Canadian Forestry Journal, July, ipid. 



643 



The Experience of New Zealand 



Sir J. G. Wilson, head of the New 

 Zealand Agricultural Board, in deal- 

 ing with the Dominion's timber sup- 

 plies says : "It is common knowl- 

 edge that the available amount of 

 timber left in New Zealand will last 

 perhaps 30 years, and at the most 40 

 years. Unless immediate steps are 

 taken to plant considerable areas, 

 future generations will have to im- 

 port all the timber used. The gov- 

 ernment is doing something towards 

 planting trees in a few districts in 

 New Zealand. The whole of the 

 present government areas might 

 give six months cutting. When he 

 came to the Ragitikei-Manawatu 

 district in 1873 there was a fringe 

 of open country which had been set- 

 tled all along the coast up to and 

 some distance beyond Wanganui. 

 In the Wairarapa also the open 

 country from Featherston to Mas- 

 terton and out to the coast was set- 

 tled. The rest of the country seem- 

 ed illimitable bush. The seventy- 

 mile bush ran up from the plain to 

 Woodville, and the forty-mile bush 

 from the gorge to past Dannevirke. 



The valleys of the Manawatu, Po- 

 hangina, Oroua. the upper reaches 

 of the Rangitikei from Halcombe 

 upwards were all bush, the whole of 

 which is now cut down. Generally 

 in the best timber areas the saw- 

 miller was the pioneer, and the set- 

 tler followed when the timber was 

 cut out. Now there is not a saw- 

 mill in the whole of the area. I 

 should not like to estimate the area 

 that was in bush, but it must have 

 been millions of acres. The Kauri 

 forests are almost a thing of the 

 past, Puriri scarcely procurable, and 

 Totara very dear. The only source 

 of timber for the North Island is 

 the bush district in the central area, 

 which cannot be nearly as large as 

 that cut out. In the South Island 

 there is still timber on the west 

 coast, but more and more expensive 

 to market, and the forests of South- 

 land have been depleted. A recent 

 forestry commission, which col- 

 lected much valuable information, 

 and made admirable suggestions in 

 their report said, to meet our future 

 requirements, we would need to 

 plant 7.000 acres per annum. I 

 doubt if we are planting even 700 

 per annum. Private individuals are 

 doing a little. Already some plan- 

 tations of soft wood have been cut 



