STATE FOREST CONFERENCE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIV, 9 April 1930, Page 7

STATE FOREST CONFERENCE

MEETING OF EXECUTIVE OFFICERS OPENED HY HON. W. B. TAVERNER The annual conference of executive officers of the State Forest Service was opened in Nelson yesterday afternoon by the Hon. W. B. Taverner, Commissioner of State Forests. In addition to between 20 and 30 delegates several representatives of local bodies were present at the opening proceedings, after which the Conference wont into committee. /

ADDRESS BY CHAIRMAN Mr Turner, Director of State Forests, presided,' and called upon the Minister to speak. After the .Minister had spoken (a report of his remarks will be found under a separate heading in this issue) and the delegates had been welcomed by the Mayor of Nolson and other speakers, the' Director delivered the following address: —

"When selecting Nelson as the place for this conference, I had in ■ mind, among other things, the presence here of the Forest Biological Research Station at the Gawthron Institue which is doing such valuable work on behalf of forestry, also the fact that in and ttbout Nelson there is a great variety of valuable exotic trees which were planted by the early settlors. These trees are of great interest to foresters as from them can ,be gained a good indication ns to whether a species will succeed or not in parts of the Dominion where the climatic conditions are not markedly different from yours. Many of these trees, too, have of recent years, through the generosity of the owners, been sourcos of our seed supply. In one of the Nelson beech forests, also, may be seen a 60 year old second crop of beech which affords a valuable demonstration as to tho growth one may reasonably oxpect from cut-over beech forests worked under a "sustained yield" plan of management. There aro very large areas of these beech forests and later they will be very valuable though at present beech timber is little used.

SOIL SURVEYS "One of the valuable works of the Cawthron Institute has been a survey of Nelson soils, and by this survey it lias been found that, stretching in an unbroken line from the Upper Moupiko to Moutcre is the belt of the Moutere gravel series a stiff infertile clay mingled with rubble, often to a great depth. On the greater part of this belt, farming cannot be successfully carried on,' but trees can'bo mown, and because of these facts the Forest Service has acquired a considerable area. Much, if not all, of it originally carried beech forest—now replaced by bracken and -manuka with a frequently scanty admixture of danthonia or fiorin. . Farms never very successful there had been going back for years. On this area, plantations of foreign softwoods are being established. It is hoped that later on further areas of those poor lands.will be acquired, and the timbers grown thereon will hereafter not only supply Nelson, but becauso'of the nearness of a deep water port, it will be possible to export the surnlus product to pther places. "The soil survey branch of the CawLhron Institute has never ceased to advocate the afforestation of the Moutere gravel soils. The Forest Service has begun its operations in the provinee at the southern limit of these soils and the present trend is northwards, following the geological series towards the apple lands and the sea.

"You will note that the line of progress is towards markets and outlets for North Island markets. Tf this.pro>cess is supported by public oninion, everv voar will tend towards cheaper establishment and a more . profitable ultimate crop. The future will see the loner semi-barren hills which bound the fertile plains of the Waimea, bearing the province's two staple products, timber and fruit.

STATE AFFORESTATION "This is the ninth annual conference of the State Forest Service .and lookins back to the starting of our activities. I think the service can justly cjaim to have successfully managed thf extensive forest estates with I which we were entrusted. nnrTalsn to have made the vprv substantial and valuable addition of 200.000 acres .to the softwood plantations of the State. The aggregate area of New Zealand State plantations now reaches 245,000 acres to the softwood plantations of the State. The aggregate area of New Zealand State plantations now reaches 245.000 acres of valuable timber trees, which is the largest area of State-owned planted forests in anv one State of the British Empire. Not only has this huge work been accomplished but wq can also justly claim to have applied systematic and' business management to our indigenous forests which for the most part were formerly under no management but the sales of timber on an antiquated system which resulted in great waste and national loss.

NATIVE FORESTS "We have under our care about 7£ million acres of indigenous forest. Now, this is a hu«{e area and many, thoughtless persons claim that a large portion of these reserved lands should be opened up for settlement. From our practical experience in the field here and from our' study of the forestry and the forests of other countries, we know that these reservations contain only small fractions of land suitable for 'settlement, and that were reservations removed from the remainder and settlement allowed the ultimate result would he disastrous both from tho national point of view and for the individual. How often the settler spends, say, £lO per acre in clearing the. land, grassing, fencing etc. For the first few years the results are encouraging; but gradually the good grasses give place to weeds, scrub and fern; the shallow soils slip from the steep underlying rock and the farm gradually becomes a suwfssion of bare

scars, alternating with bands of vegetation of very low food value. The returns are so small that the settler, if able ;to pay his mortgage interest, etc., lives a life of great hardship and too often has to abandon his farm. In such cases he has lost his capital and the State- has not only lost the value of his work, and the money advanced as mortgage, but suffers a further serious loss through the denudation of the hills and the consequential effects thereof, which are so well known to you all. Moreover there are still large areas of forest which should be brought under tho control of the service, which was established to control the forested areas of tho State domains.

. HISTORY OF U.S.A. "I have stressed the foregoing because an ill-informed section of the public is continually demanding the roleasc for settlement of our forest reserves. Our duty is, however, to take long views and to do this we must resist any action of this kind which we know will in Later years be detrimental to the community as a whole. In the United Slates there are very many millions of acres of waste lands which are the results of attempts to farm lands unsuitable for that purpose. "It is suggested by some that foresters might justifiably forget every other beneficial influence of forests and remember'only its value for prevention of erosion and soil conservation. "Assuming, however, that all the land in the Dominion could be profitably farmed it would still bo necessary to', use a proportion of this land for growing timber, as it would be most uneconomic and decidedly dangerous for a State, especially an insular ono. to rely entirely on overseas supplies of timber. An inspection of maps of France and Germany will show that in these highly developed and thickly populated countries 17 per cent, of the former and 26 per cent, of the latter, is kept in forest. However, as our Minister has often said, where competent investigation proves that any forested lands are suitable for successful farming then it is, of course, our duty to have such areas released with as' little delay as possible. During the last year about 7000 acres were released.

EXOTIC PLANTATIONS 1 "In 1926 my predecessor, Mr Macintosh Ellis, estimated that by 1965 our indigenous forests will yield only about 50 million board feet of timber and that the deficiency in our softwood requirements would' be met by the return from the man-mado forests of the State, local authorities and privato companies. Ihe Slate was to have a total of 300,UUU acres of plantations which were to bo completed by 1933. Tn 1928-29 wo planted 57,000 acres, and in 1929-30 we planted 56,000 acres, bringing the aggregate up to 245,000 acres. During tho coming winter tho planting will bo about Ihe same as last year, so that by next, spring the objective of 300.000 acr.;s will have been exceeded. There is, however, a very largo area of poor lands on which trees can be more profitably grown than anything else; and, as there will be a large overseas market for softwoods, such poor lands can be used for afforestation—in fact the necessity of finding productive work for the unemployed will, I beliove, necessitate the afforestation' of these lands.

STUMPAGE OF SAWN TIMBER "On several occasions during the year , there has been a demand for the lowering of stumping prices of our native timber. The timber industry has doubtless been experiencing a bad time, but this is the result of'a building slump, or drop in exports and foreign timber competition. The stumpages charged by the State Forest Service are only a small proportion of the sale value of the timber and are not high when compared with those charged in other countries. "Up till the present the chief duties bf forest officers have been comparatively simple—l do not mean light, as I, know too well they have been heavy. However, from now onwards the difficult and contentious, but necessary question, of thinning and utilisation must be considered and dealt with. When plantations have reached a certain height and density it is dangerous to leave _ them unthinned owing to their liability to disease and insect attack (which are likely to occur with a. large nutnbe* of trees weakened by intense competition.) Further there is a serious retardation of volume Hncrement. The cautious officer rightly hesitates to thin because of tho expense and the lack of a market for a large quantity of thinnings, but it should be remembered that in overcrowded stands the compound interest on cost of planting and maintenance is increasing out of proportion to the volume increment, with the result that when the final'crop is felled the accumulated charges may exceed" the receipts.

WAIPOUA RESEARCH STATION A silvicultural station is being established at Waipoua and Mr Hansson will have, among other things, the highly important and interesting duty of finding out the silvicultural requirements •of kauri and the practicability of working a kauri forest under a "sustained yield" plan. "The past year has been noticeable for the interest shown by the public in the question of deer and other animals in forests. Foresters do not require to be told that all browsina animals are a •nosk dangerous menace to forests, esnerially New Zealand forests, which have not been developed bv nature to accommodate such animals; and it is' gratifying to know that a conference of all interested parties is shortly to take place to endeavour to find a satisfactory means of dealing with these forest enemies or at least keeping thexn in 'check. In forthcoming legislation we hope to secure complete control of all animals in our State forests."

As showing the comprehensive natur» of the subjects to be dealt with papers will be read on the following subjects: Forest management—native forests: Protection forests; cut-over areas; restocking cut-over areas. Forest management—exotic forests : Blanking, thinning, utilisation and exploitation of plantation thinnings ; thinnings; bleeding experiments ; maintenance : layout of extraction routes ; seed collection ; plane table surveying; establishment of Tairua plantation; firebreaks—maintenance cost.

General: Forest products; timbe: royalty; timber appraisal; timber sales ;orest atlas and photo records; wild life; legislation; regulations.