Wellington, in the North Islaridf and ' Nelson, Canterbury -Otago, Westland, nad luvercaTgill in the South. The Cantcrbury-Otago and Rotorua positions can be filled by the competent forestry officers already in State employ. These officers will settle local ' matters on the spot. They will bo responsible for protective measures, opening up of roads and tracks, guarding against fires and trespass, and control of local sales of timber. Under them will be a number of rangers, each -with a well-defined sphere of work. The Forestry Engineer Avill be engaged in studying the best methods for the utilisation of forest products, and the best uses to which our timber can be put. It is believed that ti good deal of specifying of imported timber for special purposes could be avoided if engineers and architects knew authoritatively., that there are certain varieties of New Zealand timbers suitable for the work. They must have exact scientific data, which it will be the duty of this officer to provide, thus opening up fresh avenues for the use of our own products. He will also investigate other aspects of the economics of New Zealand forests. One of the educative phases of tno department's work will be the prcv.cntion of the use of our most valuable timbers for purposes equally well served by a less expensive variety. Kauri, for instance, is a rapidly diminishing •asset! It has practically reached the stage. when it should not.be used indiscriminately in houses when it is of much greater value for special purposes such as vat-making. To show the disadvantage of the present state of incomplete knowledge of New Zealand's forest ' products, a large contract for tramway rolling stock was completed in New Zealand by importing English ash for the tram coach-work, when a New Zealand timber; probably a Southern beecliy would have been equally durable and handsome. It is to provide data as to the real valu e of what forests there are that the department is having observations and rcconnaisanccs made in various timber areas at present. This summer there will be a rcconnaisancc all over the South Island, and on the West Coast already some measurements are being taken in various forests?. There /are several head office appointments being made, indicating a forward move, while an expert timbcrman is being secured. No doubt, the department will, in the common interest, endeavour to avoid delay in advising millers as to what its general line of policy -will be, and it is therefore necessary to get in at once the preliminary data that is being now sought. In France afforestation has advanced further than anywhere else, and it is even being applied to the work of reclaiming land of a sandy and watery nature. Many thousands of acres of waste lands on "river flats, and dunes have been turned into profitable areas by planting trees and shrubs. The New Zealand Government has issued an account of this work. It shows that in one part of France (Gascony) successful work has been conducted ■since 1757. The result has been the afforestation in valuable resinous and timber-producing pines of thousands of acres of sandy wastes, the financial yield to the State being very considerable. The trees, in turn, have 'prevented the encroachment of the windblown sands, and have afforded protection for extensive cultivation. At the outset long' lines of palisading, on a particular system, wore erected on the seaward side of the dunes. As these collected the sands they were r»--;ad again and again. The Tesult ias been largo protecting seaward iuncs which now fringe the littoral. The sowing of the flats and dunes was with approved quantities of pine seed, broom seed, and marram-grass seed, the last-mentioned being added 7hen the dunes were very unstable and xposcd. - The seeds were spread separately and quite uniformly, and were immediately covered over with brushwood to prevent them being blown together, or scattered, by the wind. The pine used was the maritime; pine (pinus pinaster), and the broom the brush broom (sarothamnus scoparius) . Gorse seed was often added. The pine in its first growth was protected by tlie other plants. Much importance was attached to tlic ciuantitios used and the methods of sowing. The seed

was immediately covered "with boughs trimmed famvise. No doubt this is a matter that our Forestry Department will consider in the near future, and there are doubtless on. the Coast and elsewhere numerous areas where good work could be done in "the direction indicated.