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timbers to compete successfully with the Continental oak would be from 160 lb. to 165 lb. as the breaking weight. Then, we have the birches, rimu, kauri, and other descriptions, which have equal or adequate strength for all the uses tbe Continental oak is applied to. Rimu, for joiners' Avoi'k, is as good a timber as the Continental oak : its strength, tested by Mr. Blair, on twenty-five samples, attains 175*40 lb. as the breaking weight, besides which the fineness of its grain and beauty of tints give it a value unquestionably aboA*e that of the said oak for joiners' plain and ornamental Avork. HoAvever, it must be borne in mind that oak possesses internal properties—the purity of the sap in it and the absence of any noxious juices—-Avhich render it most valuable for the manufacture of wine-cask staA*es, an article of immense demand in England and France. Ready-made staves of oak are imported into England and France from America, the Baltic, and Eastern Europe. The planks intended for staves are always split and cleared from sapAvood. Under this form of conversion, oak reaches higher prices than those above quoted. The wood of the New Zealand birches possesses all the requisite qualities to make staves, and there are reasons to believe that its juices would be found, by analysis, perfectly free from any noxious matter. This would be a matter of great importance, for each birch-tree giving an. average of about 3,000 superficial feet of planks, clear of sapAvood, Avould represent in the English and French markets a value of about .£6O. Thus our birches would be found a most valuable timber, and a perfect substitute for the Continental oak in all its uses. Some descriptions of the pine tribes, converted into deals of 12 feet in length, 3x9 inches, reach very high prices in the London market. Quebec pine, manufactured in these dimensions, fetches j£24 per ton*=.*£s per 100 superficial feet nearly. Christiania pine deals, in the same dimensions, are quoted at £4> per 100 superficial feet (European Mail, February, 1880). Besides the value which New Zealand timbers would be entitled to in the European markets, there are also to be found in our native forests other sorts of produce which could be most profitably utilized. The bark of some species of our indigenous trees, as intended for tanning purposes, and experimented on at the Wellington Museum, gave the percentage of tannin as follows: Rata, percentage of tannin, 18*56; hinau, 21*78; kiritoatoa, 23*2. A sample of the best French bark, young oak, sent to the writer, Avas analysed at the same institution (No. 2568), when the percentage of tannin was found to be 12*8. Prices for the bark of oak are about the same in England and France, and have increased in both countries about 100 per cent, during the last twenty years, and will further increase, not only because of an increasing consumption of leather, but mainly owing to the fact that the sources of production arc becoming exhausted everywhere. The above particulars are only a short abstract out of many important points, bearing on the subject of exportation, which require the serious consideration of the colony. The whole forest question in New Zealand, as comprised in these terms —Conservation, Revenue, and Exportation —cannot be properly dealt with and treated otherwise than by the formation of a special administration, having for its objects to investigate and promote the great interests it concerns. Wellington, April, 1880. A. Lecoy. f

By authority : Gbobgb Didsbuby, Government Printer, Wellington. —1880. Price 9d.]