C.—3d

1886. NEW ZEALAND.

STATE FORESTS DEPARTMENT (PROGRESS REPORT OF THE), BY T. KIRK, F.L.S., CHIEF CONSERVATOR OF STATE FORESTS.

Presented to both Rouses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency.

The Chief Conservator of State Forests to the Hon. J. Ballance. General Crown Lands Office, Sir, — Forest and Agricultural Branch, Wellington, 30th June, 1886. I have the honour to submit a progress report of the Forest Department, together with a statement of operations proposed for the current year; also appendices containing a descriptive list of forest-trees available for planting in New Zealand, and a schedule of the State forest reserves. I have, See., T. Kirk, The Hon. J. Ballance. Chief Conservator of State Forests.

Progress Report by the Chief Conservator, T. Kirk, F.L.S. On my appointment as Chief Conservator in December last, I resumed the preliminary examination of native forests on which I had been engaged in the early part of the year, and completed the work about the close of April. It was necessary to complete this before the organization of the department could be commenced, so that it will only be necessary to offer a progress report at this time, stating the steps .that have been taken iii the way of organization, and the chief operations to be undertaken during the present season. The results of my inquiries into the present state of native forests, and the condition of the timber trade in each district, have been embodied in two reports which have been laid before the General Assembly by command of His Excellency. A report on bark and secondary forest products has been prepared and submitted in order to draw attention to the numerous openings that exist for the profitable employment of labour in the utilization of waste forest products. A popular descriptive work on the timber-trees of the colony is in course of preparation, under the title of "The Forest Flora of New Zealand." A work of this kind is absolutely necessary in order to secure uniformity of nomenclature, and, to facilitate this object, it is proposed to give illustrations of the foliage, flowers, and fruit of each kind, accompanied by a full description in plain language, with a detailed account of the chief uses to which each kind can be applied, its durability, rate of growth, and general adaptability to the purposes of the cultivator. Particulars will also be given of the methods of felling, transport, and conversion of the more important kinds. As the work will probably find a circulation in Europe and the United States of North America, the botanical portion will be made as complete as possible, and brought down to the date of publication. Regulations for felling timber in State forests have been prepared, and are now under the consideration of the Law Officers of the Crown, They have been drawn in a sufficiently elastic manner to be applicable to the entire colony, while every precaution has been taken to avoid unnecessary interference with established customs on the one hand, or to make a needless increase in the royalties on the other. I—C. 3d.