TV 

 111 



Hl 



REPORT 



OF THE 



SELECT COMMITTEE appointed by the LEGISLATIVE 

 COUNCIL on the 4th August, 1865, "to consider the 

 Colonial Botanist's Report." 



PRESENT : 

 Mr. VIGNE (Chairman), 



Mr. van Breda, 

 Mr. Busk, 



Mr. Wicht. 



The Committee appointed by the Honourable the Legis- 

 lative Council to consider the Colonial Botanist's Report for 

 1864, beg leave to present their report. 



Your Committee are of opinion that the information 

 obtained from the evidence of the Colonial Botanist is of a 

 valuable and, generally speaking, practical character. 



From his unavoidable absence on an official tour, the 

 Committee had it not in their power to complete their 

 inquiries ; but sufficient information was obtained to satisfy 

 them that there exists a necessity for a change in the system 

 of management of all the forests in the various parts of 

 the Colony, which, from their great extent, and the 

 valuable timber contained in them, ought to be, and might 

 be made, a source of revenue to the Colony ; whereas the 

 trifling amount now received from them is scarcely sufficient 

 to cover the expense of their conservation. 



In the opinion of your Committee, the present system on 

 which licences are granted for cutting timber is bad, and 

 should be revised. It yields only a trifling annual income, 

 and is very destructive by waste to the forests them- 

 selves, which are every day diminishing in size and value. 

 From the great extent of these forests, and their compara- 

 tively slight supervision, a compliance with the conditions 

 of the licences cannot be enforced. 



1094?'' 



