284 EDITORIAL NOTES. [Sept. 



Thus, in Southland alone the wages paid for forest industries 

 amounted in that year to £60,000 ; the Government forests extended 

 from 12 to 15 millions of acres; and during 1876, over 103 

 millions superficial feet of timber were put through different saw- 

 mills in the colony ; during the five years from 1872 to 1877 the 

 colony obtained a total revenue of £9384, 5s. 2d. from its forests. 



The question of State Forests was before the New Zealand 

 Parliament on June 25, Sir Julius Vogel stated that under the 

 present Bill it was proposed to borrow £50,000, of which £10,000 

 was only to be borrowed in any one year. The Commissioner to be 

 appointed would be under the control of Parliament ; and it would 

 be his duty not only to look after existing forests, but to plant 

 new ones when necessary. The measure met with a rather vigorous 

 opposition. 



Peach Blight. — In a recent communication, Mr. T. Kirk noted 

 that at "Wellington, iST.Z., peaches die wholesale, though the trees 

 apparently flower with their accustomed luxuriance. On a sudden 

 change of temperature or a severe frost during the flowering time, 

 the " fruit does not swell, the leaves make their appearance readily 

 and fall quickly — minute orange-coloured blotches are seen on the 

 twigs. These become confluent and black, and then the buds decay. 

 At this stage the plant may die, or if the season prove favourable, a 

 weak autumn growth may be made, and new leaves developed, 

 tassel-like, at the tips of the branches ; but a renewed attack the 

 following spring proves fatal, and the plant dies. Plants one year 

 from the seed are attacked as readily as the oldest. Occasionally a 

 tree partially sheltered has suffered less than its neighbour, or has 

 escaped entirely ; while two kinds appear to resist the disease more 

 than others, viz. Cornet and Salway, but they are certainly not 

 blight-proof by any means." 



Malacca. — A correspondent of the Straits {Singapore) Times, 

 •writing from this lovely Indian island on June 12th, complains that 

 during a long experience he had never witnessed so terrible a 

 drought. The paddy-fields were broken up throughout their areas 

 by cracks and clefts. The indiscriminate felling of forest trees has 

 seriously affected the rainfall in this settlement. Government now 

 propose to keep up the forestry department under the control of the 

 Superintendent of the Botanical Gardens. Our correspondent pleads 

 that efficiency and economy go hand in hand in this new movement. 

 A few efficient overseers with a staff of Malay coolies attached to 



