C—lb.

69

Exports and Imports of Timber for Period ended 31st March, 1915.

Imports. Superficial Value. Feet. £ Auckland .. .. .. .. .. 8,715,864 78,882 Kaipara . . . . .. . . 12,919 155 8,728,783 79,037 Timber-floating. —Eleven new licenses have been granted during the year, and the total number of licenses now in existence is 134. MARLBOROUGH. (H. G. Price, Commissioner of Crown Lands.) There are ten sawmills working in this district. The total output was 11,280,035 ft., made up of .10,562,428 ft. from State forests and 717,607 ft. from Crown lands. The royalties were £2,962 and £196 respectively. Messrs. Brownlee and Co.'s mills, which have been working for many years, have cut out nearly all their available timber. There is a good deal of milling-timber yet at the head of the Opouri Valley, which is being worked by the Marlborough Timber Company. WESTLAND. (H. D. M. Haszard, Commissioner of Crown Lands.) The most prolific source of revenue, and an industry that provides employment for some nine hundred men, is sawmilling. The quantity exported during the year ended the 31st December, 1914, was 50,009,441 ft. This industry has suffered more than any other from the effects of the war. The tightness of the money-market and the consequent decline in building operations has so reduced the demand for timber that, sawmillers have found it necessary to curtail their output. The revenue for the year fell short of that derived during Ihe preceding year by some £2,000. The prospects for the coming year are much brighter, as large orders have been received from Australia. Some difficulty is, however, likely to be experienced in the matter of procuring the necessary labour to replace men formerly employed by the sawmills who have volunteered for active service. Of the revenue that will be derived from timber licenses during the ensuing year it is estimated that some £2,500 will be on account of timber cut from lands that were reserved under the Midland Railway contract, and as the Mining Act provides that such revenue shall be deemed to be goldfields revenue it will not be collected by this Department. Attention is drawn in the report of the West Coast Timber and Land Commission to the unsatisfactory method of dealing with timber in this district, and recommendations for placing it on a better basis are made. The opinions expressed in the report are entirely in accord with those of the Timber Commission of 1909 and the Forestry Commission of 1913. SOUTHLAND. (G. H. M. McClurb, Commissioner of Crown Lands.) Owing to the outbreak of war and the consequent cessation of building operations the past year has been a very bad one for the timber industry, although the number of mills (fifty-six) worked during the period shows an increase of three over last year—thirty mills worked on Crown and State forest lands, eighteen on partly Crown and State and partly private bush, seven on private lands, and one on landless Native lands. None of the mills worked full time during the year, and the majority worked only three days weekly short-handed. Many were closed down from three to six months, and the total output was very low —viz., 26,000,000 ft. With the ft/all^the^timber was delivered to Christchurch and to places south thereof. The number of persons employed in the industry was 530, and the wages paid amount approximately to £67,000. The prospects of the trade are not bright, but are somewhat better than they were three months ago.

Approximate Cost of Paper.—Preparation, not given; printing (1,2")0 copies, Including Illustrations), £85.

Authority : John Mackay, Government Printer, Wellington.—l9ls,

Price Is. 9d.]

Exports. Prom Auck From Auckland. kland. From Kaipara. Total. Value. [ahikatea .. limu 'ther kinds.. Super. Feet. .. 11,506,497 .. 11,921,587 1,623,660 36,302 25,148,046 Valuo. £ 103,616 55,248 6,148 223 165,235 Super. Feet. 5,433,184 19,234,330 2,135,629 Va £ uo - Super. Feet. 39,278 16,999,681 78,161 31,155,917 6,992 j 3,759,289 36,302 £ 142,894 133,409 13,140 223 26,803,143 124,431 j 51,951,189 289,666