DOMINION'S FORESTS

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 10546, 24 March 1920, Page 3

DOMINION'S FORESTS

ARRIVAL OF DIRECTOR PAST EXPERIENCE •A"N , D' > rtTTTJEEi' piiANs'.".":.,'":..;."■;:.*' .. The Director of , R<p!»:«stS-„i3aptain..l'. Mcintosh. Ellis, raiivecL-iu... .Auckland with Mrs Ellis by the .Makiira from the Old Country on Wednesday last. ; They were met on arrival by,--Mr,■ JS.'.-Phillips Turner, secretary to the Forestry Department, and left with him for Wellington. WAR WORK. ■'■■«:■ ■•'-'■:. - Interviewed by a "Times"'rep^esenta* 1 tive last night. Captain Mcintosh Ems said that his experience with ■regard-to forestry had been mainly-obtained in Britain, Canada, the United States, and France. When the war-broke.,out ho was engaged in foresiry-work. in,.Canada for the Canadian Pa£ific. > he™ his work wa6 very much on the .that lie imagined it would be * here—the development of -working forestry plans, the protection of forests; against fire,: and-the., investigation of the eivicultural., requirements and technical possibilities of trees, and so forth. He joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force "arid served for' three years in Franco as assistant'Chief"forestry officer to the -CaTraaian'-~FotceS*_ in I their forest operations—for -tne~"Btitish < and French Armies. Their "work lay mainly along the French front and in the pine and other coniferous i areas of Eastern and Northern France, under conditions which -would' be" -very much the same as those of some of our mountain regions in New Zealand. "EXTENSIVE! METHODS." "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, the necessary data pertaining to tree growth. . The French methods of forestry are 'extensive,' as against the German 'intensive' methods. The extensive methods are peculiarly fitted »for application to new countries; but they are being adopted even dn the United States, -where they already have great forest development. „» The. extensive sy» tern does not require high expenditure! : as no doubt the taxpayer will be gla« to learn. It is economical, and yoir achieve your end without going through the laborious processes which the Germans use. Forestry is not riecessarijj* a matter of money, but of knowledge and , scientific guidance, assisting nature in attaining her objective. 'Forestry being a. longtime business, the less the expediture needed to establish your plan of management and working the.better the results you get in the end. Of course, j here you have spent a lot of money on yonr plantations; but with proper plana, under which you would have "your native | forests under is more a matter p.feui4ance....assast;ed. t by fundamental knowledge of the science of eiviculture, than a question of expenditure.' My position in Canada was that of assistant superintendent to the Forest Department of the Canadian Pacific Hailway Company. We had timber interests, of course, in the Western States as well. BRITISH EXPERIENCE. . - "I have also hadfoxestry experience under the British Board,, of Agriculture, as 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 Commission, and it has an appropriation of' .£3,000,000_ 'spread over about teri"ye"a'rs",'7wßicli it'is. spending partly in... Government, forestry-,' work and partly in, assisting, private ..forestry by means of bonuses and. scientific guidance. ' FIRST STEPS FIRST. "My first work," he added; : "will bo a preliminary inspection of "the•'plantation work carried on by your Government during the past few years, and a general survey of your native forests. Mr Phillips Turner and I : iam»4soing«idown'-to the South. Island in the course of & 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~:-jm«=to* -secure-an' orientation of the ..conditions, as they exist here, -oertaining -to .the*' -natural forest conditions, so as to be able to lay down the best working, plan*. ... Al NEW ZEAIyANrrPERSONNEL. For the training o*- the necessary sonnel for forestry w6rk"*in the Donilh-" ion a start is soon' t6 ,,s be made in one of your universities" to "itetSure an adequate training etaff,. whwgood facilities 1 ore available. .This is a' Tory important matter; and, in regard';to this, I may say that there is no go outside New Zealand to "develope 'the personnel required, because it wilT'take a period of four or five years to secure a sufficient knowledge of the fundamental conditions here, and during that time the training can go on.- It is hoped" to investigate each and every species of native trees, so that, their technical qualities can be "brought out and use made, of them wherever possible; You have suoh a wide variotr of species in,,Ne,w,,Zed-, land. It surprised arid delighted me to see them on my way down by train; and they must be fitted for very various ases —in some cases, no doubt for special and valuable uses." •Captain Mcintosh Ellis expressed himFeU as verv much pleased .with what he tad seen of the country so far. In coming down from the north he had seen a tross-section of the country ia which, some -very interestine forest conditions were shown. The native bush tliey passed, gave, he 'said, a Rood index of the ehameter of the stands of native timber that the department hoped to establish Rnd porpetuate for future generations. Somn of the country was very good in"NO BLARE) OF TRUMPETS/' "We don't propose to go ahead with a blaTe of trumpets," he remarked in conclusion, "You cannot push such work. Forestry is a question of quiet, •toady work, and investigation, with a body of trained men who love thm work, -who love the.'great outof-doors, who like to see their work grow and expand, and aro animated fevadjsjre to create somethinc of "value to tlio nation. The development of forestry in New Zealand is vital, of course. But it is not a matter of great expenditure, but of careful investigation and steady work by trained men; and our objective I believe, can bo attained by tho development of the natural timber resources of the country, combined with judicious planting.' • -'■ ■ -■.*--