Warxer.—State Forestry: its Aim and Object. 191 
thus in his hands full instructions for the management of his range down 
to the minutest detail, a margin being of course allowed for his discretion, 
and accurate maps on a large scale showing each sub-division of the forest 
placed under his charge. All these details are naturally a work of time, 
and we cannot hope even to introduce, still less to mature, such a system 
in New Zealand for many years to come, but let us consider how we shall 
set about initiating and approaching it. The first step would be for the 
forest employés to ascertain accurately what are Government forests, and 
class the whole forest land of the colony under State, Communal (i.e., 
reserved for the special use of communities, municipalities, educational 
endowments, etc.), and Private. The State forests would then be divided 
into reserved and unreserved, the former to constitute the permanent source _ 
of supply of timber, and include tracts at the head waters of rivers, tops of 
mountains, etc., the removal of the forest from which might affect very 
 injuriously the climate and water supply of the whole country. The pro- 
portion of this reserved forest to the total area, or head of population, must 
of necessity vary very much according to circumstances, but I am inclined 
“to consider that three per cent. originally proposed in Sir Julius Vogel’s 
Forest Act for this colony should be the minimum of State reserve. In the 
German Empire the area of land under forest is twenty-five per cent. of the 
total area, of which one half, or twelve and a half per cent., is State forest, 
the area of forest, public and private, per head of population being :848 
hectars, or about three-quarters of an acre per head, but the proportion of 
this area per cent. and head of population varies widely in the several 
kingdoms and provinces of the Empire. In comparatively young colonies 
like New Zealand, we must not forget to provide for the requirements of a 
future dense population, bearing in mind that in the case of forests, perhaps 
more than in any other, it is much easier to keep and improve what we 
have got than to create it anew when required. The unreserved State 
forests would be open for settlement and supply of timber and firewood, a 
scale of royalties or seignorages to be paid to the State Forest Department, 
being drawn up, and licenses issued by the forest officials when necessary, 
in the case of forest tracts not being sold outright. Communal forests 
would be supervised by the officers of the State Forest Department, and 
managed to the best advantage, all surplus of receipts over expenditure 
being handed over to the community or endowed body. It is not intended 
to interfere in any way with the third class or private forests. The pro- 
fessional or purely technical labours of the forest department would then 
really commence, and be directed to the State reserved forests, of which 
forest surveys, valuations, and working plans would be prepared, and the 
annual yield disposed of to the best advantage, special care being taken to 
