THE STATE FORESTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17631, 18 November 1920, Page 8

THE STATE FORESTS.

NEW DEPARTMENT'S WORK.

ELIMINATION OF WASTE.

ACTIVITIES ALREADY BEGUN.

In the past two years over 5,000,000 acres of land under the administration of the. Lands and Survey Department have been gazetted as provisional State forests and placed under the administration of the commissioner of State forests. The total area thus designated is nearly 7,030, acres. Some of this land carried no forest; on some of it the timber is at present of low value; but within the total is comprised a very large proportion'of New Zealand's useful timber resources.

Among the commodities of which New Zealand has a short supply, and for which the demand is clamorous, timber takes a first place; and one of the most important functions in the system which the Forestry Department has laid down is the Organising of a proper and efficient method of increasing this supply. The recentlyappointed) director of forests, Mr. L. Macintosh Ellis, has prepared and' had approved by the commissioner a scheme for the organisation of a skeleton staff more in proportion to the magnitude of the task than the existing one. At present the

department has only about a dozen officials directly concerned in. active forestry work. The scheme comprises the division of the Dominion into seven forest regions. The head office will remain in Wellington, but control will be considerably decentralised in the handte of a conservator of forestry in each region. The regions will be divided into districts, each of which will be in charge of a ranger. Public Ignorance. The first aim of the department is, in brief, to make the best use of the timber resources. It is estimated that at present only about 25 per cent, of the timber cut or destroyed is used; and that by proper means this proportion could Be increased to 65 per cent. The great loss is occasioncd largely by public ignorance of the properties of the native —ignorance for which they cannot be blamed, because very little serious

research has yet been made in the mat-

ter. A case in point is that there is a larp supply of Southland beech (the socalled " birch"), which is an admirable timber for many industrial purposes, but is, as yet, not widely used. Another,, aspect of the same subject is that certain manufacturers are importing English timber for special constructional purposes, because their designer have atnplo information about those timbers, but no authoritative data about equally suitable New Zealand woods. An effect of this ignorance is that many timbers which are now wasted or deliberately

destroyed, would, _ if their properties wore known, go into employment, and release a large quantity of building timbers for their best use. Systematic Investigation. Proper measures to test • the economic qualities, as well as the rate of growth, of all native timbers, are to be made by the department. and if the results come up to expectations the effect will be to meet much more freely the cry for timber for houses. The work is already in progress in the kauri countrv' bv Mr. McGregor, of the Aucklard University, and in Westhind by Mr. Foweraker, *of Canterbury College. In view of the prompter results likely to be secured, this research work is regarded as of hi"h importance. It is as vital as a replanting policy, because the unnecessary wastage now going on is greater than the gain due to planting. Describing the department's intentions to a Wellington Post representative the director stated that the general idea is ' first, to house-clean, and bring order out oi chaos ; and to dispose of the now available timber in the most business-like wav " Cultural measures, so far as native trees are concerned, cannot proceed for some years, because it is not yet known what methods can best be followed. These will be studied by those in charge of the research work. •