xxii. New Zealand Institute. 
It appears, from the paper read by Mr. Justice Gillies before 
the Auckland Institute, that the cork tree may be most successfully 
cultivated in that district, and that each tree above the age of twenty- 
five years may be calculated to produce on an average about 9s. 
worth of cork every year; whilst Mr. McArthur, speaking at Inver- 
cargill, pointed out that in a few years the demand for railway sleepers 
alone—not to mention the other purposes in the way of building, 
carving, and fencing, for which timber is required—will exhaust the 
supply of native wood, and that the difficulty should be met by plant- 
ing quickly-growing trees, such as larch and fir, on a large scale, with- 
out delay : in short, “ planting here should follow the sawmillers, and 
this cannot be done too soon." 
With regard to forest conservation as concerning the question of 
climate, I may quote the words of Mr. Firth, who, in a paper read 
before the Auckland Institute in 1874, remarks that: “ Denudation 
of timber produces barrenness of soil, increases insect life, creates 
drought, diminishes rain, accelerates evaporation, causes floods and 
untimely frosts, lessens the production of food, diminishes population, 
aud finally degrades a nation. The glory of many an ancient empire 
departed with its forests. To-day Persia and Spain present sad but 
warning spectacles of desolation and degradation, which, though 
partially due to various causes, have been intensified by the destruc- 
tion of their forests.” 
The forms which the evils resulting from want of timber take differ, 
of course, in different countries. In addition to the remarks made 
by Mr. McArthur, Mr. Travers, in speaking before the Wellington 
Philosophical Society, has pointed out that the destruction of the 
forests in this country has already caused disastrous floods, and Dr. 
Meldrum and Dr. Hutchinson have explained how similar causes are 
bringing about similar results in Mauritius and the Sandwich Islands. 
From all parts of the world the story is the same. I lately received 
from the Secretary of State for the Colonies an interesting despatch 
on the subject, with reference to a large part of Southern Europe. 
Austria, Switzerland, and France have turned their attention to the 
reforesting of the bare mountain slopes; but in many districts of 
Italy the evil has gone on unchecked, and, in consequence of this, the 
floods are higher, and the average flow of the rivers is lower, than it 
used to be at the time when the mountains were clothed with timber and 
vegetation. Last September the inundations in the Province of Venetia, 
which were, no doubt, to a great extent brought about by this cause, 
resulted in serious loss of life and wholesale destruction of property. 
I am glad to learn that this important subject has for some time 
been under the consideration of the Government of New Zealand. 
