C.—3.

(to) Timber Control Notice No. 43, published in Gazette, 1942, page 952, provides briefly that timber produced in or south of Te Kuiti, shall not be transferred to the north of Te Kuiti except with precedent consent. This arrangement was necessary in order to provide adequate supplies for the Taranaki, Hawke's Bay, and Wellington Provincial Districts. (n) On the 26th March, 1942, by agreement with the New_ Zealand Timber Workers' Union and the Dominion Federated Sawmillers' Association, formal notice was given to certain sawmillers tributary to the North Island railway system to increase production by extending the hours of working until further notice to at least forty-eight hours each week, except with the precedent consent of the Timber Controller. 101. Declaration of Timber Industry as Essential. —Faced with an ever-increasing demand for timber for defence and munitions and a declining personnel in the industry, the Minister of National Service made the following declarations in terms of Regulation 9 of the National Service Emergency Regulations 1940 :— (a) Declaration of Essential Industry (No. 7), dated 16th January, 1942, published in Gazette 1942, page 354. The industry of sawmilling, including Government undertakings therein, also operations engaged in the supply of logs. (Ib) Declaration of Essential Undertakings (No. 22), dated 16th January, 1942, published in Gazette, 1942, page 356. Specified concerns in respect only of the manufacture of wooden boxes, containers, and parts thereof. (e) Declaration of Essential Undertakings (No. 22) is amended by notice dated 31st January, 1942, published in Gazette, 194-2, page 457, by deleting specified concerns. (d) Declaration of Essential Undertakings (No. 22) is further amended by notice dated 27th February, 1942, published in Gazette, 1942, page 633, by deleting specified concerns. (e) Declaration of Essential Undertakings (No. 22) is further amended by notice dated 19th March, 1942, published in Gazette, 1942, page 911, by deleting a specified concern. 102. Industrial Man-power.—By arrangement with the National Service Department, the Forest Service has investigated the man-power position in all mills, and, wherever justified, the office of the Timber Controller has supported appeals in the public interest. With the entry of Japan and America into the war, timber requirements for defence works, &c., have expanded to such an extent that, in addition to the working of extended hours, it will shortly be necessary to ask for (a) the transfer of workers with previous experience in the timber industry from less essential occupations, and (b) the release from military service of all experienced bushmen and of most sawmill workers. 103. Vehicle and Tractor Impressment and Petrol and Tire Conservation.—To increase production and at the same time conserve petrol and tires, the Forest Service has acted in an advisory and lawenforcement capacity to the Commissioner of Transport and Oil Fuel Controller. By heavier loadlimits, increased use of railage facilities, and reduced use of supervisory and non-essential vehicles, substantial savings in both petrol and tires have been effected. The Army, together with the Public Works Department and the Transport Department, have co-operated to leave with the industry its essential requirements in logging tractors and timber vehicles. 104. Essential Supplies.—The action of the Department in arranging for national reserves of wire ropes, saws, and corrugated fasteners has been vindicated by the narrow margin by which serious shortages in these supplies have been averted, and extension of the scheme to other supplies is under consideration. 105. Forest Resources. —The maintenance of adequate log-supplies to existing mills has become increasingly difficult. The most accessible forest resources are often held by owners who are reluctant to sell either for sentimental or other reasons, but fortunately all those required to date have been released as a contribution to the war effort. Nevertheless, it has been necessary in other cases in order to expedite sales and to avoid closing down of mills engaged on the cutting of timber for essential defence works to direct the owners to make timber immediately available for cutting without waiting for the normal completion of agreements. 106. Export Butter-box and Cheese-crate Pools.—Under the Export Butter-box and Cheese-crate Pool Regulations 1941 the pool system of purchase and distribution of dairy-produce containers was extended to include cheese-crates as well as butter-boxes. While the butter-box section of the regulations continued to apply to the North. Island only, the cheese-crate section embraced the whole Dominion; the State Forest Service co-operated with the New Zealand Dairy Board in the purchase and disposal of both types of containers. Due to the change-over from butter to cheese manufacture and also to a poorer dairying season than last year, the number of export butter-boxes manufactured was only 4,679,000, compared with 5,300,000 for the previous period. Of the season's total 4,146,000 were made of white-pine and 533,000 of rimu. A total of 20,953,000 board feet of timber was delivered to factories for box-manufacture— 8,630,000 board feet of white-pine from North Island sawmills and 9,794,000 board feet of white-pine and 2,521,000 board feet of rimu from the South Island. The demand for cheese-crates was a record for the Dominion, and for the eight months ended 31st March, 1942, dairy-factories absorbed 1,868,000 export cheese crates—2ll,ooo in the South Island and 1,657,000 in the North Island. Under wartime conditions the supply of timber for such quantities was often very difficult, but by careful and continuous control the period of peak demand was successfully met. 107. Commercial Afforestation Companies.—Figures supplied by the Government Statistician show that the total planted area controlled by private companies at 31st March, 1941, was 310,542 acres; the new planted areas actually totalled 531 acres, bat owing to an adjustment of figures the net increase on the total quoted last year is only 101 acres.

3—C. 3.

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