236 FORESTRY IN NEW SOUTH WALES. 



with power to sell and convert timber and other produce, 

 and generally manage the forests. 

 Assessment surveys are now being made, a proper organisation 

 introduced, the silvicultural treatment determined, roads con- 

 structed, the water supply attended to, fire protection organised, 

 &c. Some 60,000 acres of land have been selected for the planting 

 of conifers (exotics), and the work has been commenced. 



The Forest Authority consists of a Commission of 3 members, 

 constituted under the Forest Act. The country has been divided 

 into 12 Districts, each with a resident District Forest Officer 

 assisted by a staff of assistants, foresters and guards. District 

 Inspectors go round and enquire into the progress of the work. 

 There are also Forest Surveyors and Assessors, who organise and 

 prepare working plans, as well as nursery men and planters. The 

 whole staff comprises 254 members, of whom 32 are at head- 

 quarters in Sydney and 222 in the field. The powers and duties 

 of the Commission are defined in the forest law, and they are 

 divided into three parts : (1) Administration and Finance ; 

 (2) Forest Management ; and (3) Commercial Development. 



One half of the gross amount received by the Commission from 

 royalties, licences and permits, and from the sale of timber 

 (except that used for the construction of sawmills, &c.) is 

 carried to a special account and used for afforestation, survey, 

 improvement of the State forests and timber reserves, means of 

 transport, &c. 



E ducat ion. ^In the past, forest officers have been chosen from 

 applicants with due regard to natural fitness. A new forest 

 school is now located in a State forest near Gosford, and it has 

 been decided to establish a high-class School of Forestry in New 

 South Wales for the Commonwealth generally. The Commission 

 issues bulletins, leaflets, &c., and also publishes a Journal to 

 educate the people as to the importance of proper forest con- 

 servancy, especially as regards fire protection. 



Research. — Systematic research upon the commercial possibili- 

 ties of forest produce has been started in respect of pulping, 

 resin, fibres, properties of timber, essential oil value of foliage, 

 dry distillation of wood, value of wood ashes and wood tar. In 

 the forest, investigations are conducted into the rate of growth, 

 afforestation, methods of thinning, coppicing, &c. 



