THE FORESTRY SITUATION IN NEW SOUTH WALES 



863 



has been compiled and circulated for the instruction and 

 direction of all concerned. 



The timber industry, in common with others, has of 

 course been seriously affected by the world war, the 

 consequent disorganization of markets, and the restric- 

 tions of oversea shipping. It is therefore in natural 

 sequence to these conditions that forest activities should 

 have declined in volume and value, and forest revenues 

 decreased. In the same connection, the efficiency of the 

 Forest Service has been materially reduced by the enlist- 

 ment for active service of a large proportion of the 

 trained staff. Despite all obstacles, however, the new 

 scheme of forestry may be said to have been fairly 

 launched, and with every promise for progress ; and there 

 is already undoubted evidence that the introduction and 

 operation of the new policy, with its measure of inde- 

 pendent control, must prove of value to the State. 

 Systematization and stability which were impossible 

 under the ruling conditions prior to the Forestry Act 

 of 1916, make it probable that when activity in the 

 timber industry is resumed and accelerated, a^ it must 

 be after the war, the Australian forests will be more 

 fitted to meet the expected enormous demand which will 

 arise from the re-establishment of domestic and indus- 

 trial conditions. 



The business of the Commission now in hand, includes 

 the following undertakings connected with the indus- 

 trial side of forestry, which do not usually come within 

 the scope of forest practice, viz : (a) Timber inspection ; 

 (b) Direct conversion and sale of forest products; (c) 

 Sawmilling and timber supply, and (d) Utilization of 

 prison labor. 



A branch for the inspection, grading, and certifica- 

 tion of timber by the Government has been in existence 

 for many years, and is recognized as an essential in the 

 timber industry, for the convenience of trade, and the 

 satisfaction of timber purchasers. 



In the regenerative treatment of forests, the practice 

 has been adopted of converting any marketable wood 

 in the areas under treatment, and in this way much 

 waste and low-value timber is being utihzed with profit. 

 The business of direct conversion and sale of products 

 is one that promises to extend considerably in the prac- 

 tice of state forestry. The business of saw-milling and 

 timber supply is a recent development, rendered possi- 

 ble by the wider scope of the Act of 1916. Its primary 

 aim is the supply of timber for Government purposes. 



With regard to the utilization of prison labor, this 

 scheme combines forestry with the work of reform ; 

 prison labor being employed on clearing and planting 

 work near Tuncurry on the north coast. 



A salient feature of the new forestry policy has been 

 the training and specializing of the staff. Three licensed 

 surveyors and one forest officer were trained in the 

 methods of forest survey and assessment work. A 

 graduate in engineering, of Sydney University, was 

 added to the staff of the commission, to acquire experi- 

 ence in the forest system and to organize and build up 

 the science of engineering as it applies to the opening 

 up and development of the forests. One forest officer 



was given a short course in the methods of afforesta- 

 tion and nursery practice. Three overseers were ap- 

 pointed for training in the duties of state forest super- 

 vision. 



The Strickland state forest, which is to be attached to 

 the Forest Training School at Narora, New South Wales, 

 has been organized as a medium for the training of 

 forest students. A commencement has been made in the 

 research work in connection with forest products and 

 by-products. Samples of wood have been submitted to 

 laboratory tests to ascertain their cellulose and pulping 

 qualities and arrangements have been made for destruc- 

 tive distillation of the principal native woods on a com- 

 mercial scale, in order to ascertain the quantity and 

 value of the by-products obtainable from them. This 

 line of research will have an important bearing upon 

 the problem of the utilization of waste, and upon the 

 future of Australian forestry. 



ENTHUSIASM FOR MEMORIAL TREES 



IN ALL parts of the country popular interest is mani- 

 fested in the American Forestry Association's plan 

 for memorial trees to soldier and sailor dead and in the 

 Association's similar plan for the planting of trees as 

 memorials to Colonel Roosevelt. Reports of constantly 

 increasing enthusiasm reach Washington by every mail. 

 Probably no memorial project growing out of the Euro- 

 pean war has met with such spontaneous approval. 



Especial interest attaches to the activity of the Boy 

 Scouts of America in planning tree memorials to Colonel 

 Roosevelt. A million pine trees will be set out in the 

 Interstate Park by the Scouts of New York City. Several 

 troops of Manhattan Borough Scouts are endeavoring to 

 have a grove of trees planted in Central Park to repre- 

 sent the formation of a troop of scouts in the regulation 

 four patrols and called the Roosevelt Scout Shelter. 



Special Roosevelt Scout services will be held in Phila- 

 delphia on April 5th, following which each troop will 

 plant a tree. Columbus Scouts will plant Roosevelt 

 Grove on the State House grounds in the center of the 

 city. The Boy Scouts in Everett, Washington, are to 

 plant trees on the highway from Skagit to King Lines 

 in honor of the soldier and sailor dead, and they now ask 

 that trees be included for their chief scout citizen. 

 Chicago is planning for a fitting memorial in the forest 

 preserve and the scouts are eagerly working on the plan. 

 In Syracuse, New York, the scouts will plant a number 

 of "Roosevelt elms" in each of the city parks. Boy 

 Scouts in Rochester have put it up to the park commis- 

 sioner to designate the kind of trees to be planted and 

 their location in the city parks. A row of Roosevelt trees 

 will be planted in Marion, Indiana, and the Boy Scouts 

 will carry out a public ceremony at the time of planting. 



PLANT MEMORIAL TREES 



