40 ON THE CONSERVATION OF FORESTS IN NEW ZEALAND. 
existed a great scarcity of timber, both for fuel and building, in many 
parts of the colony, rendering expensive imports indispensable. 
V. That no adequate legal check, or provision, exists for the pre- 
vention of such abuses, and the protection of the forest interests. 
VI. That there apparently exists, on the part both of colonial go- 
vernments and colonists, a blind indifference to, or ignorance of, the 
importance of — 
1. Preserving to the utmost the old or primitive forests; and 
Es 
2. Forestalling their inevitable disappearance, or replacing them, 
by the systematic cultivation of new forests, whether of— 
A. Indigenous or— 
B. Exotic (acclimatized) trees. _ 
VIL That many important problems await solution ; affecting 
both— 
1. The economic value and applications of the existing timber- 
trees, and— 
2. The rearing of the new forests. 
Which scientific experts or systematic experiment alone are 
probably capable satisfactorily of solving. Æ. 
i. A. Best seasons for felling timber. 
B. Comparative durability in salt- and fresh water. 
c. Power of resistance to marine-boring animals, 
ii. Determination of the species, indigenous or exotic, most suit- 
able for the various purposes of building-timber, shelter, 
fuel, ete. — E. g. as respects— 
A. Rapidity of growth, 
B. Facility of acclimatization, 
c. And ultimate or permanent economical qualities. 
VIII. That there seems an evident and clamant want of a Board 
of Foresis in New Zealand, with a complete and skilled staff suited 
to the requirements of so large and so varied a colony ; and that a similar 
want exists in all our colonies, which are similarly placed. 
A conviction that the double subject of the— 
1. Improvement and preservation of primitive forests, and the— 
2. Systematic rearing of new forests, by way of substitution or 
replacement, as and before the old ones disappear,— 
is one of essential importance to the welfare of a young colony—and, 
