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date, judging from the present output, will cease to be an important factor in the industries of the province. The same timbers as in Otago are utilised for milling purposes, and are all used locally, practically none going outside the district. Particulars of the year's operations are given on page 47.

Summary of the Sawmills of New Zealand.

General Remarks. From the foregoing review it will be seen that the timber-supplies in New Zealand are rapidly diminishing both in quantity and quality. Whereas in 1905 there was estimated to be a total of 43,000,000,000 superficial feet of milling timber in the various districts, it now appears that the amount has fallen to about 36,000,000,000 superficial feet, although the annual output has risen from 413,289,742 ft. to 432,031,611 ft. It must be borne in mind that a very large proportion of the above remaining timber, though suitable for milling purposes, is not readily available, owing to difficulty of communication, and expense of cutting and conveying same to the centres where it is required. Other causes, such as smallness of areas containing milling timber, and consequent unremunerative working of same ; waste of timber in cutting and milling operations ; destruction of forests by bush fires, and clearing land for settlement; and the necessity of preserving certain forests for climatic, water-supply, land-protection, and scenic purposes, also tend to limit the quantity of timber available for milling requirements, and it appears certain that the supply is not likely to last beyond the seventy years estimated in 1905, and will possibly fall short of this period to a considerable extent. • ■ In considering this great industry, many aspects of the case have to be carefully studied. On the one hand, timber-merchants and the carpentering trade all over New Zealand require and demand to be supplied with suitable timber for their needs out of the forests now standing on unoccupied land. The work of the contractor, builder, cabinetmaker, and allied trades would be seriously hampered if any great proportion of their requirements had to be derived from outside the colony, and as at the present time there are 411 mills in operation, employing 7,139 labourers, who, with other workers in the bush and their dependants, represent some twenty to twenty-five thousand souls, a severe blow would be dealt to the industry were its operations disturbed in this manner. Again, the process of felling and removing milling timber from the land largely helps to open it up for settlement purposes, and thereby assists in some measure the work of colonisation. Considerations such as these tend to strengthen the arguments of those persons who desire to see our indigenous forests practically swept away to meet the requirements of the sawmilling trade. But, on the other hand, it is essential to keep in mind the great lessons of past ages, and to guard against a similar fate overtaking New Zealand as has happened to so many other flourishing countries in the world. The following extracts show how this problem has been studied elsewhere. In the " Transactions of the Royal Scottish Arboricultural Society " for January, 1907, a most interesting review is given of " Forest Policy in the British Empire " by Dr. W. Sehlich, C.1.E., F.R.S., which is one of the most important works on the subject ever published, and contains the results of the lessons and experiences of centuries in the various countries of the Empire. To quote a few excerpts : Dr. Schlich's definition of a " forest " is " an area which, for the most part, is set aside for the production of timber and other forest produce, or which is expected to exercise climatic effects, or to protect the locality against injurious influences" ; and he contrasts this with a " wood," which is " an area stocked with trees or shrubs, and managed for the production of timber, firewood, and such other produce as ordinarily accompanies the rearing of trees" : so that every wood is a forest, but every forest is not necessarily a wood. On the important question of the effects of forests on the moisture of the air, Dr. Schlich summarises the data (chiefly German) which he discusses by saying that " the mean annual excess in forests ranges from 3 to 10 per cent., which explains why dry currents striking through forests may become, in a short time, relatively moist, so that precipitation may be caused. At any rate, there can be no doubt that the formation of dew is much greater in the vicinity of forests then on open ground away from woodlands." He shows that, although some 23 per cent, of the rainf&ll is intercepted by the crowns of trees in a forest, more of it actually penetrates the soil than does so in the open. Mechanically it can be shown that of the rain falling on a forest, close on one-fouith is intercepted in this manner, the other three-fourths falling on and being absorbed by the humus instead of running of! in surface streams. He also points out that it is for the State to guard the interests of the community where necessary, for the State alone can give sufficient guarantee for continuity of action. He shows

Land District. Number of Mills. m 4 , n Total Nnmi er Total Horse- £ H d P° wer - employed. Total Cuttingcap;, city per Annum. Total Output per Anuum. Auckland Hawke's Bay Taranaki Wellington (west) .. „ (central) „ (southern) Marlborough Nelson Westland Canterbury Otago Southland 59 38 29 15 32 30 14 71 49 9 9 50 2,847 1,059 737 373 526 559 494 852 912 102 131 1,408 2,307 721 453 324 542 522 195 403 645 54 82 831 Sup. ft. 256,325,000 70,804,000 32,158,000 30,090,000 52,050,000 35,700,000 15,770,000 01,127,000 94,526,000 3,000,000 5,090,000 61,100,000 Sup. It. 190,543,000 40,808,118 16,824,281 14,535,000 33,333,000 22,270,000 9,689,000 16,594,399 44,933,813 1,164,000 3,190,000 38,087,000 Totals 411 10,000 7,139 718,940,000 432,031,611