OUR VANISHING BUSH

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 794, 18 April 1910, Page 10

OUR VANISHING BUSH

; INDL\N FOREST LAWS. "What, struck mo most in travelling through''your country," S said Colonel John Pollen to a Dohinios. represents, tive just before his departure on Friday, ''was the terrible destruction of your" forests that, has taken place. In India the old Moguls 'had wiso forest Jaws, and thoroughly realised the rieces- ■ _ sity for conserving 'the timber. No man i. -was allowed to cut down a tree unless,' he'plamted tea in its place, and no tree, of' * more than a certain girth could be cut down yithout the permission of the i 'Moguls... For many years after we Britishers: (»me into India all was chaos so far .as tie forests 'were concerned, , but lartterly'we havo 'learned wisdom, and the .Indian Government has now a fine forest service," Colonel Pollen said it seemed to .him rather a pity that. . New Zealand had not something like tho grand Moguls' forest laws. Condi- . iions are,.of.course, different here, and' . to leaye./the big trees standing when firing a ; piece of bush in New Zealand sias never/proved particularly success- ■ ful from the timber conserving point of. view. If .the forest giants survive the neat of ■ the fire; they almost invariably perish after a few yeah out in the ; open.■ ' ,

Forest conservation has latterly been receiving-: some attention, and it is in-teresting-to note from Australian papers to; hand this week ."that .the Vic-, torian 'Minister for. Lands' (Mr. M'Kenzie)_ has'..become impressed with tho serious. Consequences which must follow the continuous destruction of timber, throughout that State, and he has'-un-der, consideration a scheme for encouraging tho planting of trees upon private land. Ho thinks that tho . State might,.be divided into- four districts, and that, prises might, .be offered in each to ;tlie landholders-who in' threo years improved their properties most by planting; suitable, trees. It might; .be wise, tho Minister suggests, for i'committeei to' be appointed'to deal with proposals ' such as this "for the encouragement: of tree-planting on private land. Mr. M'Konzie agrees with tho recent "congress of Victorian progress •associations that it would be desirable -for suitable trees to bo planted systematically'along banks of streams throughout Victoria.,