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Public and Private Forestry 20. Cheap Tree Seedlings Essential to Forestry Extension.—A great impetus was given to public and private forestry in the 1921 to 1929 period when the Forest Service raised seedlings for sale and planting under the guidance of Forest Extension Officers. With the discontinuance of this work in 1929 the movement rapidly lost headway and, with few exceptions, has languished ever since. Meantime, observations by Forest Service Officers travelling abroad have established the difficulty of attaining a ma.Trimnm effort in public and private tree-planting unless based on the supply of reasonably-priced tree-stocks by governmental or other agencies interested in the promotion of largescale forestry. As commercial nurseries invariably benefit from the much expanded demand for tree-stocks, it is proposed to discuss the future of forestry-extension work with the New Zealand Nurserymen's Association, in the hope that by expansion of demand prices for high quality stock may be reduced to lower levels while still high enough to cover production costs. It is significant that in some countries even private companies, in order to assure themselves of future supplies of pulp-wood, &c., from surrounding lands, sell tree-stocks to farmers at low prices. 21. Encouragement of Forestry Extension by Amelioration of Taxation.—Other than the lack of cheap tree-stocks the chief factor militating against the maximum development of private forestry has been the incidence of taxation upon both farmers and companies. The Forest Economist, Mr. M. B. Grainger, spent a year studying forest taxation in Northern Europe with a view to recommending appropriate reforms as a much more desirable corrective than the use of subsidies to encourage tree-planting. His report is in press, but meantime some relief has been accorded farmers by sections 6 and 7 of the Land and Income Tax Amendment Act, 1949, providing both for recognition of establishment and maintenance costs as an item of farm expenditure and for spreading the income from sale of trees and logs over a period of five years. Still further concessions are being recommended in order to encourage the re-establish-ment of farm shelter and wood-lots. Other recommendations provide that trees shall not be valued separately from the land for estate duties and that in any case these shall not be paid until any timber is actually cut and sold, thus preventing the sacrifice of essential shelter in order to avoid duplication or even triplication of estate duties due ijo the untimely deaths of successive owners. 22. Forestry companies were likewise accorded some relief by agreement of the Commissioner of Taxes to allow all maintenance charges as working-expenses for entire forests instead of for only those compartments being currently worked for revenue production. Further proposals cover relief from the graduated land-tax and recognition of expenditure on fire-fighting equipment as a working-expense in lieu of fire-insurance protection which is not available to forestry companies. Training and Research 23. Report on Higher Forestry Edueation and Research.—Following the return of the New Zealand delegation to the Third World Forestry Congress at Helsinki a report has been approved for publication in which, inter alia, Mr. T. C. Birch, the head of the delegation and Inspector in Charge of Training and Research, has reported on these aspects of forestry work in Northern Europe. 24. His report will be considered at pending discussions with the Auckland University College on the future of higher forestry education in New Zealand. After careful examination of the standard of professional forestry training abroad he questions the _ practicability of organizing a sufficiently high standard in any New Zealand institution except at an exorbitant cost, owing to the necessity for having almost as many professors and lecturers as there will be students, the annual requirement for which may not exceed eight and could be as low as six. Hitherto, the Forest Service has strongly advocated the establishment of a University School of Forestry at Rotorua,

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