FOREST CONSERVATION AND PLANTING.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2140, 27 March 1886, Page 2

FOREST CONSERVATION AND PLANTING.

At ye-.ni il.i.ys meeting of the Wai U.it. > County Council Capt. Runciman, in au cordainx wiih n piomme mndc to thu .members '-'jinc time ago^H'Sul the follow m £ Qn i( ' r on tho above sul i<t : — Thi< viliject, which I -'• > id have bought lp .it l.«-t meeting < f t-.i-, couuc.il, was postponed w ltli your c>ii->'iiL till to day, v ith .1 iimv of obtaining fin Iher mformati >n fu>m i pamphlet which had jiint been publish' 'l ,iv tli' 1 W'.utem ihi 00-inty Council fi nu rhu |n .i of Mi Mink. The pamphlet i-. .i titati-L- mi the consei\ati»n of tl» v mdi'^nni^ foiusU of mir country, liiit it falls , MMyKhoittoiuyniindofwh.it is loquircd ovci a l.ntro area of "in colony in regaid to to tho pi.intin^ and loiuiation of jowii I,'1 ,' -,tato foi ests. Thin .subject is one of \itil unpi'it.nieo to tho col my, and T cannot uioic ekaily e%e:nplify this than quote ,ume of Mr MotilvV Sigure-.. Hr, estimate-. that in kuiri alone within the last 35 yeai\s no less than 340 millions of inaiketable kauri tree- hnvu be -n destroyed by lire, not taknij? into account what has bwn utilized for the requirements of the country and for expoit, md the ab<iVj figures do not represent one third of the amount of other moht useful timber which has been destroyed by the same cau-e. The 340 millions of tiee.s destroyed by fire, estimating' it at 10* par 1000 feet, and only a 1000 feet in each tiee (;iiid ft kauri tree that would, not 'turp out from four to ten timed that quintity would not be culled a,tieo) waits-, to our country of no less a>Wi £170,000,000 That alone, gentlemen, is sufficient to show that we are wanting wh*t natyjre ba%- provided, and that it behoves not only our Legislature but every s -locaJL^ governing' body to devise means "for the conservation 1 of existing forests" as far as possible, and also a to get liberal Tree Planting Kftcourtgen.ent Act. Since the repealing of the> Forest Tree Planting Encouragement A>.t of 1871, and the Amendment Act, of 1872. The colony as a colony, is taking no steps towards reinstating our forests,- denuded even for tbe actual requirements of coloni-, action and commerce, not to speak of the enormous area wantonly or accidentally destroyed by fire year by year, even from a climatic stand-point. Our Government i.nd our local governing bodies are to be reprehended for this short-sighted policy. I maintain that we have no just riglit to denude the country of its forest, to receive a large revenue therefrom, and take no steps to replant for coming generations. Unless some action w taken very shortly in the direction indicated we may very justly be upbraided for dishonesty and avarice. This subject is receiving a large .amount of consideration by the legislatures of almost every civilise i nation as to 'how to renovate their denuded forests, both for -climatic reasons and the commercial requirements of the nation ; and in the very face of all this our Legislature has* repe*led the only inducement there was to encourage any man or body of men to partially reinstate our denuded forests. Other Tuitions are expending enormous sums in forest planting and are reproaching former generations for, having denuded the country of its maiitle. of timber without replanting. And here, are we just falling into the very same error, for unless some inducement is held out, it is hardly to be expected that private enterprise will do a gre*t deal, »s no man that plants can possibly expect to derive much benefit other than the pleasure of planting and seeing the trees grow. I maintain that we ought as a nation to plant [or the uses of future generations, as it is almost impossible to -conserve tho indigenous forest trees from destruction. There is a large area of Crown Lands which could be set apart for tree planting (which are not suited, nor ever will be for any other use) and this the Government should offer under ceitain conditions to nurserymen and others g'wng them £10 per acie to plant and con-ei \ o for 10 years. This may beem at hr-t bight a large sum, but look at it from a practical point of view it pi esents a very different aspect. Asumiug that a-inan took a 50 acre pttch, according to the Forest Tree Planting Encouragement Ait just repealed each acre must contain oUO trees, to be an average height of so much &c., the land to be securely fencod to entitle him to the advantage offered under the Act. I would suggest the £10 per acre be paid on something like tho following scale :— When the grfcund is planted and fenced at the end of the Ist year fco perncie, at the end of 2nd year, when all dead trees are replanted, £1 per acre, and for the i lemaimng 8 years 10 3 per acre per year. Thi* makes £10 per acie for 10 years old forest, well cared for, when handed over to tho Government. As I have just said, each acie would contain 500 trees and I think each of you will allow that the value, per tree may be fairly estimated at Is, this amounting to the handsome sum of £25 per acre. Thins the Government would couvert what i-> practically \alueless land into land of value to the country for coming geioration-.. With those few remarks and suggestions gentlemen, I would move that this conn^l pass a resolution requesting our representatives in Parliament to take action at the next session of Parliament to have the Forest Tree Encouragement Act reinstated, and not ouly that, but art* inducement offered sufficient to have many thousands of acres of the vrasta' . laud, <>t the Crown planted. It is now no .question, aa to which trea will grow, for. the whole of the eucalyptus family grow a£ a rate almost unequalled in the world, and the whole pinus family do admirably. A certain amount of the deciduous, trees make gre«t progress, perhaps'nono fhortfbo that! the oak. ' Capt- 'ttunciraan further 1 said that the ol|l Act, which hiid done s,ome jrood, lud been repealed, and nothWg satisfactory had bdei; put in its place. The new Act only con templated conservation, and made no pro vision'for planting, except'at the expanse ol the local bodies. Ho wrought a stroiv effort should bo made to reinstate the ok Act, under the provisions of Avhich a I.irgi area of Crown lauds might b3 planted. Hi instanced the Rmgiriri hills a« suitable for the purpose. Though the soil there wa< not much good for any othoif object, pmoand,tbe eucalypti family would grow well there, and the same remark would apply to much other land belonging to the btate. >If tbey did not make a move in the ujattei the evil would continue to grow, and by-and-byo they would feel the- loss 1 of their 'timber resources vqry keenly.T-Mr b. r. Sfcddon, in seconding the. motion, said tlio work of piantine aud conservation ought to go together. The present measqed .was evidently ineffective. Tpe .subject* nni^t be dealt with in a thor'ortghly efficient mannei. If the kauri was disappaaring at the ; rate .represented it was time something was done. l The question wa» .a momentous one.,— C»pt Mel herkm «a) 4 ' the /Government j haW (been adJlressing themselves to tnVqUestil-n for year* in the hope of finding a remedy, but there were bo many vested interests in the way that that conservation was almost impossible.— Mr Barugh could not see how the forests could be preserved. -Mr Seddon said a law might be enacted fo prevent tho wanton destruction of timber. The bush was often ' set oa fire by mischeviou6ly inclined persons, /apd the . law seemed power le-ss to mete out punishment. —Mr Sandes baid there was a law of the kind in fiance.— Caot. Runciman read an extract from Mr Monk's pamphlet? in which it was stated that £30,000 worth of 'bush had been destroyed on Crown^laud^ during the summer, and yet the fact created no stir.— After some further disfcnsfeion, m which the merits of various timbers were canvassed, the motion was put and carried unanimously.— On the motion of Mr J. J. Smith a hearty vote of thanks wa& accorded to Capt. Runciman, and a «imilm- compliment haviug been paid to ,tt>e Waitemata County Council (which body had forwarded Mr Monk's pamphlet), .and to Mr Monk, the subject dropped.

Tiie English walnut is said to be the most profitable of all nut-bearing trees. When in full bearing they will yield about 300 pounds of nute to the tree. The nuts sell on an average at about 4d per pound. If only twenty-seven trees aie planted on an acre, the income would be about £135 per acre. The usual religious services to-morrow are advertised in another column. "•Cow and calf running on Mr Wilson's farm Ngaruawhia. Mr b. Teas, Kirikiriroa, is prepared to cut rhaff, Ice. The Tamahere and Kirikiriroa, Road Board invite tenders for road works. ' ' M. and S. Hunter are frepfrred to sell kauri timber at reasonable rates, delivered on bargo or trucks at Mercer. Messrs W. J. Hunter and Co. will sell at Obaupo on Tuesday, April «th, 800 head good cattle of various descriptions (as per list), 200 cross-bred store ewes, 4 -tooth to full-mouth. dairy cows, sheep, tec. Messrs Morton and Jackson wJllsellby auction at their mart Queen»itreet, Auckland, on Wednesday, the 7th April, by order ot tU2 Regi>trar of the Supreme Court, ihi far.n now occupied by. Mr J. Walsh, near the Ohaupo railway station.