48 



;i mere encuml. ranee to the land, and the finest timber is that first selected for 

 truction l>v dre, bj ring barking, and other rude and wasteful methods in 



faV"lir \\ itll srttlers. 



It is probably not po-^iMe in newly-settled colonies to put restraints upon 

 tin- ele;irim; ill' the most fertile soils, although it would seem to be advisable to 

 leave 1 "'Its for protection against the winds, and to enact that all the hills should 

 be preserved in perpetual forest to protect the sources of the springs. 



In maiiv cases the reports of surveyors-general and other officials demon- 

 strated the possibility of preserving, and even of restoring the forests, by the 

 constitution of a small but energetic forestry department, but nothing worthy of 

 notice had, up to the date of these returns, been done in the nature of forest 

 conservation. 



NEW ZEALAND. 



The subject of forest conservation appears first to have engaged the attention 

 of the Colonial Legislature in October, 1G8, when a motion was made and agreed 

 to that " steps be taken to ascertain the present condition of the forests of the 

 colony." 



In the course of a parliamentary debate in 1873, it was remarked, with 

 reference to the Kauri wood, that extensive districts which were once covered 

 with that wood were then totally destitute of it, and that its extermination pro- 

 gressed from year to year at .uch a rate that its final extinction was as certain 

 as that of the natives of New Zealand. Another speaker maintained tha.t " unless 

 great care was taken, there would not be a Kauri tree in the colony in the next 

 generation.* 



As the result of the agitition of this question, an act was passed by the 

 colonial Legislature in August, 1874, entitled " An Act to provide for the estab- 

 lishment of State forests, and tor the application of the revenues derivable there- 

 from." The Dreamble recites that "it is expedient to make provision for preserving 

 the soil and c'imateby tree planting, for providing timber for future industrial 

 purposes, for subjecting some portion of the native forest to skilled management 

 and proper control, and for these purposes constitute State forests." 



The Act provides that an annual sum of 10,000 for thirty years is to be 

 paid quarterly out of the Consolidated Fund into a special fund, to be called the 

 " State Forests Account," and all receipts from State forests are to be paid into 

 this account. The money is to be expended in managing and planting State 

 forests and nurseries, and the establishment of schools for instruction in forestry. 

 The department is placed under the supreme control of a minister of the Crown,, 

 who is to be assi&ted by a " conservator " and subordinate officers. Lands may, 

 from time to time, be set apart as State forests on the recommendation of the super- 

 intendent or of the Provincial Council of any Province. Power is taken to set 

 aside pastoral leases or licenses over lands so selected. 



The Governor-in-Council may make, alter, and repeal by-laws and regula- 

 tions 



Prescribing the duties of officers. 



To regulate the form and issue of licenses. 



* Kauri Dammara Auxtmlis. A Conifer, the largest and most valuable tree in New Zealand. Attain* 



a height of ) feet and diameter of 10 feet to 15 feet Grows in Province of Aukland only Exudes 



large quantities of resin known as Kauri gum. Weight, 38 llx to 4L Ib per cubic foot ; grows on clay 



The above remarks as to the " Kauri " will apply to. our most valuable hard-wood tree (the Black 



W iilnut i. 



