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19. Mr. Murdoch.] From your experience do you not think Warawara could be kept?—lt has been bled and bled. I counted in some trees from seventy to eighty incisions, and there were many more in others. Some of the trees were sickly, and the young ones everywhere dead. 20. But there is a natural barrier around the back of the Warawara bush?—lt is an easy bush to keep providing the trees are living, but it is a problem how to get the timber out. I would say, keep both bushes as long as you possibly can. 21. The Chairman.] Is there any other matter you wish to mention? —I support Mr. Leyland's suggestion as to the question of the extension of time for timber-cutting, and always recommended it. Give the millers a reasonable time to work out the area —say, two or three years—and if it does not suit their convenience to do the work in that time then charge them a rent equal to that obtainable for the land for settlement purposes, and let them hold it as long as they like. Bleeding kauri-trees is fatal to the lasting qualities of the timber, as the gum is a vital necessity to its life. 22. Have you had any experience in country where deer are roaming? —In the Wairarapa I have seen them, but I cannot say if they were damaging the native bush. Cattle destroy the bush, and I suppose deer also. The remaining bush should be preserved if possible, as people will soon feel the want of timber-supplies. At Herekino two 50-acre sections containing kauri were abandoned. I recommended that they should be reserved for the future use of the local residents, but the amount of pressure that was brought to bear on the Department for a number of years to open the sections again would surprise you.

Robert Craig Pollock sworn and examined. (No. 56.) 1. The Chairman.] What is your occupation?— Government timber-measurer. I have been twelve years with the Government, and with private firms fifteen years before that. 2. What is the system adopted in this district for measuring timber?—ln some cases the boundaries are defined for us, and we only measure small sections already surveyed; but where the area is large we work on our own lines around the boundaries. We then clear the tree of vinesy and take the girth at the base at a point as high as one can reach. We take the height with an Abney level. 3. Are the trees branded as they are measured?— They are branded below the saw base, and they are also numbered. 4. How then do you arrive at the superficial contents?—We use a ready reckoner, and 1 ft. in 20 ft. is allowed for tapering. With a4O ft. tree we only allow 1 ft. There is no uniform rate; it is a matter of experience. 5. What allowance is made for the bark in measuring kauri?— 6 in., no matter the size of the tree. 6. What other deductions are made?— With dead timber we chop straight into the heart, and where the sap is deep and worthless we take off whatever is on it by the depth. For other defects, as far as we find them, we take 20 ft. off the stem. 7. What is the average cost of measuring a bush, per acre?— Less than Id. per 100 ft. 8. In a fair average bush how many trees could a man measure and brand in a day? — Two men in good bush could do from ninety to a hundred a day of kauri. Rimu might be a little more scattered and require more clearing. 9. How are the brands put on a tree? —We cut them with an axe as near the root as possible. We put the Government brand on with a hammer. 10. Is it a more satisfactory way from a departmental point of view to have all the timbei counted and measured before it is sold?— Decidedly. The present system was initiated by Mr. Kavanagh. Before that we used to mark the trees above where they would be- cut off. 11. Has any difficulty been experienced in this district respecting the dual control between the Warden and the Commissioner?— Yes. At Tapu Creek there is a lot of timber which is rapidly becoming worthless, but the Warden will not sell it. It should be sold, otherwise it is a loss to the State. 12. Is there any demand in that-locality for timber for mining purposes?— There are no mines working there. One fire would render it worthless.

Edward Bartlby sworn and examined. (No. 57.) 1. The Chairman.] I understand you are an architect? —Yes, practising here since 1880. Before that I was a builder. 2. One question we are inquiring into is the probable demand for timber in the future, and how far that can be met by the Dominion's supplies. We should like jour opinion on the point?— For the last three years I can safely say that three-fourths of the* timber I have been specifying and using in my work has been Oregon pine. 3. Do you find that suits the purpose better than the local timbers, or is it on account of the price?—On account of the impossibility of getting local timber. We can get Oregon up to 70 ft. lengths, but we would have to wait months to get that length in kauri. If I hud had to rely on kauri for the King's Theatre I do not know when it would have been built. The addi-