CONSERVATION OF FORESTS.

Waikato Times, Volume V, Issue 274, 12 February 1874, Page 2

CONSERVATION OF FORESTS.

TffE Cantei-bwy Pruts, vmtiag on the above subject, says : — Ar the treuncr i tghtly observed : " Thero is a most reckleaa waste of th<» tiiil^r of the country No onsuleratir.n I is shown ioi tbu fa<it that chose who get cimber in improper aetuwiis, or who fell )t, and make me of ifc as it should not bo used, are injuring iwt oaiy their own property, but the pioperty of otheis, Tby the evil reputation which they are gaining for tho ti- lbor of iue country." This i» unfortunately ouly too true. As an instance of what we mean : how often have we seen on newly made roads heavy waggons deliberately driven in single file, each following in tho tiack of the precppduijr one. and cutting deep into th« roidwiy which Lets just cost a large sum to construct, when by waiting a short time and allowing f-hc material to consolidate, a #>od h*rd road would hivo resulted ! It is just the same with timber. JJushoien, saeing a. tree which it may be" w jrth whilo to cut down, proceed at once to clear a way to it, and piob*l>ly in so doing destroy perhaps a score of younger trees, wliio : m ~,nne tni^hs have ju3O become proti able. Not; couteut with i.hia. it has often (though not so much so of Lite yeard) b?en th<M<- habi 1 - *o p-irnosely destroy by tire) ,hundru»ia of acres of valuable forest. Dr Hochstotter says :- " Extensive districts which had formerly beeu covered with kaun wood, are now totally destitute of such, and the extermination of that noble tree progresses from year to year at such a rate, that; m final •xtiuotion ia as certain as that of the native i. ♦ * » Duriag m / stay in Auckland I was able to observe from my windows, during an entire fortnight, dense clouds of smoke whirling up, which arose from a confl igratkm of th« woods newest the town When the fire had subsided, » large, bevitiful tract of 'md lav the re in aabe*." • • • But besides tuis there is anotkfer source of injury to which Mr Vogel alludes, and which jfc*^ still few prevouted. We moan the reckless felling of tiiuiier at all seasons of the yea> . In a paper read at Nelson lately by the Rev J. 0. Halcomho may be found some remarks on this subject which, although probably only repeating what we all know perfectly well, are none the less valuable for th*t. As the author observes our trees "are commonly subjected to such treatment as causes the beat grown English oak to perish in a very few years. * * * Throughout Europe timber is felled only in the depth of winter * * * In this coutiUy it u felle.l at all t easons of the year, the sawyers piWerring it full of sap as b -ing in that state easier to cut, * * * and then people blame the timber so treated for not lasting. " This, and the want of proper seasoning oefore beiug used are, according to the author the chief reasons why New Zealand timber, otherwise ss good as auy other, h^s a bad lepuUtioi* fer lasting, ho*/ these at'least are evils which we can lemedy. We have in thi3 eolouy many timber merchants, who are, we presume, highly respectable tradesmen, and who are, in point of fac 1 -, capable of undertaking very responsible duties outside their particular trades. How is it, we may ask, that they, who must Lnow of the evil, allow it to continue perpetually, when they could at any time put a stop to it 7 That it should suit them to supply their customers with inferior . wares for the sake of a corresponding profit -wm must not suppose. Yet, as the l etnedy is in their hands, and as they have not, so far, either in Christchurch or eUewh*i« in Now Zealand,' atteinjjte 1 to use it, the blam* most to a extern r«.dt wiia them. , A ride through the bush in any part of the country will show how general this destructive habit is. The saw mills ara never idle, and tta» axe of the buahman never still. Every day, summer andwinter, the fiubst trees in the forest are to be seen falling on all sides, and roorebver, acre after acre of less valuable timber is perpetually being destroy.*! thrown shear carelessness and waste. We fear that mere wi iting and speaking on this subject will do no good. So long as the bushmen themselves a-e allowed to go on in their usual careless way, taking no thought for the morrow, felling at random their own and other people's trees, and destroying a dozen uselessly for svery one they turn into timber, so long will they m-vke no attempt at reform. Even that usually most potent of arguments, the argument of the pocket, will fail to persuade them. For they fancy that they have but to clear out all the timber where they are, and then to migrate to some other spot where they will find equally abundant stores to destroy. And so long as the public, who buy timber for various purposes and the architect* who control the supplies f orthe different buildings, are content to use infarior timber, -30 1 )r>tr w' 1 ! thr rweHnts, in *pite of reason, continue to supply .5. j.-feaa-r anu argument are, and always will he, t drown away. One thing is certain, that ar tho present rate it is impossible that our forests can foot for many more years "''horefora, m the mtete'ts of the timber trade iiself, md ro tho interest* of t*ie public who utie the matei lal. it 19 absolutely neee&sary that the Gortrnment should step in. <»nd with a his;h hand interpose some remedy But, before considering what tnat remedy should be. anrl what steps ought to be taken to replace, if possible, the valuable 63 tate we have lost, there is another phase of the subject ■*» wjricb -rr» -»r»«U briefly draw Atto.tlon. '* i %4| The question of pre^r-in* our forests ia important uiSi only in a coramervhi aen«. In io far us the timber trade is concerned, taut could 9o carried on if there were not a troe left iv the country: we should simply import what ire wanted and pa? accordingly. But there is another new of the matter wuich la of the very greatest importance to all ehsses in the colony ; and th»»t io, that tree* are known to «ercis§ a •'smark'ib 1 * influent on climate and meteorology What we »re about to say has been md over and over a^am, and will, in all likehnood contain nothing that it new to uiost peopK But eipcmallj iv a case of this kind, fact* and arguments tending to rou»e public attention cannot bo too oft?n reiterated or too strongly put, and we therefore male do apoicvj for reproducing what so many speakers and writers have often urged betoro as And, although our remarks will, to a great extent apply to all parts of the colony, yi t we imagine t^em to be more particularly aoulictble-to tlio Province of Canterbury where tht want of native tree* is so j.airfully apparent. * * • * In France, the destruction of thegr^at foreits were followed by such «evore drougnts that the Government were obliged to replant them. In Algeria tho planting of ltrge arr»\ chiefly with Australian *urn trees, hat been the cause of % most beneficial chhnge of the climate- In Ezjpt, where rtin used formerly bo so rure t.'zat the country was supposed to ba peifectlv ramies, heivy ahowert now ppnutantlj fill, since the present and tne late Sovereign planted extensive forests. On tho other hand Spam and Mexico, denuded of tlie\r trees, have had their climate changed for the worse, and tho land parched and rendered barren. An for this country alone the facts speak for theumWes In the Assembly, last year, Mr O'Neill stated that great floods and destruction of property in Wellington had followed the clearing away of (he forpsts in the Hutt valley. The Hon I Mr McLean, tho Native Minister, said: — "The rivers were gradually shallowing owing to the disappearance of the timber The climnlo tno had very materially altered. Ho believed that in some parts of tho Province of Auckland there was much less rmnfull thnn tbrre wn« tome years ago when those parts were covered bv forest." So tint, although no man can tar that tree planting will put a stop to nor'woiters, we may certainly affirm that it will deprive them of their sting by inducing a larger rainfall over the country. It. may be said that, 1:1 tliid Island, tho eastern side is the lrast protected by trees, and that therefore the climate it dner than on the West; and that in the North, though forests are more evenly distributed, except in HnwWn Bay, thobe parts where the trees have been extensively cleared away are rapidly beginning to feel the bad effects of their destruction So that the question becomes, for thfl North Island, What is the best mode of preserving tho leinams ot the native woods ? for this Island, what is tho best mod* of coveringtbe open country with the necessary protection by planting ? Coußrang ourselves at prudent to the second of these question*, it appenrs that there are two modes of proceeding. And we shall take the province of Canterbury as an example, bocauie one of these modes lias beeu aireadj U> »ouie extent tried, because the second can be attempted without delay, and because the lajd laws here are more favoraole to the experiment than elsewhere. The first plan which may be «aid to bo at present m operation here, is that of giving a bonus for tree planting. By t.lie Forest Trees i lantmg Encouragement Act it is pro* idod that anj penon who shall plnnt t"va shall, when t'ie3 nre a certain height, bo entitled to receive two acres of Crown land for erery acre so p'snted. The principle of tbn Ac 1 , so far as it is intended to encourage necessnrj improvement, is good Tho bonus system i» not, to our mind, satisfactory, in this instance. The risk and expense arc not sufficiently compensated for by the reward promised after a term of years. And we believe that prsctically the Act has not met with the sucoesu which its promoters anticipated for it, very few, if mnv, persons having applied for laud under its provisions. If landowners are not sufficiently alive to their own interests to plant for themselves we doubt whether the bonus offered under this Act will induce them (o do »o. Thu second plun is that ot tho planting of extensive areas by the Government itiolf. This, at least in this province, could be earned out with great advantage and not excessive cost On a smull scale it has already been commenced, bv planting in certain place* on thn different I rail Any lines, »i:d we observe amongst the reserves lately confirmed bv the Provincial Council a belt of twenty chains in width, from the Avon to the Wnipara, half a mile from tho •*n, " for planting purposes. " But tint is nut sufficient. It is known that pines and trees of tho same class grow freely on our plains, and, independently of their me towards improving the climate, pines are valuable for timber. Why, then, should not b»U<i of bind, ssji of s r|!>arfv»~ of s> mile each, be set apart throughout the province, where land is »till unsold, from Hie mountains *o the sea, or north and couth over the pUint, and planted, out ot the puH.i furu\ wuh such trees as would grow best m the vanou? locp'ities : pines, or gums, or Enirliih foiest Wet 9 There ar« few obj'ots to which tho publio money could with more propriety be devoted • and, probably, without reserving tnnre of our waste lands, there uiu man) pieces ahaadj *>t *pjrt. nuicb could be made available for this purpose. As for the cost and iHTieu.tj of can-ring out such a propoial, they wonid probably be found to be comparatively «m*U. »nrt s iriarlunarv for cftenting it in the speediest pos-

6 ble waj might be found in the Road Boards. If thebs bjdies wore allowed an extra special grant for performing the work — for foncing the land and planting the trees — re> ctiving also supplies of young plant* from tho G-overnraent nursery, and if for the fir^ two or three years, the young plantations were maintained under the supervision of the Steward of He>erve«, there would be no nece.-sity for creating a new department or for expending too much of the publio money. Thu is a matter which affects all classes of the populatun ; the poor mure than the rich, the small farmer more than the town merchant. We should be glad to see our Provincial Government take up the question.