1918.] The N.Z. Journal of Science and Technology. 207 
Soioing in Situ.—The Commissioners recommend experiments to be made to see 
whether direct sowing on the ground, instead of planting, can be done with satisfactory 
results, especially with eucalypts and Monterey pine. 
Fire-breaks should consist of a belt of poplars 2 chains broad, with a belt 1 chain 
broad outside ploughed periodically. The poplar fire-breaks should, if possible, be 
planted in advance of the general planting of pines. 
The Thinning of Plantations. —The Commissioners consider the question of thinnings 
to be perhaps the most difficult and important problem that confronts the management 
■of the State plantations, because at present no market exists for small material, except 
for a very limited quantity. They think that, though thinning has a most beneficial 
•effect on the development of the remaining trees, it might be better not to thin at all, 
and to allow the law of the survival of the fittest to operate, until a market for the small 
material springs up in consequence of the increase of the population. 
Prison Labour. —Such labour has been used for some time past in the plantations, 
and the Commissioners say there is no doubt that the employment of prisoners in tree¬ 
planting is distinctly of benefit to them, and quite likely to lead to their reformation. 
The Commissioners would be sorry to see the system abolished, and they recommend 
that the Prisons Department should be credited with the value of the work done, the 
plantation account being debited with the amount. 
Encouragement of Planting by Private Individuals and Corporations. —The Com¬ 
missioners recommend that such encouragement should be given by— 
(a.) The supply of plants at cost price from the State nurseries. 
(b.) Government forest officers to give advice about planting. 
(c.) In the case of private proprietors, remission of taxes to be granted on a certain 
percentage of the total area of an estate which has been planted to the 
satisfaction of the proposed Forestry Board. 
Forestry Education. —The Commissioners offer some short remarks on the education 
of cadets for employment in the Forestry Branch, and on the preparation of a book on 
forestry. It is suggested that young men engaged in the active work of the Forestry 
Branch might be transferred for a time to Wellington, where they could combine their 
office-work with the attendance at lectures and in the laboratories of Victoria College. 
They add that as the forestry-work increases there will be openings for highly trained 
men, and talented students might, with the aid of scholarships, study forestry in England 
■or on the Continent of Europe. 
’General Remarks. 
As the author has never visited New Zealand, he naturally hesitates 
to criticize the system of management proposed or adopted in that 
Dominion. Still, his long experience in various parts of the world induces 
him to offer the following remarks on the forest policy propounded by the 
Commissioners:— 
What strikes the reader of the various reports at once is the fact that 
natural forests have practically been thrown overboard, and that future 
supplies are to be provided from plantations of exotic trees. This is 
certainly a very bold measure, which the New Zealand authorities seem 
to have adopted because they believe that the growth of the indigenous 
trees is too slow in comparison with that of certain exotic species. The 
chief questions here involved are— 
(1.) Whether the growth of the indigenous species is really as slow as 
is believed in New Zealand. 
(2.) Whether the exotic species yield timber of sufficient quality to 
replace the indigenous species, and yet grow much faster. 
(3.) Whether it is safe to introduce exotic species on this large scale 
without risking the development of disease which may lead in 
the end to disastrous results. 
As regards the first question, the only tangible data available to the 
•author are the measurements of the radius of a totara-tree at different 
ages up to 416 years of age, given in the Commissioners’ report. That 
•tree had a total diameter of 8 ft. In the following table the measurements 
