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APPENDIX IV.—FOEESTEY OPEEATIONS.

REPORT BY HENRY J. MATTHEWS, CHIEF FORESTER. In submitting the seventh annual report in connection with the State Forest Branch, I have to express my thanks to the Nurserymen in Charge, Foresters, and Assistant Foresters for the able manner in which they have carried out their duties during the year. The measure of success attained is chiefly due to the zeal and industry displayed by the officers in charge of the various stations. The output of trees from the nurseries during the year amounts to 1,454,914, valued at £5,777 10s. ; and the number raised in the nurseries and plantations is 3,936,107. The total number of trees raised in nurseries and plantations to date is 11,649,423, and the number at present in nurseries is 7,394,205, valued at £12,151 6s. Od. The number of trees and area planted during the year at each plantation is—Dusky Hill, 806,238 trees, 296 acres ; Naseby Survey Paddock, 81,125 trees, 29| acres ; Hanmer Springs, 97,400 trees, 28} acres ; Whakarewarewa, 207,933 trees, 88$ acres; Waiotapu, 376,184 trees, 177 acres : total, 619f acres, containing 1,568,880 trees. Total number of trees planted to date, 2,908,156; and total area planted to date, 1,438-J- acres. Trees and shrubs to the number of 105,233 have been supplied to other Departments and local bodies during the year, representing a value of £784 Bs. lOd. The expenditure for the year amounted to £9,329 2s. 9d., and the total expenditure to date is £37,690 14s. 3d. Against this sum, trees in stock, tools, buildings, &c, and value of all improvements made, show a total of £57,513 16s. Od. Digging pits, per thousand, for trees cost £1 ss. 9d. at Dusky Hill Plantation, £1 2s. 6d. at Naseby Survey Paddock Plantation, £1 12s. 4£d. at Hanmer Springs Plantation, and 14s. 6d. at Whakarewarewa Plantation. Tree-planting cost £1 ss. Id. at Dusky Hill, 19s. 7d. at Naseby Survey Paddock, 16s. 6d. at Hanmer Springs, and 12s. 6d. at Whakarewarewa. There has been a very small percentage of loss in transplanting trees from seed-beds to nursery-lines—barely 2 per cent. —and in transplanting trees from nurseries to plantations the loss is under per cent. Lining out trees at the nurseries cost 7s. ljd. at Eweburn, 4s. 9d. at Tapanui, 6s. 2d. at Hanmer, Bs. lOd. at Starborough, and 3s. 4d. at Rotorua, all at per thousand. Tree-seeds germinated fairly well at all stations, the poorest results being (as is usual) with Sequoia sempervirens, and the best results with Abies Douglasii, Abies excelsa, Catalpa speciosa, and oaks. There has been no loss amongst the seedling trees through the disease known as " damping off," but a small number of spruce fir were destroyed by the grass-grub at Tapanui Nursery. The lowest readings of the thermometer were—at Eweburn, 16°, or 16° of frost; Tapanui, 22°, or 10° of frost; Starborough, 30°, or 2° of frost; Rotorua, 24°, or 8° of frost; Waiotapu, 17°, or 15° of frost. The maximum temperatures recorded were—Eweburn, 78°; Tapanui, 96° ; Starborough, 94°; Rotorua, 84°; Waiotapu, 90°. The rainfall for the year amounted to —19-58 in. on 85 days at Eweburn, 48-32 in. on 173 days at Tapanui, 21-13 in. on 85 days at Starborough, 46-74 in. on 108 days at Rotorua, and 43-88 in. on 127 days at Waiotapu. Tree-planting by prison labour continues to be satisfactory, as will be seen from the report in connection with the Waiotapu Plantation. Some provision, however, seems desirable for Forest officers supervising this class of labour to be authorised to issue orders direct to the men in place of through prison officials in accordance with the Prisons Act. The difficulty is at present got over by appointing a Forester as an officer of the Prisons Department, but this arrangement is not altogether satisfactory, by reason of divided authority in issuing instructions. The words "or any officer of the Forest Department" inserted in the clause dealing with this subject in the Prisons Act would meet the case. Arrangements are in progress to employ prison labour in connection with the nursery and plantation at Hanmer Springs, where some twenty-five men will be sent on the Ist August. It is also proposed to commence operations by prison labour at Dumgree Plantation, Starborough, South Marlborough, at an early date. A start has already been made in planting a portion of Somes Island, in Wellington Harbour, where some fifteen prisoners are now employed. No suitable land has yet been selected in Wellington District for the establishment of a nursery and plantation to be worked entirely by prison labour. Inquiries are, however, being continued with this object in view. A new plantation-area of 1,050 acres has been taken in hand in South Otago, and some preliminary work undertaken. This plantation, known as " Conical Hills Plantation," is situated within a few chains of the railway-siding of that name, and about ten miles south of Tapanui. The land is gently undulating to moderately steep, with deep sheltered gullies running east and west. The soil is rather poor in places, though moderately rich along the river, which forms a natural boundary of some four miles in length. Rabbits were until lately very plentiful, but constant trapping, ferreting, and poisoning have thinned them out considerably. For the most part the land is covered with tussock, and dwarf scrub and flax is confined to the slopes towards the south. A useful four-roomed cottage and outbuildings are on the property, as well as an excellent shelterbreak of Pinus msignis. As Dusky Hill Plantation will be filled up early this season, attention will then be given to this plantation, where it is proposed to plant about a quarter of a million trees during the present year.