48 



better. Of the remain* r of the species of the mixed Java and elsewhere quite successfully. "Witli^ these 

 forests of the lowlands I can only point to three which two species, one indigenous and the other exotic, the 



work of planting up the waste grasslands between the 



hydregrapher's and the kumusi could be undertaken 

 with confidence. Working plans would be drawn up 

 for the conduct of the work, and these would require 

 some preliminary investigatory work to decide the 

 many questions that must be answered. At present, 



are, prima facie, worth planting, and these are: Xo. 

 4 — nara (ptcrocarpus indicus) ; Xo. 3, medobi indt. and 



Xo. 

 will 



10, melila (Afzelia bijuga). There are, as 

 be seen on referring to the description of 

 species, a host of woods of all types, from the softest 

 to the hardest, from plain casewoods to beautiful cabi- 



net woods. But, until a great deal more sylvicultural so far as I have seen the country in question, the work 



research is carried out, it will not be possible to choose 



any but those that are obviously valuable and obvi- 

 ously social. These three certainly conform to the 



might well start at the hydrographer's, and be carried 



across the Dobodura plains. This would also make it 

 possible to undertake the care and further exploration 



first desideratum, and as to their sociability they are of the melila-karawa forests, at the base of the hydro- 

 none of them so social as ilimo, yet all are found now grapher's, by the officer in charge of the plantation 



work. He would find a forest station in these foothills 

 convenient, healthy, and picturesque. 



But here again, more sylvicultural study is required 



would, I think, be a mistake. In regard to this coun- 



and then in clumps, and I have every hope that when 

 planted they will thrive in pure stands. They all 



shade the ground well, and should require no second Summing up the question of a policy for the lowland 



or third story species to help them in this respect f ores ts of Papua, I can only recommend a policy of 



research and of experimenting with various species, 

 to find whether the growth of any of them would be ijj^ exceptions are the ilimo country on the banks of 

 improved by having an associate species. Of the three, i arge r ivers and the artificial grasslands of the northern 

 nara— Xo. 4— is the most satisfactory regenerator, and ^vision. The conversion of mixed rain forests to pure 

 the other two must be regarded as rather experimental. ilimo is t j ie ^ est course. Its success is assured from a 

 To begin converting the low quality mixed stands oi sylvicultural as well as a commercial stand. We are 

 the lowjaiidsinto pure stands^of these three species very fortunate in this species, for we have some gen- 

 erations of plan ring work carried out bv the natives 

 try we must wait until sufficient sylvicultural research of the (1(l]ta division. At Kikori, for instance, I in- 

 work is done, and we are not only sure that the chosen spccte( j a C anoe 66 feet long, made from an ilimo 

 species will thrive under plantation conditions, but tnmk> It had beeu made to the order of the mag i g . 



that the best species have been chosen from a timber trat(% w]lQ w . lllted a specially big one for the convey- 



stand-point. There is country, however, where it is not 8nce of large gangs of nat i ves f rom one p i ace to an _ 



a case of the conversion— for the forests have already other It appeam i to i )e an excellent piece of timber 



gone— hut one of planting artificially created grass- t i iroug h ont) but tho interesting thing about it was that 



lands. That they should remain unproductive for gen- t]lQ man who f(ljlo(l the tree and cm th(J canQe Qut wag 



■rations, until in tact the natives develop such scien- the QOn of the mfln who p i anted the trea It was not 



tific and modern methods of farming as to bring them poggible t0 fix the a of tlle ilim0 in ears acc urately, 



again under cultivation, is obviously very unsound, ]mt the eanoe maker wag not an old and j shm]d 

 and the growth of a crop ot timber is a solution ot the 



difficulty. 



Of the three indigenous trees that I have suggested 

 as most suitable 1 ones of all the Papuan species, medobi 



and melila are doubtful, because it is not 



sav that bin mill logs could be grown in sixty to 



seventy-five years. 



The other exception — the artificial grasslands of the 

 v^jvnm Northern Division require to be made use of, and here 



iinu inriiici ai "u uuuuuui, uffuuao ib is nut KllOW 11 T , , /• r».i i tt 



whether they can be grown in grassland. Savannah ^ ^oimnend plantations of teak and nara. I do not 



conditions in the tropics arc particularly difficult for tl, 1 ,nk there can be an ^ doubt of tlle success o£ thl * 



plantation purposes. It is the dense matted rhizomes 

 of the two main grasses — Impcrata arundinacea and 

 Saccharum spontaneum — which form the kura kura, as 



the Mot u people call the grasslands, which prevents 

 the establishment of the rain forest, timber species. It 

 fires are kept out ? a forest of weed trees is the natural 



erne. 



sch 



So much for the forest policy of tho lowland coun- 

 try. It is probable that, while the research into the 

 native rain forest is being conducted to ascertain the 

 best way of bringing the bulk of the forests of this 

 lanre region to their best development, applications 



succession to grasslands, and these are followed eventu- will be made for permits to saw up timber. Sawmill- 

 ally by the rain forest species. But we do not know nig should be encouraged, for it must, if successful, 

 to-day how many years this natural reversion to rain 

 forest occupies. To convert a grassland straight away 



lead to sound utilization of some of the standing stock, 

 and will always help towards preparing the country 



to a pure stand of a rain forest species is not easy, for the commercial forests that will, as time goes on, 

 nnless the species chosen is particularly vigorous, its be gradually established. 



root system is such as to compete successfully with 



the grass rhizomes, and it makes a thick canopy 

 quickly enough to kill out the grass. Nara will do 



I have made no reference to the ownership of the 

 forests to be created. Whether the land is to be bought 

 from the natives, and the forests are to become Crown 



this, but I cannot say the same of melila, and medobi forests, or whether the land and the forests are to 

 is also doubtful. The utilization of these grasslands remain the natives' property, and the profits, less tax- 

 of the northern division would, if reliance is to be ation, are to go to the village communities, is a matter 



of general government policy. It is possible, too, that 

 in some divisions the communal forest would be natur- 



placed solely on Papuan species that I know to be 

 sound and will thrive in such conditions, means 



planting nara alone. But there is no obligation to ally acceptable and a satisfactory solution. I have 

 look only to Papua for a tree for this work, though it in mind the delta people, who, though individually 

 is probable that other trees than nara will be picked 

 from the rain forest species of this territory, which 

 will prove eminently suitable. There is one species 



which I consider should be introduced from Burma, 



apparently low in the scale of civilization, have evolved 

 a social system of living in communities which might 

 well be called towns instead of villages, so peopled are 

 they, and who have already shown a greater fore- 



ami that is teak (Tectona (/nitidis). Xot only is this thought and longer view than the young white democ- 



a timber in universal demand throughout the world, 

 but it has been proved already in other tropical coun- 

 tries, and ibsi been established in pure plantations in 



racies of civilized lands, in the matter of assuring a 

 future supply of wood for unborn generations. The 

 northern native, on the other hand, with his little 



