SERVICE TO FORESTRY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19236, 27 January 1926, Page 12

SERVICE TO FORESTRY.

SIR R. H. RHODES' MINISTRY. RECOGNITION BY' THE STAFF. AN ILLUMINATED ADDRESS. [BY TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT.] WELLINGTON, Tuesday. During the period in which the Hon. Sir Heaton Rhodes has held Ministerial office as Commissioner of State Forests, the total revenue of the State forest service has increased five-fold, and the total area of the State forest plantations has increased from 39,000 acres to 79,000 acres. This fact is among thoso mentioned in an illuminated address that was presented to Sir Heaton Rhodes to-day on the occasion of his bidding good.-bye to the forest service, which now passes to the Ministerial control of tho Hon. 0. J. Hawken. The presentation of the address was the subject of some valedictory remarks by the Director of State Forests, Mr. L. Macintosh Ellis, and the secretary of the department, Mr. R Phillips Turner, -to which Sir ; Heaton Rhodes suitably replied. Tho address, which bears the signature of all members of the forest service, cites a number of facts showing that the retiring Minister's administration from 1921 to .1926 had been an outstanding one in the history of forestry in New Zealand, and conveys the hope that Sir Heaton Rhodes will continue to be able to give valuable aid to a cause for which ho has already done so much. MR. H. A. GOTJDIE RETIRING. IMPORTANT PRIVATE POST. SPLENDID WORK FOR DOMINION. [BY TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT. ] ROTORUA. Tuesday. Mr. H. A. Goudie, who retires from the State Forest Service on March 31, to take over the technical management of the New Zealand Redwood Forests, Limited, is leaving Rotorua for a final advisory, tour of the Dominion in the interests of the State Forest Service this week. Mr. Goudio has spent' 25 years in the service, during which period 55,000 acres have been afforested, and 120,000,000 trees raised from seed under his direction.

Mx. W. T. Morrison has been transferred from CWistchureh to succeed Mr.' Goudie as conservator of forests. Born in Dunedin and educated there. Mr. Goudie's first ten years after leaving school. was spent in mastering the art of .propagating plants and trees. In 1901 he joined the State Service, taking charge of the nurseries at Whaka the same year. There were then, no trees planted, in the district to fill commercial wants. Knowledge of what would respond best to climatic and soil conditions was at one time non-existent. The whole work was experimental. Even ythe obtaining of seed was a problem, and Australia, America and the Continent were drawn upon for contributions. Some jof the . episodes connected with seed gathering form an afforestation epic. . With the years, and steadily accumulating knowledge, Mr. Goudie was enabled .to eliminate those varieties of timber unsuitable for permanent productive forest. Among such species were Austrian pine, larch and others. Eventually the residium out ol 200 species can be said to have been narrowed down to seven, including various eucalypts. The experiments .were. not wasted,, for many fine blocks of timber, exist which,, although not desirable to continue planting for commercial .purposes,, .form. .an. interesting object lesso.p, and may later provide instructive data in relative growth as between New Zealand and their native habitat.

T]ie" inauguration of the policy of supplying farmers* with trees was largely due to the progressive. action of the Whakarewarewa authorities, who last year sent out to private planters 3,700,000 plant stock. The system of advising fanners ■'regarding , the trees suitable to their locality, and how and when to plant them, has added to rural timber reserves, and established confidence in the State Forest Service.

Experiments carried ont by Mr. Goudie on sand-dune reclamation and fixation have been of incalculable value on the West Coast of the Wellington Province, and have contributed largely to the solution of a great national problem. When it is considered that up to a decade ago the public was. not only apathetic, but, in cases, actively hostile, that the Government department was, to put it mildly, cold and unsympathetic, then the 55,000 acres of afforested land, once barren fern-clad waste, stand as a monumental achievement. The Rotorua plantations were acclaimed by Sir David Hutchrns, F.R.G.S.. as "the redeeming feature in all the story of forest waste and destruction in New Zealand." Further, it is owing to the excellence of the local staffs, and the careful management, that such results have been made possible. Other experts have endorsed Sir David Hutchins* opinion', including Americans. Tlie Rotorua plantations are now appreciatively quoted by afforestation authorities' the world over, a result directly due to the courage, persistence and skill of the pioneers of the great State Forest Service.