DIRECTOR OF FORESTRY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17429, 26 March 1920, Page 6

DIRECTOR OF FORESTRY.

-■,-.• •'■'''■'•vi^ l -r'";» -i --- —i 7 . - CAPTAIN ; JELLIS ARRIVES. / -\yfois. m NEW, Zealand.

FUTURE PLANS DISCUSSED.

Th© new Director of Forestry for New Zealand, Captain L. Mcintosh Ellis, has arrived in Wellington from England.* In' the course of an interview on Tues- .-, day, Captain Ellis said that his experi- ... ence, with regard to forestry; had been mainly obtained in Britain,. Canada, the United States; and -' When the war broke out he was engaged in forestry work in Canada for the Canadian Pacific Railway. There* his work -was, very much on the lines that he imagined it would be

—the development of working forestry plans, the protection of forests against fire, and the investigation of the, sylvaeultural requirements and technical possibilities of trees, and bo forth. He joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force and served for three years in France as assistant, chief forestry officer to the Canadian, - Fortes their forest operations for the -Brit&h/and French Armies. Their .work fey" mainly akmg the .French front and in the pine and other coniferous areas of Eastern and Northern France, under conditions which would be very much the same as those of some of the mountain regions in New Zealand. "In France," said. Captain Mcintosh Ellis, " they have a' very high forest development, such as we'-hope to establish here when we have the necessary information, and the necessary data pertaining \to tree, growth.' The French methods of forestry - are ' extensive,' as against the Gorman _ * intensive ' methods. The ex-tensive-methods are peculiarly fitted application to new countries, but they are being adopted even in the United States, where they already have great forest development. The extensive system does not require high expenditure, as no doubt the taxpayer will be glad to learn. It is economical, and you achieve your end without going through the laborious pro- ' ■ cesses which the Germans use. Forestry is not necessarily- a matter of 1 money, but of knowledge and scientific guidance, assisting' nature in attaining her objective: Fhres%y being a.longtime business, > therlessT the expenditure needed to establish your plan of management and work- : iretjthe better- the results you get in the ■-end. "-Of course, here you have spent a -.lot of money on your plantations, but with -proper plans,* under which you would have your native forests under " scientific management, it is ; - more; a matter of guidance, assisted by fundamental knowledge , of the science of sylvaculture,' than a question of. expenditure. .-My position in .Canada" was that of assistant superintendent "to the Forest Department of the . Canadian Pacific Railway Company. We had timber interests, of course, in the .. Western States as welL British Experience.^

' I ; have also had forestry experience • under the British Board of Agriculture, ■- .j(S_advisory forest officer in Scotland principally. The Forestry. Commission was just being developed at* Home last year and I was identified with the Commission latterly, when it took over the forestry » ; work - , - from the . Board ,of Agriculture. ' Under the new Act this work is entirely ! ;in"'the hands of the Commission, and it , has an appropriation of £3,000,000 spread * otrer about ten years, which it is spending ■..partly,in Government forestry workr and - partly in assisting private - forestry by means of bonuses and scientific guidance. "My_ first work," he added, ** wfil be a preliminary inspection of 'the plantation - work earned on by your Government dur- • ing the past few years, and a general survey of four native forests'. Mr. Phillips I are going down to the" South Island in- the course of a few days to make, a survey of the West Coast and other districts; after which we will make a survey '•of the-forest districts, of the-North Island*. "• It will,-of course, take some time for me to.lay down fee best working 'plans. - A New Zealand' Personnel.

. > - For -the. training of the necessary personnel for forestry work in the Dominion a start is soon to be made in one of your universities to secure an adequate training staff, where good facilities are available. Th% is a very important matter; and in regard to this. I may say that there is no nee,d to go outside New Zealand to de- . velop the personnel required, because it will take a period of four, or five years to secure a 1" sufficient knowledge of the i fundamental conditions here, and during . that . time the training can go on. It is "hoped" to investigate each and every species of paSve trees, so that their technical qualities can bo brought out and use made of them wherever possible. Yon have such a wide variety of species in New Zealand. It surprised and delighted me to. see them_on my way down by train; " and they most be fitted for very various usesin some cases, no doubt for special and valuable uses."

.' First Impressions. Captain Mcintosh Ellis expressed him- , self as very much pleased with what he had seen, of the country" so fax. In coming ' down from the North he had ssen a cross-sectidn of-the country in which some j very- interesting forest . conditions were showa. The, native[bush they passed, gave, he said, « good index of the character of the stands of native, timber that the department hoped, to establish and perpetuate i 6t; future" generations. Some of the country," was very goodr indeed. "We don propose to go ahead . with f d blare, of trumpets," he remarked in con- * clusion. "You cannot push such work. Forestry is _ a question of quiet, steady work, and investigation with a body of trained men who love the?r work, who* love the 'great out-of-doors,' who like to see their work grow and expand, and are animated by a desire to create something of value to the nation. The development of ..forestry in New Zealand is vital, of course. But is is not a matter of great expenditure, but of careful investigation and steady work by trained men; and out objective', I believe, can be attained by the development of the natural timber reFoTrrces of the country, combined with ■ judicious planting."

PROVISIONAL STATE FORESTS. TOTAL OF 1,500,000 ACRES. j/SV TELEGRAPH—OWN CORRESPOOTESI!.] 57ELLTNGTON, Thursday. Proclamations issued in the Gazette tonight declare that certain lands have been set apart as provisional State forests. The areas mentioned are portions of Crown land in Auckland, Taranaki. Hawke's Bay, Nelson, Marlborough, Westland. and Southland. The total area is in the'neighbourhood of 1,500,000 acres. These areas, which are under bush at the present time, are to be held as forest reserves, pending the reports of the chief forestry officer and his assistants, who will recommend the measures to be taken by the Forestry Department. Some lartre blocks are include.] One Southland block is estimated at 91 000 & 7Vr*. n n the Nel arPas include Works of 106.000 a-cxes, 66 000 acres, and 53 000 acres. The blocks reserved are of all sizes some of them being under 100 acres '