ESTIMATE OF COST 173 



i past four years. And by providing this employment 

 the nation will obtain a present return on some of 

 the capital expended ; for it will be showing a meed 

 of its appreciation for the men who have fought 

 for it. 



A further point. How is the land to be selected ? 

 In what order and where ? The start should present 

 no difficulties so far as the actual selection is con- 

 cerned. Its mode of acquisition has been already 

 dealt with. The country has been divided up into 

 sections, each containing a block of counties, and 

 each section has a forestry adviser. These officers 

 have been at work for several years, and should be 

 acquainted with the best land in their several areas. 

 It will be necessary to supplement the forestry 

 advisers in an early future by adding to the number 

 of officers in the field, as men become trained and 

 available. The main work will be in the field. 

 Therefore the main staff should be a field one, and 

 that of the office should be kept down to the absolute 

 minimum required to carry on the work. For some 

 years to come it will be all outgoings. There will be 

 no receipts from the newly formed woods, and there- 

 fore no necessity for a large clerical establishment. 



You will ask, What is the cost of the undertaking 

 to be ? You have the estimated figure of the Sub- 

 Committee's report -15,000,000 for the whole 

 scheme of 1,770,000 acres, 2,872,500 for the sug- 

 gested 250,000 acres during the first ten years. But 

 these figures, and any others which could be given, 

 are at the present moment purely theoretical ones ; 

 and the Sub-Committee's figures are pre-war ones. 



