OUR FOREST WEALTH

Hokitika Guardian, 28 October 1921, Page 4

OUR FOREST WEALTH

TRAVELLER’S IMPRESSIONS

WELLINGTON, Oct. 2-1

Kipling’s trite saying, "They little know of England who only England know,” applies with equal force to No" Zealand. Few residents of the Dominion know the full extent of its varied resources, from an economic and industrial, as well as from a scenic point of view. It, is only when an observant traveller, who takes the world as he finds it, reminds us what a land reward wo possess for the profitable employment of capital, bo it in pounds sterling or brawn and sinew, industry and thrift, the stock-in-trade of the bona tide working man. AMERICA’S EXPERIENCE.

An American visitor, Mr Daniel Wilder spoke earnestly of the wealth ] of forest resources New Zealand pos- j SONSOS, and expressed the hope that those concerned with the problem ol conserving our indigenous timbers would profit by the experience of the United States. Mr Wilder recently set up a sawmilling plant at Port Craig, in Southland, capable of turning out -10,000 feet of timber a day. Almost human in its ingenuity, it dispenses entirely with the heavy lifting work associated with the handling of big logs, and the workman’s hands barely touch them till, dressed for export, they reach the ship’s side. This plant cost 111,000 dollars. At the instance of the New Zealand Government, he is proceeding to Kranklon Junction to supervise the erecting of another American milling plant controlled by the Railway Department there. During the past four years Mr Wilder has installed sawmilling plants, tunning to 1811,(100 dollars in one ease, in Bankkok (Siam), the Malay Peninsula, and litirmah (India). One of these is averaging 20o,00(1 feet of sawn timber a day, with two ton-hour shifts. DENUDING THE FORESTS.

With thirty-five years’ experience behind him in the handling of commercial timbers, Mr Wilder becomes quite dogmatic when lie touches on the requirements of the future in regard to them. "I served my time as :i hoy," he said,

"in the Milwaukee mills. 1 we nt hack there in 1911. after going round the globe live limes, and could not locate the mills I had worked in. The forest had been cleaned bare, and the plants had moved on. They "ill disappear here, too, unless you have a rigorous policy of conserving and leplanl ing.” AMERICA’S UNTAPPED WEALTH.

Asked whether the depletion o| the iiiuher re-oiirees of America was in sight. Mr Will let said there "ere \et huge untapped supplies, but tlieie was an entire -absence oi the indiscriminate telling of trees that was eharacter-i-iie of State policy L’o yea is ago. The resources of Canada in pine, hemlock. >piu»e. and olleu « omnir i cia I limbers "ere unlimited, especially in the Western provinces. Canada liail-a big asset in hoi livers, in assisting to market her timbers. They weie not coining to New Zealand in as big quantities as one would wish, but the exchange ilifliciilty has upset oveiseiis trailing in limber, lie was pleased to see that il was recovering it wits no" J.9S—and they could anticipate a healthy trade revival when it "as more stable. NEW ZEALAND’S RESOURCES. The icsotuecs of New Zealand, despite the fewness of its commercial hardwoods, were leinaikablc. lie had not yel associated liim-clf familiarly with its building timbers, oiling to tin l dilliculty of recognising them from their Maori names, lint for finishing limbers, and ini interior work. Now Zealand was wonderfully weallhy. "It is like everything else heie.’’ lie < om-luiled. "Von have a wonderfully rich count ry : I don’t knew il you really know bow rich it is. Your people are live, and it is something for a traveller, thousands of miles from leone, to partieipaio in the hospitality anil generosity of your folk, wherever we go. It is the brightest feature of this young, virile nation.”