10

C—l 3

The principal trees upon Otamakapua, Waitapu, and the country north of the Wanganui Harbour Board Endowment Block are nearly all rimu and rata, except one known patch of about 30 acres of totara on the Mangawharariki Stream, three quarters of a mile west of Trig. G. It should be noted that these blocks contain much hinau interspersed with the other forest trees, and it is in my opinion one of the best timber trees in the colony. The localities are at present very remote. In the Wellington District there remain no Grown lands which comprise any valuable areas of timber trees. In the northern Wairarapa patches of totara are to be found in various localities : on the upper Makakahi, east of Kaiparoro A, and all along the Mangatainoko upwards from Tutaekara. There are groups of totara upon the Mangahao Biver, especially at Eaikohoua, and Kakariki, and west of Hawera. There are also considerable patches of totara eastward of the Tiraumea, in the Makuri and other valleys, as well as in the lower Mangatainoka Block, and on the banks of the Tiraumea and Manawatu. Excepting the totara bush in the Kauahiti, I am not aware of any other localities where good timber grows in any large quantities upon Grown lands. I have seen most of the forest in this district, and can indorse many of the surveyor's statements as to the character of the timber. You may depend that your attention shall be drawn to any blocks of bush worth preserving as the country becomes opened up. J. W. A. Mahchant, The Surveyor-General, Wellington. Chief Surveyor.

Eepoet by the Commissioner op Crown Lands, Blenheim, on the vaeious Timbers in the Eai Valley. Department of Lands and Survey, District Office, Blenheim, 25th June, 1897. In compliance with your request, conveyed by letter dated the 26th March, 1897, the correspondence referred to re Messrs. Brownlee and Co.'s application for a concession of tithes of timber in the Eai Valley was placed before the Board for its consideration, and, as the matter opens up the whole question of the Eai Valley Tramway and future settlement of the land, it was deemed of such importance that the members decided they would visit the locality and make a general inspection of the land and timber themselves, so as to form a clear idea regarding the concession asked for, before making any recommendation to'the Minister. This has now been done, and the Board is quite satisfied there is a very large area of land covered with an extensive and valuable forest belonging to the Crown in that vicinity. The Board has also gone carefully and exhaustively through the previous requests on this important subject, as embodied in Parliamentary Paper 1.-sb, presented to the House on the 17th October, 1894, and, taking a summary of them, the Board finds, —That the Crown Lands Eanger, Mr. Joshua Eutland, in his extensive report in 1886, estimates the land suitable for settlement, including flats, terraces, and hills, at 30,000 acres, which are all covered with dense forest, consisting of rimu, white-pine, totara, and matai, which stands on some portions of the land very thickly, and is estimated to contain in some cases the enormous quantity of 50,000 superficial feet of timber to the acre. That Messrs. C. H. Mills and A. P. Seymour, in their report made in 1892, confirm the statement made by the Eanger with regard to the extent of land suitable for settlement, but make their estimate of the timber suitable for milling purposes considerably greater, and show at the same time there is a large extent of other Crown lands in the Wakamarina and Upper Pelorus Valleys heavily timbered which will eventually be utilised and serve to feed the tramway after the timber in the Eai Valley has all been cut down. That in 1893 Mr. Charles Turner, an old settler and experienced bushman residing in the Eai Valley, confirmed their statement as to the extent and value of the timber in the valleys by measuring the standing trees on part of a section, and proving there were considerably over 2,000,000 superficial feet on the 200 acres. That in 1894 Mr. Sidney Weetman, Chief Surveyor here, made an exhaustive report, confirming both the others, in regard to the valuable asset in land and timber, although differing somewhat as to their extent; but from actual measurement over one section containing 118 acres he found there were 2,245,395 superficial feet, or nearly an average of 20,000 ft. of sawmilling timber to the acre, thus more than fully substantiating Mr. Turner's statement. That in the report from Mr. Wilson, Eesident Engineer, Wellington, in 1895, on the Pelorus Tramway, he says, " Joining as it does the deep water with the valuable State forests in the Eai, Eonga, and Opouri Valleys, the tramway in question is well placed for developing a timber trade. It is the key to the position, as the timber in the State Forest Eeserve is locked up, and unless it is decided to lift the reserve and abandon the timber to its fate, allowing it to be destroyed, the land also is locked up and no settlement is possible. The latter course is evidently wrong, and should, I think, be avoided at all hazards. The forest is far too valuable, at the lowest computation, to make this the right thing to do. It would pay well to open up. It is quite evident the opening-up of the timber country would be a financially sound enterprise, and that a tramway or light railway would by means of its own earnings, together with the timber royalties which would accrue through its construction, earn enough to pay good interest on the expenditure, as well as to enable a sinking fund to be provided equal to the repayment of the full cost of the work in twenty years. In addition to this there is the increased value of the land, the sales of which are estimated to produce when cleared £14,150." Then, there is the valuable evidence given by the Hon. John McKenzie before the Parliamentary Committee in 1894, who says (extract 1), " I have visited the district myself, and am satisfied the statements with regard to the timber are true, and I have no hesitation in saying that it should be worked first entirely for its timber; only there is a difficulty in the way—that is, how to get the