FORESTRY COMMISSION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 307, 20 May 1913, Page 5

FORESTRY COMMISSION.

TREE-PLANTING CAMPS. By Telegraph—Press Association;. Wellington, Monday. ; In the course of his evidence before the Forestry Commission to-day,, Mr. Jordan, Under-Secretary of Justice,, stated that the employment of prison, labor by the Department nad been satisfactory. It seemed to be the only' ■ thing that had any reformative influence whatever on prisoners. Some prisoners did not like the camps, and had asked to be taken back to gaol. They found they had to work too hard/ and wanted to be back in the towns, where they could hear the latest news. It had to be remembered that the cost of prisoners in camps was almost double that of the average in the gaols, for the Justice' Department was not allowed anything for the work of the prisoners. The Han mer tree-planting camp was the least efficacious of those run by the Department, and it had occurred to him, witness added, that they might close it; in fact they proposed to do so as far as. the Department was concerned. In reply to questions, witness said it would be better to have one camp in each island and to concentrate on tree-plant-ing by means of prison labor. Dr. Hay, Inspector of Mental Hospitals and Prisons, quoted figures showing that in 1911 the cost of planting one thousand trees, including clearing the ground and digging the pits, was £1 «g at Waiotapu, £2 6s at Hanmer, an* £1 9s at Waipa. RAILWAY SLEEPERS. • Wellington, Last Night. An interesting statement regarding the preservation of timbers used for railway sleepers was made before the forestry Commission by Mr. James Burnett, chief engineer of the Railway Department, Mr. Burnett said that the Department was at present Powellisinir about 50,000 sleepers a year. Its expert' ence had been that creosote was fairly satisfactory as a preservative, but the difficulty was in getting supplies of creosote in New Zealand. The creosote process cost about Is 8d a sleeper, and W average life, of the sleeper was thus prolonged to sixteen years, as against a life of two years for natural rimu. The Depal• ment had not yet found, however, ■nyluing to come up to jarrah for sleepers. On the Catlins line, 24 year! ago, all the sleepers were of jarrahfS Junng that time, only two had S ririS r nd rer>lftced in ■«* whole eight mdes of h ne . Up to the present t.mb er which had been PowelliS had been anyth.ng but a success, and the company which was doing the work was only feeling its way, and only exnlr? ment.ng. For one thing, the comjanv 52,? i'W 0 " that ->-PeSto P be treated should be as fresh from the mill as possible. Some two years Zl *i Department had sent thenar ,S sleepers from the Woodville works where there was „ ot enough ereoS to go on with the treatment. XW