Wairarapa Age. MORNING DAILY. THURSDAY, MAY 18, 1911. NEW ZEALAND FORESTS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10241, 18 May 1911, Page 4

Wairarapa Age. MORNING DAILY. THURSDAY, MAY 18, 1911. NEW ZEALAND FORESTS.

In an interview with a representative of the Sydney Daily Telegraph, on his return, from New Zealand, Mr E. D. Hay, Inspector of Forests for New South Wales, had something interesting to say concerning the foreats of this Dominion. Mr Hay says that denudation, largely the result, of deforestation, has wrought conspicuous evils. When the trees and their root reticulation are destroyed, hillsides, rendered unsrbaible, begin to r-lip into the streams; floods , carry the gravelly substance dowtn into the ravers, and scatter it over the banks, destroying fertile alluvial land, or deposit it in shoals, to the danger of navigation. Streams are liable to change tlieir .courses, and riparian troubles ensue. These processes, general enough, Lave a special application in New Zealand, owing to the large, proportion of the hilly country wliieh lends itself to erosion wlien deforested, and owing to the fact that natural regeneration of the forest caimot'ibe looked for as in New South Wales. In that colony the vigorous growth of trees restores a damaged area in a few years, but in New Zear land Mr Hay found that "almost any fire at all seems to kill the bush at onoe." He thinks that the Dominion has a difficult probl m ahead of it in dealing with the consequences of denudation. Afforestation operations in New Zealand by .norms of prison labour have resulted 'n a total of about 10,000 acr.'s be : rg planted. In connection w : th + he plantations a proportion of !'ree labour is employed. There is no doubt, says Mr Hay, tJhat from the c .ca,u 1point of afforestation they are doing

a valuable work, and are doing A extremely cheaply. Another good, feature is that fthey are dealing: with waste lands that are 'incapable of being profitably used for any other purpose. Speaking generally, the trees range from three rto twelve years, and the plantations are in a very healthy and flourishing condition. Mr Hay explained that the question of prisons policy was a matter quite apart from his investigation, "but," he added, "if the Government should decide to utilise prison labour for forestry work, there is no doubt that there is a large field in New South Wales- for the improvement of the natural forests, and for the planting of exotic species of timber." At present the scarcity of laboui* is a very serious factor in forestry operations. Returning to the indigenous iforesrte of New Zealand, Mr Hay isaid that the methods of working were very much on the same lines as those adopted in New South Wales, but the Dominion Government did not spend nearly as much as did New South Wales in supervising the 'working andi in enforoing stringent regulations for the protection of young timiber. Kauri (which a Bellinger timber merchant recently described as the finest timiber in Australasia), is isent to .New South Wales in sailing ships in exchange for their hardwoods, and white pine (kahikatea) is also largely exported from New Zealand for butter-box purposes. Asked whether the Dominion supplies. of these timbers were not being largely trenched upon, Mr Hay was of opinion that they were. An exjport duty on kauri with a view to restricting its export had been advocated in New Zealand. "I don't know whether it would not pay them batter to keep their kauri," said Mr Hay. "1 don't think they have too much, and they may also want all their white pine for their own purposes. For local purposes, New Zealand has in kauri, totara, and rimu, exitremely valuable timibers."