C—4.

1909. NEW ZEALAND.

DEPARTMENT OF LANDS: FORESTRY IN NEW ZEALAND.

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by Command of I/is Excellency.

Sir, — Department of Lands, Wellington, Btfc September, 1909. I have the honour to transmit herewith the following report on " Forestry in New Zealand." Some time ago you expressed a wish that such a report should be prepared, dealing not only with the state of our indigenous forests and the conditions of the timber industiy (as had been done on several previous occasions), but also with the whole question of forest supply and demand the utilisation of our timbers, the need for preservation of forest-areas, the likelihood of our resources being assisted in any great measure by supplies from abroad, and the steps that have been taken to supplement the local supply by raising and planting trees in the State nurseries and plantations. The report gives full particulars of these several points, and shows the individual areas of land still covered with forest, the quantities and varieties of milling-timber in each district, the estimated probable duration of the local supply for commercial requirements, the sources and probable supply from outside New Zealand, with details as to the results of operations of the Afforestation Branch of this Department. It is, therefore, valuable not only as a record of present conditions, but also as a guide to what may be expected to occur in the future. In preparing the report, the best thanks of the Department are due to all those who have assisted in its compilation. The several Commissioners of Crown Lands (who are also Conservators of State Forests), their timber experts, Crown Lands Rangers, and surveyors, together with those gentlemen outside the Department who have aided our efforts, are equally deserving of credit for the careful and painstaking manner in which they have furnished the desired information as speedily as possible. T may add that 1 am personally indebted to Mr. W. R. Jourdain, of this Department, for the great assistance he has rendered, not only in compiling the report and procuring much ol the statistics incorporated therein, but also for obtaining the many special articles on different phases of the subject. As the report was in course of preparation many months before the Royal Commission on Timber and the Timber Industry was set up, advantage was taken of Mr. Jourdain's being appointed its Secretary, to secure such articles from gentlemen best acquainted with the matters dealt with, and to insure by personal inspection and revision that the subject-matter of the report was thoroughly in accord with what was observed during the visits of the Commission to the various parts of the Dominion. I have, &c, William C. Kensington, Under-Secretary of Lands. The Right Hon. Sir J. G. Ward, P.C., K.C.M.G., Minister of Lands, and Commissioner of State Forests.

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