ARBORICULTURE 



167 



Prison Labor Utilized for Forest Planting in New Zealand 



SPECIAL REPORTS TO ARBORICULTURE 



Extracts I'roiii the Annual Reports of tlie Lands and Survey Department 



tonccrning the Employment of J'rison Labor on the 



Work of Tree-planting 



Extract from Report of Chief Forester 

 for Year 1900-01 (Page 138) 



The proposal to employ prison labor 

 at plantation work has been given effect 

 to, with, so far, excellent results. Some 

 twenty-five prisoners (first offenders) 

 commenced work during February on a 

 1,280 acre reserve at Waiotapu, twenty- 

 two miles from Rotorua. They are 

 accommodated in eight specially con- 

 structed huts (containing four bunks 

 each), which can be removed on skids 

 to a new camp as the area they are now 

 engaged on is completed. The men 

 have shown a keen interest in the work, 

 and their behavior has been good. From 

 the report of Mr. Pearson, under whose 

 immediate direction the work is being 

 carried out, it will be seen that the 

 amount of work done has been fully 

 equal to what would be expected from 

 free laborers. The men have expressed 

 their appreciation of the change from 

 the dismal walls of a prison to the 

 practically free and open life they are 

 now enjoying. 



factory, by reason of divided authority 

 in issuing instructions. The words or 

 any officer of the Forest Department" 

 inserted in the clause dealing with this 

 subject in the Prisons Act would meet 

 the case. Arrangements are in progress 

 to employ prison labor in connection 

 with the nursery and plantation at 

 Hanmer* Springs, where some twenty- 

 five men will be sent on the 1st of 

 August. It is also proposed to com- 

 mence ' operations by prison lal:)or at 

 Dumgree Plan tation,Starborough, South 

 Marlborough, at an early date. A start 

 has already been made in planting a 

 portion of Somes Island, in Wellington 

 Harbor, where some fifteen prisoners 

 are now employed. No suitable land 

 has yet been selected in Wellington 

 District for the establishment of a 

 nurser\- and plantation to be worked 

 entirely by prison labor. Inquiries are, 

 however, being continued with this 

 object in view. 



Extract from Report of Chief Forester 

 for Year 1902-3 (Page 88) 



Tree planting by prison labor con- 

 tinues to be satisfactory, as will be seen 

 from the report in connection with the 

 Waiotapu Plantation. Some provision, 

 however, seems desirable for Forest offi- 

 cers supervising this class of labor to 

 be authorized to issue orders to the men 

 in place of through prison officials in 

 accordance with the Prisons Act. The 

 difficulty is at present gotten over by 

 appointing a Forester as an officer of 

 the Prisons Department, but this 

 arrangement is not altogether satis- 



Extract from Report of Nurseryman in Charge 

 Waiotapu Plantation for Year 1902-03 (Page 98) 



The employment of prison labor on 

 this forest reserve has now got beyond 

 the experimental stage, and, judging by 

 the work done during the last two years 

 and a half, it can be said with confidence 

 that the system is a pronounced success. 

 In valuing the work done by prison 

 labor, the cost of similar labor done on 

 the plantation at Whakarewarewa was 

 taken as a basis. This is the only 

 method in which a fair estimate, both of 

 actual labor and the success obtained 

 amongst the trees planted, can be arrived 

 at, as the soil and climatic conditions of 

 each place are very similar. 



