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but it is unable to ignore the manifestly clear advantages of continuing to send B.Sc. students with practical forestry training to complete their professional studies at overseas Universities where both tuition of a high standard and advanced practical training are available. 25. Mr. T. C. Birch also considers that in accordance with Northern European practice all forestry research in New Zealand, including that at the Rotorua Forest Research Institute, should be co-ordinated by a committee representative of all interests, and it has been recommended accordingly that a Forestry Research Advisory Committee be set up under the appropriate provision of the Forest Act, 1949, to advise the Minister and the Government on this important subject and to achieve economy of effort and avoid needless duplication of work. 26. Youth Recruitment.—With a complete turnover of forest labour now reduced to less than a year, it is impossible to develop a reasonable standard of efficiency in general employment. Less that half of the labour force can be regarded as even semi-permanent. The only long-term corrective appears to lie in the development of a tradition and pride in craftsmanship by recruiting suitable youths preferably with some secondary education. By giving them good living-conditions with their own organized sports and hobbies, by combining practical forest training with technical classes on wet days and in evenings, and by providing inspired leadership and discipline it is belived that a highly-efficient permanent labour force can be built up and retained by the attraction of excellent married accommodation, village amenities, good pay, stable employment, and pride in achievement. Work to this end during the past year has been largely exploratory, but it is hoped that the first recruitments under this scheme will take place at the end of the 1950 school year. 27. Rotorua Training Centre. —The work at the Rotorua Training Centre has now proceeded to a point where it has demonstrated beyond all possible doubt the superiority of formal training to the usual on-job teaching. In morale, in esprit de corps, and in efficiency the Forest Service staff has made marked progress as a result of its training activities at Rotorua. Only one officer was newly appointed for this work, the remainder of the teaching staff —representing many of the best officers of the Department —having been withdrawn from current administration as and when required. It has thus been necessary to make a short-term sacrifice in the quality of current administration for the benefit of the long-term advantages inherent in a trained staff. The Forest Service has been just as short of staff as many other organizations, but instead of believing as others have done, that officers could not be spared either for teaching or for training, it was convinced that if efficiency was to be secured, officers must be spared. The results have already confirmed the correctness of this judgment, even though the Training Centre will not attain the optimum of its development until 1952 or 1953, when it is planned to institute courses of several months' duration covering the higher aspects of forest administration. Without qualifying in this course, no officer whether of the professional, general, or clerical division of the general Public Service will be able to advance to senior administrative responsibilities. Commercial Activities 28. Developmental and Demonstrational.—Although managing its industrial activities on strictly commercial lines, the Forest Service has continued to use them primarily as developmental and demonstration units for the benefit of the industry. Not only is information freely made available to other operators, both on costs and operating and designing techniques, but staff is lent for advice and assistance and expensive saws repaired for the industry. The outstanding achievement of the year was the successful inauguration of marketing packaged exotic softwood on the Australian market. Packages of even-length kiln-dried timber, varying from 600 to 1,000 board feet, are now wired at the Waipa Mill and handled in this form from mill to port, to ship, to wharfside in

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