WEST COAST TIMBERS.

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 17115, 9 April 1921, Page 10

WEST COAST TIMBERS.

i POSSIBILITIES-OF THE IXTTURE. So far most of the work of the State Forest Service has been that entail»d in the organising of the service, and of the members of the staff it has up to the present been possible to appoint. But although the service is still'quite in its initial stages; useful preliminary work has been commenced in some parts of the country. Some time ago, for instance, a survey.of the watersheds running from Taupo in the direction of the East Coast was undertaken, and now much of the attention of the service is 'being directed. to. similar work in Westland and adjacent districts. A brief outline of what is*being done; on the West Coast was given to a "Post" representative on Monday by Mr A. Jlansson. Chief Inspector of the State Forest Service, who has just returned from' a visit there. ""• It appears .that two parties are _ at' work on the West Coast making a- timber, survey. When they, finish their task —it Will be a long one—they will have produced a typographical map of the area, and will also, have'made an estimate of the timber available for cutting, thus enabling the. service to know exactly what the cutting rights are •worth when they are put on the market. Practice has shown that such estimates are within 10 per cent, of correctness, and they are therefore of great value to millers competing for the right to mill the timber. Instead of selling 01 buying, as the,case may be, in the dark, as has been held to have been done largely in,the past, both the Government and the .miller will know as nearly as possible what they are bargaining about. The parties on the West Coast have also carried out certain botanical investigations. The abundance of fine timber in .the district is pictured as-a joy. to the timber expert's heart, but this very abundance has been responsible for considerable waste in the past. With so much timber at hand there has been a tendency for wasteful methods to be used in milling. On the Coasit, too, there is saia to be a- great dear of timber hitherto regarded as useless, and it will become the duty of the experts to demonstrate its .value , for certain purposes. With the miller and, more important, the market educated ub to its uses this "worthies?" timber is described as likely to be of great value in the near future.' ■'