STATE FORESTS IN THE COLONIES.

Mt Benger Mail, Volume 17, Issue 854, 5 September 1896, Page 4

STATE FORESTS IN THE COLONIES.

[Dunedin Star.] Mr G. ftt Perrin, RLS., F.R.G.S., Conservator of State Forests, Victoria, is now' in Otago. He attended the Timber Conference in Wellington as representing Victoria and Tasmania, abd subsequently made a tour of portions : of Canterbury, Nelson, and Marlborough, having been». requested by Mr Seddon. to have a. look through this colony, and furnish an opinion as to the lines upon which forest conservation ought to be carried on. In' pursuance el this arrangement Mr Perrin started from Dunedin to-day' for the Lakes and the Southland district, and he will afterwards, travel to> tin North Island, visiting Taranaki and Napier and then go and see the kauri forest* o£ Auckland. Without anticipating bis report* Mr Perrin is able to say generally that he is much pleased with what he has.seen, and as to the planting operations that Jlaro been carried on-in Canter bary he oaanob> speak too highly. He;say* that!the work.done' there has practical? solved Abe problem of timber supply, and that equal opportunities are open to Obag& .The great-point W planting bare district* is, of ooone, to choose the peeper, descriptions of trees—trees that will have commercial value—and the. experiSffeff wt Canterbury will be useful to othgrplacee in determining the selection best adjusted for shingle country. In his report BRPerrin will indicate his opinion as te»the tfees that are likely toiuifc the higher altitudes of.-Otago* He is disposed to recommend Eucalyptus Sieberiana and Eucalyptus Urnigera as well adapted for this purpose. The first-named grows in Victoria up to an elevation of between 3,000 ft and 4,000 ft, and the other flourishes on the upper slapea of Mount Wellington (Tasmania), wh«M» fore he believes they would suOoeed at high levels in. New Zealand by reason of their frost-resisting Capacity. Then there are the Himalayan or hemlock spruce ot India, and the Cedrus deodara, both available for high altitudes. The European larch, likewise, should suib Otago. It is a valuable tree, now being planted rather extensively in Canterbury. He thinks it would be advisable to keep the larch to the high lands as much as possible. : {V'

Considerable advanoe has been made with the creation of State forests in some of the colonic?. South Australia ,was ■ the first to seriously face the question.. There a department has been formed, consisting of a conservator, a dozen foresters, several nurserymen, and laborers. The department has a number of foresta entirely under de control, some of them of an area of 30,000 or 4ft(MX) acres. The department is, as far as,possible, free from political influence, It was started sixteen or seventeen years ago, and some of the timber* is now old enough to use—the American ash, for example, and certain of the pines, though they are not used, extensively. Mr Perrin was for> six years in that department. New South Wales had a., branch of forestry under- , the Mines Department, and the late Mr Henry Kendall, the poet, was appointed inapectpr of forests. On his death the>maueg»peu)b was vested in. the Mines Department, wad foresters were appointed. Later, operations on a large scale wore started, and theee are still carried on. Mr J? & Brown, of SouthAustralia, accepted, the poet; of DirectorGeneral of New South Wains Forests, and occupied the position for nearly two yeMfe, when he left, Previous to that Mr Perrin was appointed Conservator of Forests for Tmmania, which offioe he held for two and a-half, years, resigning to take office under the Vic« torian Government. Little or nothing has been done in Tasmania w&h regard to forestry proper, owing to the want of funds rather /than .to a lack of recognition of the country's requirements in that respect,, Previous ,to Mr Perrin's arrival in YicUttiaState foresta had been proclaimed, but nothing had been done, the reserved lands being at the mercy of selectors and others, who used tfee'foce*tfl' for their, personal advantage. He inaugurated a forest branch*! the Lands Department, and now has twenty-twoforestersat workand four nurseries going, and there are a large number of laborers at work. He generally gets an " unemployed " vote, varying from,£l,ooo to £3,000, which is expended in giving work to the unemployed of Melboun* city. These inen are sent to the red gum forestaof Barmah and Gunbower, qu ; , the River Murray, where excellent work has been done in thinning and clearing, some 40,000 acres being now under proper conditions for obtaining matured trees. There are several plantations—one at You Yaogv where close s on< 480,000 trees have been planted within the last ■> sixyears ; while at Havelock and Creswick also a lot of. planting has been done.. Wtttr Australia is making a start, and will probably soon have forestry operations in.fuH swing. ;.■!> Uflj 'jPijili'*'