STATE FOREST SERVICE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19307, 21 April 1926, Page 14

STATE FOREST SERVICE.

OPENING OF CONFERENCE. GREAT FUTURE PROSPECTS. CONFIDENCE OF THE MINISTER. f 11V TELEGRAPH.—OWN CORRESPONDENT.] WELLINGTON, Tuesday. . The fifth armual conference of the State : Forest. Service was opened this morning by the Hon. '>. J. Hawken, Commissioner of State Forests. Mr. Hawken stated that he looked upon the department largely as a commercial one, and lie felt confident that the future Welfare' of a large portion of New Zealand was hound up in its forests. As an agriculturist .he had particularly noticed in his travels through the country that there were large areas of very poor land which .were at present epiite unproductive and unsuitable for sett lenient. These areas were well suited for tree planting, and he foresaw in the not very distant future that it would be necessary to make a big forward movement, to reafforest these lands. The. problem of noxious weeds was a very serious one in many parts of New Zealand owing to the presence of sorb lands, and this could he entirely eliminated by tree planting. The Minister added that, he realised the harvesting of timber was very often long delayed, but the forester looked far into the future, aqd he was certain that in years to come New Zealand would not only be able to supply its own timber needs, but would also have a large quantity available for export to other countries. He congratulated all officers on the results which had been attained during the year just ended, and looked forward with confidence to the new year's operations. He referred briefly to tho numerous afforestation companies which have been formed in tho Dominion during the past few years, and in this connection sounded n note of warning that intending investors should completely satisfy themselves regarding the risk front fires, insect pests, etc., before investing their money in these companies.