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the standard of technical competence in the field staff proportionately. A considerable amount of field training has been provided at the Rotorua Training Centre as well as in conservancies, and, at the former, promising forest workmen nominated by conservancies are given the opportunity to qualify for appointment to the staff as Forest Foremen, and of the 9 Foremen appointed during the year 5 qualified at a Timber Measurers' Course at the Training Centre. 10. Clerical Division Training.—The last twelve months can be recorded as the most successful period of clerical staff training, and there is now ample evidence to show that the short-course method practised at the Rotorua Training Centre has been responsible for a marked improvement in the standard of work in all offices. Senior officers continue to attach great importance to the value of these courses, and the general eagerness for nomination by all officers has brought about a healthy keenness and desire to take full advantage of the instruction given. Fight courses were held throughout the year, involving 127 officers, 110 of these having passed through the Training Centre. Female clerical staff have been given equal opportunities within the training scheme and have also played a full part at the Training Centre. Special attention has been paid to the training of cadets and other junior officers, particularly those situated in isolated districts or small offices where training methods are difficult to apply. 11. On-Job Training.—A reorganization of conservancy offices throughout the year has facilitated the on-job training through the delegation of training to section leaders. Rotation of duties within each office and between stations has been organized and practised and has given officers a much wider appreciation of the job as a whole. Research 12. Organization.-—The administration of forestry and forest products research is directly from Head Office, and most of the work is centred at the Forest Research Institute, Rotorua. There is direct liaison between the forest products research staff at the Institute and the Engineer in Forest Products in Head Office, and ultimately similar liaison will be established in respect of forestry research. 13. Research Staff. —The staff has not increased appreciably during the past year; it is still inadequate and lacks a balanced proportion of experienced research foresters and allied technicians. Thus, in addition to the chief administrative forester, of the total technical strength of 14 only 4 can be described as experienced or senior research officers. Staff is obviously, therefore, a serious limiting factor and, with due regard to the inadvisability of further depleting conservancy professional staff, efforts are still being made —though so far without appreciable success —to recruit experienced research foresters from overseas, and selected junior staff are being developed in research experience. 14. Forest Research Institute. —The justification of research in general and forestry research in particular is largely measured by steady progress towards long-term objectives within the framework of an ordered programme of work rather than endeavours to accomplish spectacular results within the relatively brief period of twelve months. This is particularly true during the developmental period of a newly-established institution such as the Forest Research Institute. The headquarters of the Institute is now established at Rotorua in recently completed temporary quarters, and considerable progress has been made in the organization of its activities, which will extend over many years and which can be expanded as required. The work of the Institute has been classified under the following headings : Silviculture, management, forest pathology, national forest survey, and forest products—and current work under these heads is reported below. During this formative period it has, however, become more apparent that if longterm research is to be carried out to the best advantage of all interests concerned, a greater degree of constitutional permanency for the Institute and a clearer definition

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