o.—B

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Absteact of Infoemation from the Commissionees of Ceown Lands —i continued. Questions. Auckland. Taranaki. Wellington. Hawke's Bay. Marlborough. 7. General descriptions of the forests; estimated annual consumption of timber and firewood by the general public, and whence supplied, i.e., from private forests, other countries, or Government forests ? Description of forests not given. Probable consumption of firewood in Auckland, from 20,000 to 25,000 tons annually. Unable to slate requirements for country districts. No information given as to where the supply comes from. Northern portion of country of a broken and rough character. Estimated annual consumption for building and furniture, say 300,000 sup. ft.; firewood, 45,000,000 sup. ft.; fencing, 20,000,000 sup. ft.; waste in sawing and splitting, 16,325,000 ft. Of the 300,000 ft. for building and furniture, about 150,000 ft. is imported ; remainder supplied from private lands. No information given. Principal timbers are rimu, white pine, totara, and matai, all of excellent quality. About 7,060,000 ft. consumed annually. Of this, 5,000,000 ft. is imported from Auckland, about 2,000,000ft.from local mills, and 60,000 ft. from V.D.L.forwheelwright purposes. Local timber all derived from private and Native land. « No information. 8. Estimated annual requirements of timber for general or provincial works ; description of timber used; rates paid; and whence the supply has been hitherto obtained, i.e., from private forests.from other countries, or from Government forests ? Not able to state probable annual requirements. Timber hitherto used are kauri, totara, matai, tanekaha, tawhai, puriri. Unable to furnish prices. 275,000 sup. ft. rimu, matai, and kauri. Bates paid for same, lfis.per 100 ft. for rimu, and 17s. 6d. for kauri, which is supplied from Auckland. No information. About 5,000,000 ft. has been used the past 4 years for Government works on railways ; totara being used for piles and railway sleepers, Australian timber for bridges, and matai, totara, and birch for planking. Bates per lOOft.notBtated. Not stated. White pine, 7s. 3d. to 8s. 6d. per 100 ft.; matai, lis. to 12s.; black birch, 18s.; rimu, 8s. to 10s.; totara, 16s. to 18s. Other information not given. Questions. Nelson. Canterbury. Westland. Otaoo. Southland. 1. Situation and extent of tracts of forests or woodland in the hands of Government (General or Provincial) ? 2,682,000 acres. Banks Peninsula, 24,000acres; Oxford District, 50,000 acres; Alford Forests, 5,700 acres; Wanaka and Upper Waimakariri, 128,000 acres: total, 207,700. 2,623,550 acres of forest land. 2,000,000 acres, scattered over the district. Unsold forests, 729,141 acres reserved from sale; in private hands, 70,859 acres. 2. Description and approximate quantity of timber in the several tracts ? Cannot be given. Totara, black and white pine, rimu, and manuka. Unable to give quantity of timber in districts. Eed and black pine, white pine and silver pine, miro, totara, kawhaka, ironwood, toatoa, black, white, and red birch, allof which grow in large quantities. Description of timber not given. On East Coast 14,521 acres on public lands, and 43,760 acres on private; on West Coast no information. Bed, white, and black pine, totara and ironwood; estimated average of 15,000 ft. per acre, valued at 100s. per 1,000 feet. 3. Uses, if any, to which the forests are put at present ? No information. Government forests not worked. Private forests are worked to considerable extent with steam sawmills. Mining, building, and fuel. Building and fencing purposes. Building, fencing, railway sleepers, bridges, and general purposes. 4. Whether the forests are worked at all; if so, to what extent, and on what principle ? No information. Worked to very little extent, most of the timber having been cut off private property, and worked by steam No information. No information to what extent f ore sts are worked. Private forests on Banks Peninsula, at Oxford, &c., are worked. (See answer to query No. 3.) power.