C—3

Method of sale was as follows : Bd. ft. (1) By appraised quantities .. .. .. 121,430,000 (2) By log-scaling .. .. .. ~ 5,398,000 (3) By mill output .. .. .. .. 19,089,000 In addition a total of 85,000 board feet of sawn exotic timber valued at £269 was sold from State forests during the year. The value of other forest produce of indigenous species sold under permit amounted to £17,142 and exotic forest produce sold under permit to £461.

32. Outturn Under Licence, Permits, &c. —The total quantity of milling timber removed and paid for under log sale agreements, licences, and permits was 194,543,000 board feet (1948-49, 180,198,000) of which 168.192,000 was indigenous constituting 52 per cent, of the total indigenous cut. Other forest produce was removed under permits as follows :

Indigenous and exotic timber extracted by the Forest Service itself is dealt with in Chapter YI, Section 8. Soil Conservation 33. General. —The preservation of forests on steep hill country for the protection of highly-productive farm lands below has been so large a part of the Forest Service's work in its first thirty years, and the definition of this function in the Forests Act, 1949, is of such importance that the conservation policy of the Service is stated in some detail in Chapter II —Forest Policy, of this report. The control of forest and rural fires, which is of permanent importance in soil conservation, is dealt with in Chapter VII. 34. Manuka Blight. —It remains to record here developments regarding the spread of " manuka blight " mentioned in last year's report. The attitude of the Forest Service towards the use of the blight in pasture-management has been uncompromising. The vast tracks of hill country, particularly in the North Island, on which manuka constitutes the only vegetative cover and the ideal nurse crop for the regeneration of native forest must not be exposed to the risk of denudation ; and the Service regards the dissemination of the disease as wholely unwarranted. Following a series of meetings at which representatives of interested Departments discussed the problem, arrangements have been made that the Journal of Agriculture should explain the disastrous consequences which

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1949 -50. 1948 -49. 1947 '-48. Indigenous. Exotic. Indigenous. Exotic. Indigenous. Exotic. Number. Number. Number. Number. Number. Number. Poles 6,900 10,300 9,600 Strainers 30,200 23,300 21,000 Posts and stakes 549,800 565,700 430,600 Stays 21,900 13,700 8,100 Sleepers 7,100 14,100 20,000 House blocks and pole blocks 13,600 17,700 14,300 Battens 956,400 1,164,800 1,136,100 9 j 390 Bridge Stringers .. 400 40 10 Survey pegs .. 500 Firewood (cords) *900 "20 900 50 "600 i 30 Mining timber (pieces) 153,700 12,100 55,000 9,700 61,400 12,700 Rails 500 240 Chopping-blocks 200 100 1 j 200 100 Tomato stakes 1,700 1,400 38,600 Shingles 18i,500