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40. Computing. —As no staff lias been available for computing work since last November this work which promised to keep pace with the field-work has now fallen behind. Apart from the Westland area, however, computing will not be of great proportions. It may be possible to use some of the party leaders on this work during the winter months. 41. Mapping.—The positon of the mapping work has shown no improvement during the year in spite of the Forest Service taking over some of the work preliminary to final plotting and supplying some staff to the Photogrammetric Branch of the Lands and Survey Department. At present some thirteen sheets of the West Waiau area await plotting, and a further six will be completed as far as preliminary work is concerned in the matter of a few weeks. Approximately twenty sheets of West Taupo and Rotorua could be prepared for final mapping at short notice. To rectify this unsatisfactory position an order has been placed for a small transferring device in order that the Service may complete at least some of its own type maps. The undertaking of this work will entail the training of draughting staff for this specialized work, while further junior staff will be necessary. Mapping work also included the preparation of photographs for field-work, colouring and taking out areas of the three type maps which were completed during the year. The aerial photograph library now contains 12,615 prints and covers a considerable area of bush country which has not yet been assessed. Unfortunately, no cover as yet exists for certain areas which have a high priority with this project—for example, certain East Coast (North Island) forests and areas to the west of Lake Brunner (Westland). Forest Products Research 42. General. —In many of the wood-using industries the gradual changeover from the use of indigenous timbers in their respective familiar grades is being hastened. Exotic softwoods, among which insignis pine is pre-eminent, are good general utility timbers, but producers and users are faced with many problems pertaining to seasoning and preservation techniques, to limitations imposed by the grade of the sawn products, and to fundamental properties determining their uses. Investigations have, to a major degree, been focused upon those immediate problems and similar ones affecting the extended use of indigenous hardwoods. 43. Laboratory work on forest products will be facilitated by the recent transfer of operations to the Forest Research Institute at Rotorua. Until machines are available at the Institute timber testing will be continued in Wellington, in addition to liaison with the timber and wood-using industries and Government Departments, the technical advisory service, and the organization and control of industrial studies. There is an obvious need for the dissemination of technical information on timbers which is being met by the preparation of leaflets and bulletins, by correspondence, by preparation of standards pertaining to forest products, and by lectures. In addition to the publications listed in this report, a bulletin on strength properties of indigenous timbers is practically completed, while other leaflets and technical papers are awaiting publication. Fourteen lectures were delivered to various wood-using associations and wood-technology groups. 44. Building-timbers.-—Pre-eminent among timber problems are those relating to building. The answers must be drawn in part from fundamental data on properties of those species becoming available in increasing quantities—in part from local experience (obviously the best guide where it is available) —in part from analogy with experience in other countries with similar timbers, grading' systems, seasoning techniques, wood-preservatives and preservative processes, and building technique. Shortages in

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