THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1877.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2531, 15 February 1877, Page 2

THE Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1877.

Captain Campbell-Waiker, F.R.G.S., conservator of State Forests in New Zealand, has read a very interesting paper before the Otago Institute, Dunedinj on the aim and object of State Forestry. He commences his paper by answering a supposed question. What is State Forestry? And in answering this be shows that the definition given in the Gardener's Chronicle of what practical Forestry is, viz., the aft and practice of growing the largest quantity of the most valuable wood on the smallest piece of ground in the shortest time, though applicable to J private * estates, is not so when applied to State Forestry,which has to consider the benefit' not only of the present Jbut future generations. He on the contrary. defines this State Forestry to be the conversion of any tract or tracts of natural forests which contain trees of different ages and of different kinds, growing here too thickly, there too thinly, into a. close, compact forest of trees of the better description, divided into blocks, one of which; or part of one of which, may be cut down each year in order, to be, of course, either sown or planted again .the next, so that- when the last block is cut down the one first cut may be fit for cutting the next year, and so on. This is in fact the plan adopted in Kent, the county which of- all others in England is most given to arboriculture. There sections of the woods are annually put up to auction, the successful bidders being obliged to leave certain portions of the old wood standing, varying from 25 to 33 percent, of the growth. The rest . must be cut "down and •cleared away in a specified time so as to allow the young growth to spring again unchecked. Captain Camp-bell-Walker answers an argument" used against State Forests, viz., that if they are profitable they may safely be lefb to private individuals, if not profitable the state had better have nothing to do with them, by showing that private individuals look for quick and large returns, and so cut down, the young wood, whereas the wood which the country as a nation requires is timber of large dimensions, such as is required, for naval purposes and public works, &c. To prove this he quotes the case of woods in France, in which the coppice woods, owing to the small amount of capital required, return at the rate of 4J per cent., while the timber woods return but 2 per cent., so that if the woods were entrusted to private individuals, each of whom would try and make the most of them, the supply of old timber of a good kind would very soon be greatly below the demand. The way in which forests are worked in Germany and France are then dealt with, and Captain Walker maintains that the system followed there is applicable to other parts also. There must be a surveyor and valuator, the former to survey, the whole district, and then the blocks, which the valuator may divide the forest into, the latter to define the description, age, and value of the timber then standing", to set out the best plan of working the forest for the future, and consider what roada would be required for the. transport of timber. To secure a succession of trees fit* for the purposes of a nalion it is necessary to have recourse either to reproduction, that is the obtaining, young trees In place of those cut down," by means of seeds,, or else by means of artificial planting. Natural reproduction has many advantages over artificial planting, the principal being that the cost is reduced to a minimum by the trees themselves .affording seeds. There are, however, advantages on the side of artificial planting which wo have not space here to enter upon ; they are dealt with in an exhaustive manner by Captain .Walker. The whole of the forests he would like to see divided into three heads, viz., (1) state "forests, (2) forests-which are reserved for the use of communities, municipalities, and educational endowments, &c, and (3) private forests. The first of these, state forests, would be again sub-divided -into reserved and unreserved forest, the former to constitute the permanent source, of supply of timber, the unreserved"open to those who wish to cut wood either for timber or firewood, royalties being paid for permission to do so,and licenses issued as well. How much of the state forest should be reserved is an open question.. Captain Walker thinks that 3 per cent, in" proportion to the area or head of population as proposed by Sir J. Vogel ought. to be the minimum, and mentions that in Germany the proportion is 12| per cent.; No. 2, the Communal . Forests, would be managed by the State Forest Department,; and all surplus revenue after deducting expenditure handed over to the oom-

munity or endowed body. With JNo. 3, private forests, the state would have nothing to do. ■ Captain Walker quotes facts to. show that forests are a source of revenue to a state, besides being an absolute necessity; we say absolute necessity, because all countries must have a supply of timber for various purposes, and the production of this at home, instead of being dependent on other countries, such for instance as the / pine forests of Norway, is clear to everyone, both on the score of convenience and expense. The firstjnstance given is that of a plantation in the Punjaub of 7000 acres, which was commenced in 1865, and on which, up to 1873, £26,003 had beei spent—including £5000 spent in unsuccessful experiments—and it is calculate' that up to 1881, when the capital accour ; closes, the expenditure will be £97,000. Against this the plantation has already yielded £5000 from petty thinnings sok" for fire wood, &c, and in 1881, will, it is calculated, be worth £170,000 or an increase of actual value of £78,000 over money expended, which deducting interest (and it must be borne in mind that the money was expended over a period of years) leaves an excellent margin for profit on the undertaking. Now considering that" j as the rainfall in that part is very small, and that the whole plantation has to be watered from a neighbouring canal, the water of which has to be paid for at the rate of 4s per acre per annum—a total yearly charge of £1400—the excess of value over expenditure is all the more remarkable. Another point is that the land bas improved in value, for what would formerly have fetched with difficulty a yearly rental of 2s an acre, now readily fetches 12s, and even 20s per acre per annum. This one instance alone is as conclusive as one instance can be of the advantage ol having State Forests. Another instance is that of a plantation in the Madras Presidency, and is even more extraordinary. It was bought for £30,000 30 years ago, which sum included the lease of 19,000 additional acres, and has returned- already £10,000; it was valued in 1875 at £150,000, and. Colonel Pearson, late In-spector-General of Forests in India, valued it at two millions sterling when the trees arrived at maturity. Other instances are given of plantations in Australia and Switzerland,, and Captain Walker in summing up arguments in favor of State Forests says', "If we can succeed in creating blocks of artificial forests throughout the mining districts .of Otago, the advantage will I am sure be readily admitted by all who have visited that treeless region." Thus far then the Conservator of Forests has shown this, (1) first, that it is necessary to have forests; (2) that they may be productive as well as convenient; (3) the best way to manage them, and has adduced arguments and instances in support of his assertions taken from his experiences in different parts of the world. So much for the general part of his speech, he then narrows his subject down to that which more immediately concerns us, viz., the State Forests of New. Zealand. Of these Forests he says he has a.very high opinion, he says " The kauri and puriri of Auckland, the totara in Wellington, and the red, black and white pines of the -South Island are timbers of their class, second to none in the world." Regarding the £10,000 N per annum appropriated under the present - Forest Act Captain Walker thinks that after the first few years even this sum may be dispensed, with, as he expects the Forest Department to be self-supporting, and as an expression of what he thinks may be done, he, after stating that he indulges in no Utopian idea, adds,:—-" I do not pretend that we are going to • clothe barren hill sides and desert plains with trees in a year, or even several years, or that the indigenous forests are at once to pay off your colonial debt, but I do say and think that with proper management, we shall be able to plant wherever necessary, secure a permanent and improved supply of timber, for the use of individuals and public departments, and retain an intact and gradually improving forest property, whose capital value may represent your national debt, and the income derived from which ought to go far to meet the interest thereon." A consummation devoutly to be wished. •