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Information (1) Publications. —There is a great need for the Forest Service to resume publishing as actively as before the war. Not the least valuable part of the Forestry Library consists of the research publications of other forestry bodies sent to it on the understanding that the publications of this Service would be sent in exchange, but, except for its annual report, the Forest Service has had little with which to meet its exchange obligations. Within New Zealand, ■ public interest in long-term forest policies is considerable, and if the Forest Service does not go out to meet the public with information, it is liable to be involved in unfortunate controversies, which will be -damaging to its good relations with the public. At the present time it is all too elear that, while the public is well informed about the Forest Service's part in the development of the timber industry and in the planting of the extensive exotic forests, it knows but little of the Service's research activities and operations directed towards the regeneration of the indigenous forests of New Zealand. For these reasons a departmental Publication Committee was set up during 1948 and has since met regularly. Broadly speaking, two series of publications are projected : a research series publishing the results of original research, such as that carried out by the Forest Research Institute ; and an information series which will meet the timber ■industries' need for a flow of up-to-date information on the utilization of timber, and the general public's need for some interpretation of long-term forest policies and reports on forestry operations. A number of bulletins are now being written, and two have been sent to printers—namely, " Accounting in the Timber Industry " and " Forestry in New Zealand." The reprinting of some bulletins which are out of print is under ■consideration, also publication of volume tables for the estimation of standing timber. During the past year the writings of Forest Service officers have appeared in various journals, including the New Zealand National Review, the British Empire _Forestry Review, and the New Zealand Journal of Forestry, which printed two notable papers read to the Pacific Science Congress : C. M. Smith's " Acclimatization versus Domestication of Forest Species," and J. T. Holloway's " Ecological Investigations in the Nothofagus Forests of New Zealand." Newspaper reporters have been encouraged to call on the Forest Service, and a significant outwards flow of information has been maintained. (2) Library.—The Forestry Library in Wellington now holds nearly 2,000 books and some 5,000 bulletins and pamphlets, and it receives regularly more than 100 trade and technical periodicals. The Forest Research Institute in Rotorua also has a fairly large specialist library, and conservancy offices and forest stations hold small collections •of standard works. The central library, of course, serves the whole Forest Service, not only the Wellington office. The task of recataloguing the whole book stock in accordance with modern library practice was completed during the year ; and half the stock of pamphlets was recatalogued. Catalogue cards for all the books in the Library are held in the National Library Service Union catalogue, so that the books are available to all libraries which subscribe to the library interloan system. (3) Motion Pictures. —" Timber Harvest," a documentary film on the sawmilling industry, was commissioned by the Forest Service in 1948 for screening at the Australia - New Zealand Timber and Forestry Conference in April. It aroused a great degree of interest in delegates to the conference, and it was later released for general exhibition by a national theatre circuit, being seen by several hundred thousand people. In a year of record timber production, " Timber Harvest " served as a timely tribute to the industry. The place of films in forestry training was demonstrated during the year by an instructional film purchased from the United States Forest Service and a film commissioned by the New Zealand Forest Service to demonstrate the use of certain equipment in fighting forest fires. Apart from their use in staff-training, these films

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