C.—3

The area withdrawn for land-settlement totalled 18,651 acres, of which 5,529 acres were located in Auckland, 5,007 acres in Southland, 2,669 acres in Westland, 2,426 acres in Nelson, and the remainder distributed over Rotorua, Wellington, and Canterbury Regions. The areas proclaimed comprise mainly lands taken over for afforestation, and in this respect Rotorua Region contributed 54,794 acres, and Nelson and Southland 8,496 and 6,748 acres respectively. 2. Legislation. By section 5 of the Finance Act, 1930 (No. 2), the Minister of Finance is empowered to borrow such further amount, not exceeding £1,000,000, as he thinks fit for the purposes of the Forests Act, 1921-22. 3. Finance. As the financial accounts of the Service on a commercial basis are published by the Treasury in parliamentary paper 8.-l, Part IV, this section of the report has been confined to a review of the year's operations in the form of a Receipts and Payments Account, as under : — Receipts. The forest receipts for the past financial year from all sources wore £84,715, a decrease of £20,922 on the figures for the previous year. Details, together with comparisons with the previous two years, are appended.

TABLE 1.

The main reasons for the decrease in revenue are — (1) The depressed state of the sawmilling industry, which has resulted in the complete cessation of operations by a number of millers and the working of part time only by others. (2) The gradual tapering - off in the sale of trees and tree - seeds to the public. (Sales of the former have now ceased altogether.) (3) The fact that the Service's share of opossum revenue for the year has not yet been allocated. {A sum of £4,953 was received from this source during the previous year.) Payments. The net expenditure from the State Forests Account for the past financial year was £393,065, a detailed analysis of which is set out herein, also comparisons with the years 1928-29 and 1929-30.

TABLE 2.

3

Item. 1930-31. 1929-30. 1928-29. .£ £ £ Indigenous-forest receipts—Timber-sales .. .. 56,391 60,711 49,009 Timber royalties and trespass .. .. .. .. 3,538 6,790 7,955 Leases—Grazing .. .. .. .. .. 2,093 2,115 2,332 Sawmill-sites, industrial, &c. .. .. .. .. 1,636 2,850 1,339 Miscellaneous .. .. .. .. .. 3,723 9,685 8,804 National Endowment Account allocation .. .. 9,866 12,156 8,249 Nurseries and plantations — Trees and seeds 5,271 8,082 9,549 Firewood and poles .. .. .. .. 298 1,117 1,014 Miscellaneous .. .. .. 1,899 2,131 1,863 Totals .. .. .. .. .. 84,715 105,637 90,114

Item. 1930-31. 1929-30. 1928-29. Fixed charges and stafl salaries — £ £ £ Interest and loan expenses .. .. .. .. 82,809 59,884 44,189 Allocation of revenue — National Endowment Account .. .. .. 9,495 6,971 7,469 Local-body payments .. .. .. .. 10,346 11,522 7,284 Staff salaries .. .. .. .. •• 49,526 47,817 44,548 Management, establishment, and development — Indigenous forests .. .. .. .. .. 32,331 28,520 22,033 Fire-fighting equipment and prevention. .. .. 1,454 1,295 2,254 Educational —Reference library, &c. .. .. .. 742 525 898 Research and experimental equipment, &c. .. .. 4,867 6,387 6,950 Afforestation —Nurseries and plantations .. .. 194,556 248,404 159,128 Sand-dune reclamation .. .. .. .. 480 1,689 1,263 Land-purchase .. .. .. .. •• 6,361 12,958 23,211 Miscellaneous .. .. .. • • • • 98 1,446 5,943 Totals .. .. .. .. .. 393,065 427,418 325,170