THE FOREST PRIMEVAL

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 19, 17 October 1919, Page 5

THE FOREST PRIMEVAL

EFFORTS OF PRESERVATION

MEETING OF FORESTRY LEAGUE

There wns an encouraging attendance of members nt the annual intcling of the Nciv Zealand Forestry League, which was held yesterday afternoon, 'i'lio president (Sir James Wilson) was in the chair.

Presidential Address,

111 the presidential address, Sir Jnnica 'Wileon remarked thai although 'comparatively few in the league might I>d congratulated on the progress forestry had made during the past year. "II is," ho added, "extremely dillieult to change a destructive .policy into a constructive one, and it seems to 1110 that, at any rate, the destructive policy lias been arrested, which is a matter for congratulation as a first step. Our part lias been to show the public the serious position wo have found ourselves :n as to tlio future timber wants of the Dominion, seeing that we have been so rapidly destroying tho supply which nature Iwuni.ifully supplied us with. We ure going through some of the stages which apparently all countr'es go through— wanton waste of natural forests, alarm at position as to .future wants, appointment of trr.ined men, declaration of policy so.a 3 t-:> conserve the remainder, much trade opprsition, a [''orpslry Act giving MI powers, large expenditure, and ultimate success :m supnlying the needs of the country from State Wests." Tho president went on toipoint out that regulations in connection with the licensing of Biivmilltrs had been issued, nml tho licenses granted stipulated that bel'or# the export of white inne was allowed loeal needs must lx> provided for, The Minister, Sir Francis Bell, had made it quite e'enr what Irs intentions were, and had pointed out that sooner or later the wholo revenue from State timber must go to the Donrnion Treasury to the credit of the State Forestry .Account.. The Minister bad also made it clear that a Director of Forestry would be appointed who would have experience of modern methods and education in t.he scientific branch of forestry. The mo=t pressing matter, continued Sir James W-Ipoii, was in connection with the kauri forests and adjoining lands, where kauri seedlings and saplings were growing, and from his remarks tho Min'ster appeared to bo thoroughly seized of the importance of immediate action. Valuable Suggestions. White tho statement of policy detailed for the first time in relation to forestry m.ght be described as worthy of ull accepiation, tnere were several points which tiiu president desired to empluwise: "(1) That demarcation should bo pressed on, w that 110110 of our remaining forests should be sacrificed if the land is more suitable tor t.mber growing than for settlement. (2) That a. cqiisus of the private plantations be taken to ascertain: ta) tho extent, in area;•('!>) tho claw of timber; (e) Ue prooabie biza and height of timber Euitalt.e for milling, and (d) the ago of plantations. (S) That a, vigorous policy should be at once adopted to plant the various areas of sand dimes on Crown lands which are ail close lo centres of population and the railway' system, (I) Tho passing of a Forest Act to give full powers to a Minister to set up a eeparato Forest Department, properly stalled and provided with sufficient means to cany out the policy announced by S.r Francis Beli, so that the whole, subject of our forests, and tho conditions under which tl\e various native species grow, can bo studied with a view of conservation )ind regeneration as well as tho coutinuan'eo of planing on interior lands, .(5) Above a.ll that 110 delay should tako place 111 securing to tho Forest Department as great an area as possible in tho kauri growing district (a timber which lias been classed as the most valuable in the vorld).*' Continuing, the president 6aid tliot the executive was specially indebted to .Mt. Jlutchins for the continuous help he had given it atall times as-.a labour of love. It was disappointing that committees had not been-formed in various centres to. keep alive-the latent interest in forestry. Feeling reference was made by Sir James, Wilson to t.lio death. of Mr. T. W. Adamsi who had bequeathed his moat vnluablo plantations at Greendale to tho board of tho Canterbury College,. together wiith a sum of .£2(100 to lic.p tor,vards tho establishment of. a school of forestry in Canterbury. The lato Mr. J{, C. liruce, who was a great lover of nature in all forms, had left his property to trustees who, tho president whs informed, were directed to devote any money they thought lit to forestry. Concluding, the president expressed his acknowledgment of tho work of Sir Francis Bell sinco he bad assumed tho position of Commissioner of State Forests. Ministerial Addresses. Tho Commissioner of Forests, Sir Francis Bell, and tho Minister of Lands, the Hon. D. 11. Guthrie, arrived nt this and both addressed the meeting. &.r Francis Bell, in com mending the members for their val'.uable and unselfish labour on behalf of our forests, assured them that no long as he retained office lie would try to gather under the control ot tho Department of Forests as much land as ho could get hold of. In view of the fact that at this moment every acre of land capable, of settlement wa.i required for our soldier settlers this would mean constant effort on his part. Tho Minister of Lands foli-owed with ft few congratulatory references to the work the league was accomplishing. It was very gratifying, indeed, to see that signs of life were not dying out in the Forestry League. Incidentally Mr. Guthrie expressed the .opinion that the creation of a separate Forestry Department was absolutely a step in tho right direction. Forest Regeneration, The subject of "Forest Regeneration" was handled in an enlightening manner by Mr John Deans, of Canterbury, who emphasised tho great good that could be accomplished in this d,notion in planting the poorer and waste lands with various species of pine, particularly "piiuis insignia." Tho lecturer emphasised the prolific. rcproductiveness of pines, and instanced also how the regeneration of native bush had been sueeestfully carried out at Home'bush. The bush grew because shelter wus. provided and stock kept out. Forest regeneration seemed to him to be tho most important branch of forestry. There seemed to bo several dangers to our forests, such as fire, which could be overcome by tho usual practices of firo-flghtiug used in comiecL.on with forestry. Secondly, stock would need to lie rigidly excluded, and rabbits and hares poisoned as much as possible The third, and to his mind the 1110s! important, was the gross problem. He had found that it wai very unus-nail to see seedling trees growing where, the grass was very rank. "Practically all our regeneration," ho added, "goes on in 11 poor soil, or when: there is a very l>oor sod of grais. This is vnally a good thing, because we will not. need to plant our better pasture lands. The price is too high, and there is any a.mount of light and inferior waste land in New Zealand that wouCd tie better planted with timber instead of harbouring vermin nud noxious weeds." A Pertinent Point. An interesting discussion followed, in tlje course of which Mr. James Pcarce urged that the barren and unprepossessing hills on tho eastern side of tho Ilutt Valley should "be planted with pinus insignis and other exotics, and so combine the, beautiful with the practical. Tin's work being liglit would suit disali'ed returned soldiers not capable of heavy work. A point made by Sir Walter Buchanan wns that in any planting of native bush that wns undertaken it would have lo be borne in mind that certain areas in the country would grow only certain specks -the totara might flourish where another variety would fail. , A hearty vote of thanks was accorded Mr. Deans for. his paper, which it was suggested should bp n-'ntpil. Economic Utilisation. An educative pa-per on the "Economic Utilisation as n Factor in Forest Consenation" was delivered by Mr. W. J. Butler. In the course of lliis ho re. marked that' tho question of using our forests to tho best advantage- had not been sufficiently considered from tho industrial and oomniorcial point; of view, -and any conservation that did not lend itself to utilisation was wasteful, It was

admitted tlint the. question of a Bivo forestry policy was of such importance from a nntionnl point of view tlmt the commercial aspect should not lie permitted to dominate the more important factor of nntionnl necessity. At the enme time, anything that would tend to invest thai policy with commercial tmceess would ensure its acceptance and its vigorous prosecution. The encouragement that had been given to unrestricted competition amongst sawmillors, nnd tho consequent low price of timber at the point of production, lind induced a demand, oil the part of users of. timber, for on'y the superior grades—with the result that a large percentage of inferior grades (which would 'be quito serviceable for many purposes where timber was now used) was left mi tho forest or destroyed at the slab fire. It was probable that with the development of industries in New Zealand, and with cheaper transpert .facilities, the demand for lowet ' grade timber would proportionately increase. This would mean that a lesser annual acreage of forest cropping wot* d meet the community's needs than if tho present wasteful custom of tising only the better grades of timber weTe. continued. Concluding, Mr. Butler remarked: "Without desiring to deprecate tho importance of forest conservation and reafforestation, it is respectfully submitted (hat tha'r value . is largely dependent upon the extent to which their operation* serve the community, and the pnv vention of wastage of forest products by Assisting in their fullest uti'lfcation must bo economically sound. Ths aspect stiou'd be commended to tho attention of those to whom our forestry administratis i= entni'ted." In thfe evening a discussion took plnre on the papers read during the afternoon. > An interesting paper, -written by Mr. T. F. C'pecemnn f wn o rond by M'\ n. F. von Heast on 'The Growth and "Regeneration of the Timber Trees of New Zealand." Mr. Chweman considered that on the whole Ihe chief indigenous trees grew faster than the chief ti'"lier trees nf Europe. Mr. ,T. Orchiston reed a siiort paper, in which he advocated that tre"-l)lant-in.g should be encouraged by Government subsidies or the remis"ion of nnd taxes on the land so planted until the trees had reached' a reproductive stnsre. , Mr. W. J? Butler (TToTcitfrM. in a paper, gave snmp verv intere«ting information as to the growth of trees. showin? at a certain point if Wnme unprofitable to Iceep t-reos standing. M't. A. Leigh 'Hunt, hon. treasurer, presented the annual report ar»' balancesheet, which were adontpd. Mr. Hunt UTged the nnpointment of ail nr?ani«er who** dntv it would be to Wm as educative centres and place its literature through mercantile firms and far mew' co-operative companies. Election of Officers.. The following officers were elected for the ensuing year:—President. Sir James Wilson; hon. secretary. Mr. ]?. W. Furkerfc: hon. treasurer, Mr. A. T.pigli Hunt; members of council, General Sir Andrew Russell, Hon. J. M. Thomson, Pnv. .T. 11. Pinimomß Pr. Hav. Messrs. B. Chambers, T. F. Ciieoseman, F. W. Fiirkert, W. .T. Birch, W. Ferguson, and James Hny. Votes of thanks to th" officers, president, an'd Press terminated the proceedings.