15

C.—3

Spark-nullifiers. Exhaustive trials, made under a variety of working-conditions and in co-operation with sawmilling operators, enabled the Forest Service last year to approve of the Cheney Spark-nullifier as the most satisfactory apparatus of its kind. Use of this spark-nullifier, under the Spark-arrester (Forests Act) Regulations, 1925, became compulsory in all State forests and fire districts throughout the Dominion during the periods on and from the Ist day of October in any one year until the 30th day ofJApril in the following year, and thirty-two nullifiers were installed during the period under review. Forest-fires. During the reporting year no material damage through fires has been sustained by forests under the control of the State Forest Service. The sum of £67 represents the monetary loss in indigenousforest areas, while the damage to State plantations is estimated at £20. While the losses suffered on State forests through fires are practically negligible, such has not been the case in privately owned plantations, where 1,016 acres were destroyed. In the Auckland conservation region fires have been responsible for the destruction of 27 acres of vigorous three-yea.r-old pines on private plantations, and in the Nelson region for the loss of 529 acres of six- to eight-year-old and 10 acres of twelve- to fourteen-year-old plantations established by private enterprise, while in the Canterbury region 200 acres of thirty-four-year-old eucalypts and 250 acres of three-year-old pines of similarly owned plantations were destroyed by fire. During the latter part of the season a system of psychrometer readings was put into force, and returns from these readings show the lowest relative humidity for the Dominion at Hanmer (40 per cent.), with Nelson a close second (42 per cent.). These readings will be carried out throughout the coming season and will enable the Service to obtain more complete data on our fire seasons and hazards.

Analysis of all reported Forest-fires on and contiguous to State Forests.

5. FOREST WILD LIFE. Wild-life conservation denotes the preservation of birds and wild animals for the enjoyment and benefit of the people or for the production of fur or food. Conservations means use —not unrestrained use, but regulated use which will yield the highest public benefits without impairment of inherent productive values. Deer. Since its inception the Forest Service has consistently advocated the control of deer, which have increased at such an alarming rate that their depredations in farming lands and forests are now widely acknowledged. All Conservators report an increase in the number of these vermin, and the Service is more than ever of the opinion that protection on all species of deer should be removed for a period of at least three years, and that the payment of bounty on killed deer should be continued during that time.

Forest-fires: Number, Character, and Area. Money Value of Forest-wealth destroyed. Forest- : C0 IU-gion!° n Number T1^ P ¥ nd Cut "SJ and So t ™^ ud v,T?™dnwr Merchantable Valuable Total detected. JESS!) ' E^roWth ' Value ' S.F. Priv. S.F. Priv. S.F. Priv. S.F. Priv. S.F. Priv. S.F. Priv. S.F. Prlv. S.F. Prlv. £ £ £ £ £ £ Auckland.. 7 336 Nil 400 80 1,571 73 11,515 157 13,513 Nil 1,800 1,800 Rotorua .. . . 128 Nil Nil Nil 20 Nil 100 Nil 120 Wellington 4 53 Nil 10 607 135 Nil 3,313 607 2,282 .. 15 15 Nelson-Marl- 2 129 40 Nil 110 500 Nil 9,380 150 10,419 40 .. 27 .. 67 borough Westland .. Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Nil Canterbury- Nil 3 Nil 86 Nil Nil Nil 213 Nil 900 .. 500 500 Otago Southland 1 12 1 Nil Nil 214 Nil Nil 1 214 5 .. 4 . . 9 Totals 14 661 41 496 797 2,440 73 24,521 915 27,448 45 2,315 31 .. 76 2,315 Cost of Protection, Prevention, Detection, and Control of State Forests. Origin of Forest-flres. Forest- : C °EegIo"° n wages Cost. equipment Loc g™f on Total Cost. clearing Unknown Men) c ° st - ! tors. Sportsmen. Operators. Agencies. £ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. S.F. Priv. S.F. Priv. S.F. Priv. S.F. Priv. Auckland 16 « j 738 0 0 4 6 0 117 0 0 859 6 0 3 .. 3 22 .. 296 1 18 Rotorua . . 10 gg 850 0 0 Nil Nil 850 0 0 124 .. 4 Wellington 3 11 50 0 0 2 3 0 62 0 0 114 3 0 1 .. 1 .. 2 44 .. 9 Nelson-Marl- 22 jo 4 0 0 2 3 0 52 0 0 58 3 0 2 .. 127 2 .. borough S u Westland .. 60 104 0 0 2 3 0 4 0 0 110 3 0 Canterbury- 18 549 0 0 110 0 0 Nil 659 0 0 1 .. 2 Otago .gj° Southland.. 8 £ 194 0 0 2 3 0 64 0 0 260 3 0 12 1 .. Totals 137 .. 2,489 0 0 122 18 0 299 0 0 2,910 18 0 4 .. 4 24 2 604 4 33