7

C—3

Early in November I resumed inspection in Canterbury, when I had the advantage of Mr. Eolleston's advice and suggestions. He kindly deputed Mr. Alexander Lean, the Steward of Eeserves, to accompany me, to whom I am much indebted for the amount and nature of the information acquired. After visiting the nurseries in the Public Gardens and, with Mr. Eolleston, the sandy tract by the sea, which extends north of New Brighton to the Waimakariri, on which it appears very desirable that planting operations should be undertaken, Mr. Lean and I visited Colonel Brett and Mr. Holmes's planting, at Kirwee and Bangor. The latter gentleman has planted extensively, and, I may say, regardless of expense, with the best results. We also saw some planting at Home Bush, all three places being in the Malvern Hill district, and situated on the upper part [of the Hawkins Eiver. We next proceeded to Banks Peninsula, visiting Akaroa, Okain's, and Barry's Bay, and^returning to Lyttelton by the Purau track over the mountains. The forest in the Peninsula has, as is well known, been periodically devastated by fire ; and, although I do not find the utter annihilation which was predicted, so much of the best forest has become freehold that it will probably be impossible to find any suitable compact blocks for Government reserves, and we shall probably have to content ourselves by securing all we can on the crests of hills, and at the head waters of streams, and disposing of tho rest to the best advantage. The saw-millers at present appear to be doing a brisk trade, at. profitable rates, whilst at the same time rendering the land which is their own suitable for pasturage. Mr. Thacker, at Okain's Bay, has some 1,500 acres of forest, chiefly black and white pine, with some totara and a little kowhai (Sophora tetraptera). His mill can turn out 50,000 feet per week, but averages from 25,000 to 30,000, according to the demand. He estimates the average yield per acre from his forest at about 12,000 superficial feet. Mr. Latter, at the head of the Akaroa Bay, informed me that his mill turns out 30,000 a week; that it has been at work for three years, and that he calculates another three will exhaust his forest. Almost half of his forest is mainly stocked with totara, the remainder being chiefly black and white pine. All the totara, however, which I saw in the Peninsula, was comparatively small and, except in the valleys, stunted. Our next trip was south to Burnham, where I saw the very successful plantations of eucalyptus, near the Eeformatory; the Eakaia, where Mr. Middleton's planting and a Government plantation of 80 acres were inspected; and a visit was paid to Mr. Wason's plantations in the neighbourhood, which extend over some 250 acres. From Eakaia we went south, by rail, to Timaru, noting reserves suitable for planting on both sides of the line betwixt the Eangitata, Orari, and Waihi Eivers. At Timaru, I visited Mr. Sealy's eucalypti plantations, and made preliminary selections of land in the vicinity suitable for planting, and brought my tour in Canterbury to a successful termination before the end of November, submitting a memorandum of general conclusions arrived at to Mr. Eolleston, which met with his approval and concurrence, and has since been acted upon provisionally. Towards the end of January, 1877, I was again in the Canterbury Province, en route to the West Coast, and inspected some of the bush, which is chiefly F. Solandri on the head waters of the Waimakariri, &c. A subsequent visit to Amberley and the Hurunui, en route to Sherwood Forest, exhausts the detail of my Canterbury inspections. I should mention that, during the months of September and October, I employed Mr. Eobertson, a Scotch forester, with high testimonials, and candidate for a post in the New Zealand Forest Department, to visit and report on the forests of this province and localities suitable for planting. His report, which is of considerable value, is appended. Mr. Eobertson's health giving way he was unable to travel, and resigned his acting appointment in October. Forest land in Canterbury is now so valuable, realizing £30 an acre for the timber alone, that it becomes very important to reserve all that is left, if only from financial considerations, disposing of all, which it may not eventually be deemed necessary to retain for climatic considerations, to the best advantage, and thus making funds available for planting operations. Otago. 7. On arrival in Dunedin I had an interview with the Hon. George McLean and Mr. McKerrow, and the latter, who was just leaving for Wellington, kindly gave me all the information in his power during the short time at his disposal, and sketched out a route for me which served as a general guide during my stay in the province. I first proceeded through the gold fields country, via Waikouaiti, Palmerston, Pigroot, Kyeburn, Naseby, to Clyde and Cromwell, beyond which place I rode fifteen miles up the valley towards Lake Wanaka. At Clyde I saw Mr. Pyke, M.H.K., and got information from him as to the timber supply and requirements of the district. I also visited Mr. Ferrand's orchard, the rapid growth in which proves what can be done with the aid of irrigation in this locality. From Clyde I went via Alexandra, Eoxburgh, Benjer Burn or Ettrick, to Lawrence, where I met Mr. Brown, M.H.E., and visited Blue Spur and Weatherstone, in the vicinity, and thence by Waitahuna to Milton, and by rail to Dunedin. Almost the whole of the country traversed as above—viz., from Palmerston to Lake Wanaka, and Clyde to Lawrence —-may be said literally to be quite bare of trees of any description. I have never seen such a treeless region. The general aspect is mountainous, rugged hills rising to a considerable elevation on both sides of the road. The soil, even in the valleys, is poor, being chiefly light clay and sand, and the mountains present generally a rocky and barren appearance. They afford, however, fair feed for sheep, being covered with the grasses known as silver tussock (Poa australis, var. Icevis), and hard sheep's fescue (Festuca duriuscula). The only other natural vegetation which I observed was the Discaria toumatou and Aciphylla Colensoi, known to settlers as the wild Irishman and wild Spaniard, and Carmichoslia Munroi, which occur throughout the gold field and lake districts. There is almost every-