A.—2a

14

when the owner of the land resumes possession of his land to be previously repaid the amount of the additional value given to such land on account of such plantations: Provided that the Governor shall be bound, before incurring any expense on account of such planting, to insert notices in three consecutive numbers of the Government Gazette and also in two daily newspapers, describing the laud to he planted as aforesaid, and calling upon all claimants to the same to make known their claims. 71. Should any person lay claim to the land in question, the Governor shall stay proceedings, but such person shall be bound, if not in actual possession by himself, agent, or servant, to bring his action to make good his claim before the Supreme Court within three months next after notice of the said claim has been given, and on behalf of the Crown the Colonial Secretary shall be made a defendant to the action. 72. Should such claimant have been bona fide in actual or legal possession for more than one year, and be deemed to be so by the District Magistrate of the district in which such land is situated, such possession shall not be, in the first instance, interfered with, but the Crown shall be left to the usual legal remedy to recover possession of the land, or to buy the claimant's right to the ownership thereof. 73. It shall be the duty of the Warden of Woods and Forests to plant with trees, unless the proprietor or occupier of the bordering lands elect to do so within a reasonable delay, all the main road sides within 1,200 feet above the level of the sea, the distance between such trees not to be less than 15 feet and not more than 20 feet, and one row of trees on each side of the road to be sufficient: Provided that it shall not be lawful for the Government to plant trees within 30 feet of any building if such plantation be objected to by the owner. Whoever shall, without the consent of the SurveyorGeneral, cut, mutilate, lop, bark, or destroy any tree planted on the sides of a main road in execution of this article shall incur for each tree cut, mutilated, lopped, barked, or destroyed by him, a penalty not less than £5 and not more than £20. 74. It shall be lawful for the Governor in Executive Council to make regulations for the better execution of the provisions of this Ordinance, provided such regulations be not inconsistent with or repugnant to the said provisions; and such regulations, when published in the Government Gazelle, shall have force of law as if they formed part of and were embodied in this Ordinance, and such regulations shall be laid on the table of the Council of Government at the meeting next after the promulgation of the said regulations. 75. Any breach of such regulations shall, be deemed an offence against this Ordinance, and the person guilty thereof shall be liable'to a fine not exceeding £5 for the first offence, and for every subsequent offence to a fine not exceeding £10.

IV.—lnducements to Private Planting. New Zealand. — Vj,de Actis, No. XXXII., 1871, intituled " An Act to encourage tho Planting of Forest Trees," and No. XLIX., 1872, intituled "An Act to amend 'Tiie Forest Trees Planting Encouragement Act, 1871.'"

South Australian Act, No. 26 of 1873. South Australia. —Anno Tricesimo Septimo Victoria; Eeginse: a.d. 1873: No. 26.—"An Act to encourage the Planting of Forest Trees." (Assented to, 18th December, 1873.) Whereas it is expedient to encourage the planting of forest trees: Be it therefore enacted by the Governor of the Province of South Australia, with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and House of xlssembly of the said province, in this present Parliament assembled, as follows: — 1. The Short Title of this Act shall be " The Forest Trees Act, 1873." 2. In the construction of this Act the word " planted " shall include also trees which have been sown on the spot and were not transplanted. 3. The Governor may from time to time, by Proclamation in the Government Gazette, declare this Act to be in operation in any district to be defined in such Proclamation, and on a day to be fixed in such Proclamation this Act shall come into operation in such district. 4. If any person shall plant any land, not being waste lands of the Crown, and not being less than five acres in extent, with forest trees, he shall be entitled to receive, in respect to every acre so planted, a land order in the form in the Schedule hereto, which shall authorize such person to purchase, to the amount of two pounds, any of the waste lands of the Crown in the province open for sale at auction or otherwise, or in payment of the interest of the purchase-money if selected on credit, or in payment of any rent due to the Government, but subject in every other respect to the laws and regulations for the time being in force regulating the sale and disposal of the waste lands of the Crown : Provided that no such land order shall be given unless the land has been devoted to purposes of planting only for at least two years, that the trees are in a vigorous and healthy condition, and that the land is securely fenced-in against both sheep and cattle. 5. The Governor may from time to time make regulations for defining the number and description of trees to be planted on each acre, and for prescribing the period not exceeding five years for which such trees shall be preserved, and for preventing the cutting or other destruction of such trees during such period, and the other terms and conditions to be fulfilled by persons claiming a land order tinder the provisions of this Act; and upon the certificate of an officer appointed by him for that purpose that the terms and conditions herein expressed, as well as those prescribed in such regulations, have been complied with, the person to whom such certificate is given shall be entitled, on the production of such certificate to the Commissioner of Crown Lands, to receive a land order for an amount to which such certificate shall prove him to be entitled; and such regulations may be made to apply generally throughout the said province, or may be limited to apply to any one or more districts, and different regulations may be made from time to time for the several districts, and such regulations may prescribe any penalty not exceeding five pounds for any breach of any such regulations. The regulations aforesaid may be altered or revoked by the Governor, but such alteration or revocation shall only have prospective operation, and shall not affect the rights of any person who shall, before the publication