The Forestry Era of Professor , F.L.S.

First Chief Conservator of State Forests,

NEW ZEALAND FOREST SERVICE INFORMATION SERIES No. 56 O.D.C. 902(931)+902.1

The Forestry Era

of Professor Thornas Kirk, F.L.S.

First Cl1ief Conservator of State Forests, New Zealancl

By LANNA BROWN

A L. Poole, Director-Genernl of Forest3 NE'vV ZEALAND FOREST SERVICE 1968 Alexander Turnbull Library photo

THOMAS KIRK, F.L.S. homas Kirk has a well earned and respected place in the history of New Zealand botanical discovery. He is best remembered for T his classic The Forest Flora of New Zealand (1889), an account of commercially valuable trees and shrubs. Kirk has an equally well earned but almost forgotten place in university education and forestry; this booklet reviews briefly his work for forestry. EARLY CAREER Born in Coventry, Warwickshire, in 1828, Kirk had no formal school­ ing, though he was well educated through his father's tuition and his own studies. Plants fascinated him and he gained a thorough grounding in botany from his parents, both prominent in nursery and landscaping work. He showed exceptional facility in natural science and a paper on ferns, published when he was 19, was the first of a succession spanning his adult years. He corresponded, and exchanged plants, with many noted botanists. When his father died Kirk, still only a young man, tried to support the family by taking over his father's nursery and landscaping commit­ ments. Long hours and exposure took such toll of his health that for the rest of his life he was plagued by chest weakness, possibly pulmonary tuberculosis. Compelled to take less exacting work, he joined a large timber concern as bookkeeper, eventually earning a partnership. On Christmas Day 1850 Kirk married Sarah Jane Mattocks, daughter of a Coventry warehouseman. In 1862 because of economic recession and his health problem he decided to fulfil a long-held ambition to emigrate. With his wife and four children he left England with a party of religious nonconformists who were to settle in North . After 96 miserable days at sea (Kirk was always subject to severe sea sickness) he reached Auckland, where his first employment seems to have been a usual one for new settlers who wanted cash in their pockets: breaking stones at Mount Eden. Kirk experienced at first hand the hardships and heartbreak of most pioneers. Through poverty and privation, through the deaths of four beloved children, he held to an unshakable faith in God's goodness, and pursued his botanical career, in addition to labours to support his family, with such integrity and dedication that when he died Sir Joseph Hooker wrote: ". . . except the late Baron von Mueller there was no other botanist in the Southern Hemisphere who could compare with him ...". 3 PUBLIC LIFE After adventures as timber merchant, surveyor, and pioneer farmer, Kirk entered the public life for which his character so well suited him. Public positions he held were: curator, secretary, and council member of the Auckland Institute and Museum; deputy registrar of births, deaths, and marriages; meteorological observer; professor of natural sciences at Wellington College (affiliated with the New Zealand Univer­ sity); deacon and secretary of the Wellington Baptist Church and president of the Baptist Union in 1892; member of the council of the New Zealand Institute*, later a governor; president of the Wellington Philosphical Society; lecturer in biology and geology, Lincoln Agricultural College; and Chief Conservator of State Forests. Kirk was prodigal of services to botany; a prolific writer on botanical matters, he corresponded with settlers, students, and botanists, for years penning over 1,000 letters annually. He contributed specimens of New Zealand plants to botanical collections in many parts of the world, and was elected a fellow of the Linnaean Society in 1871. Papers Kirk contributed papers to Nature, Journal of Botany (London), the Linnaean Society, Gardener's Chronicle, and to almost every volume of the Transactions of the New Zealand Institute from Volume 1 (1868) until his death in 1898 (130 papers in 30 years). His forestry papers comprise "The Durability of New Zealand Timbers" (1875), reports pulished in the appendices of the Journal of the House of Representatives in 1886, The Forest Flora of New Zealand (1889), and part of his unfinished "Flora of New Zealand", published after his death as Students' Flora of New Zealand and Outlying Islands. Botanical Exploration To Kirk every walk was botanical exploration. His major excursions were to Great Barrier, Little Barrier, and Arid Islands; the north­ eastern coast of North Auckland, Thames goldfields, district, Rotorua, and Taupo; and to Stewart Island, Auckland and Campbell Islands, the Snares, and Antipodes Islands. He was the first European to climb Mt. Anglem on Stewart Island. KIRK AND FORESTRY First Forests Act Kirk was professor of natural sciences at Wellington College when the first New Zealand Forests Act (1874) was passed. Some of the credit for influencing the Premier, Julius Vogel, to bring down the Act must be given, as Vogel gave it, to Kirk, who had an unusual opportunity to get Vogel's ear. Kirk's modest cottage in Tinakori Road had no water laid on for a time and he carried his supplies from the Vogel residence directly opposite.

'~Later renamed the Royal Society of New Zealand. 4 The day the Forest Act became law Kirk offered the Government his advice on forestry matters ". . . as no conservator fresh from Europe, however high his ability, could procure the knowledge until he has been resident here ... it is obvious that serious errors may be made by relying too exclusively on European experience". Kirk's proferred advice was accepted and as a result he introduced New Zealand's first conservator, Captain Inches Campbell Walker, to the colony's forest flora, drew up an itinerary for him, and accom­ panied him on part of his tour. (The unsuccessful attempt to form a forest department is recorded in Captain Inches Campbell Walker, New Zealand's First Conservator of Forests. Lanna Brown and A. D. McKinnon, New Zealand Forest Service Information Series No. 54; 1966.) After the departure of the first conservator in 1876, Kirk and those who like him had tried to promote measures for forest conservation saw forest destruction continue without restraint. The principles and provisions of the 1874 Act remained law, but two sections had been altered to nullify their effectiveness: that relating to moneys to be credited to the State Forests account had been rescinded; and the power of determining lands to constitute State Forests had been vested in the Governor under Part V, section 91, of the Land Act 1877.

REVIVAL OF INTEREST IN FORESTRY In 1879, when the British Parliament was showing concern about forest destruction occurring in the colonies, a retired French forester living in New Zealand, A. Lecoy, M.A., LL.B., presented his views to the Wellington Philosophical Society, of which Kirk was a member. Lecoy, observed, diplomatically: "So far as the conservation of the forests is concerned, the matter has already been treated in the with a remarkable display of talent and patriotism"; but one suspects artlessness, not adroitness, when he recommended that in addition to the provision of £10,000 for forest establishment the initial annual outlay for staff should be £45,000. However, he struck the right note to interest Government: "Con­ sidered solely from a financial point of view, the forest question in New Zealand will show to any competent person giving attention to it, that within a period of, say, ten or fifteen years hence, a permanent State revenue, to the amount of from £3,000,000 to £4,000,000 should be derivable from the State forests, and that meanwhile capital, to about the same amount, would come yearly from abroad, as money derived from timber exports ..." (How unreal Lecoy's estimate was is shown by the fact that 86 years later (1966) the value of timber exports, including logs, had not reached £4,000,000.) " ... under all circumstances the Colonial Treasurer will be entitled to look to the proper arrangement of the State forests for an important and hitherto untouched source of revenue." 5 The Wellington Philosophical Society, though it did not unanimously support Lecoy's figures, agreed that Government should take con­ servation measures, and Kirk suggested that large tracts of waste country should be planted. The Government arranged for Lecoy to present a paper to Parliament (AJHR H-3, 1880), but interest in forestry flagged; it was sustained through 1880 only by Lecoy's effort to get State financial backing to the establishment of a small timber trade with France, with himself as trade representative. As well as keeping the forestry issue before the public, Lecoy made one telling contribution: his insistence that forestry, comprised of conservation, revenue creation, and exportation, could be dealt with properly only by a special administration.

Second Forests Act During the five years 1881-85 the need for forest conservation was kept persistently before the Upper and Lower Houses by Henry Cham­ berlain and A. J. Cadman respectively, and Thomas Bracken, poet­ politician, asked for Government action on the planting of treeless areas. In 1883 Cadman, member for Cambridge, produced figures showing the futility of the Tree Planting Act of 1871 (intended to stimulate tree planting in treeless areas). In the 12 years that the Act had been in force only 52 acres had been planted in Auckland, 124 acres in Hawke's Bay, none in Taranaki, Wellington, Marlborough, or Westland, 146 acres in Nelson, 2,933 acres in treeless Canterbury, .539 acres in Otago, and 3 acres in Southland. "This amount of planting, 3,800 acres", Cadman warned, "could not provide work for the North Island sawmills for twelve months." (In 1881, 204 sawmills in the colony turned out a total of 200,000,000 super. ft.; in Auckland 25 mills produced a total of 46 million super. ft.) If, said Cadman, the consumption of forest timber increased in the next few years in proportion to the past consump­ tion, New Zealand would have to look forward to importing its timber both for house and ship building. A consolidation "of the present Act", with "considerable amend­ ments", was proposed and towards the end of 1884, at the peginning of the Stout-Vogel Ministry, Kirk was engaged to examine the natural forests of the colony "with a view to reporting on the best means for their preservation". On 12 June 1885 Vogel, then Colonial Treasurer, brought down his second forests Act, which was passed on 12 August without discussion, perhaps because it was then five minutes to one in the morning. The main objects of the Act were to : • Set aside areas as State forest land. • Give them skilled management and proper control to prevent undue waste of timber. • Provide for the conservation of climatic conditions*. • Provide for the establishment of a school of forestry and agriculture.

*It was thought that the presence or absence of forest affected the weather. 6 FORMATION OF FOREST AND AGRICULTURE BRANCH Kirk had spent the months preceding the passing of the second forests Act reporting on fruit diseases. After the passing of the Act he formed the Forest and Agriculture Branch of Lands Department, and was appointed Chief Conservator of Forests on 12 December 1885. Walter de Fox Reeves was appointed head of the agriculture section and Thomas Stock Montrose Cowie was transferred from Treasury as clerk­ accountant. The branch had cramped offices in the Government Buildings and Kirk complained to the Commissioner of State Forests at the end of April 1886 that he was still occupying someone else's office, that he had no "pigeon-holes to allow of the proper arrangement of plans and papers", and that table space was required for the arrangement of "wood sections, etc., etc.". Kirk's designation of Chief Conservator was misleading. His 57 "con­ servators" (50 more than any other head of New Zealand State forestry has had) were nominal and unpaid, appointed by reason of their positions as chairmen of various county councils. They were expected only to exercise general oversight of native forests in their counties and to advise the Forest and Agriculture Branch of any planting undertaken. Chief surveyors of counties were given the honorary title of inspector of forests. The duties of the chief conservator were described by the Under­ Secretary of Lands, H. J. H. Elliott, as being: "To advise the Com­ missioner of State Forests and the Department on all technical questions connected with forestry; to draft Orders-in-Council, rules, regulations, etc., required by the Act, and to carry out instructions of the Com­ missioner as conveyed through the Officer of the Crown Lands Depart­ ment". Practice proved this a gross understatement. With the whole of New Zealand as his conservancy, Kirk had to: Act as a reference point for settlers crying out for all kinds of planting advice and for identification of plants and pests. Advise on disease control. Arrange supplies of fruit trees to settlers. Arrange to protect forests from fire and to prevent it spreading from private to State forests. Personally select areas to be proclaimed State forest. Classify all State forests. Arrange for valuation and sale of standing timber and other forest products. Prepare plans for the working of each forest. Decide whether natural forests were to be replaced or renewed by natural growth and how. Arrange for plantations to be established. Deal with the problems of, and give detailed instructions to, his few field staff-largely untrained and sometimes completely unreliable. 7 2 Select the species best suited to each plantation and lay down plans for subsequent management. Take precautions to prevent waste, illegal cutting, and theft in the forests. Produce revenue. Supervise stores, tree stocks, and buildings in every trivial detail. Report to Parliament on native forests, the state of the timber trade, the formation of a school of forestry, and secondary forest products. Write The Forest Flora of New Zealand.

A man accustomed to giving his utmost endeavour to his work, not the labours involved, his recurrent ill-health, or the travelling required in all weathers by coach, by horseback, or on, to him, the sickening sea could deter Kirk. But he made one concession to his frailty: for two years the Transactions of the New Zealand Institute did not include botanical papers from his pen.

Regulations Though not a trained forester, Kirk was an advocate of scientific forestry and in the early part of 1886 drew up regulations, still admired, which greatly reduced wasteful misuse of forests and which could have laid sound foundations for scientific forestry in New Zealand. The regulations provided among other things for the classification of land into three divisions: Class I, climatic or mountain reserves: Comprising all forests reserved for shelter, conservation of water supply, or climatic reasons, irrespective of altitude. Most of these reserves had already been proclaimed on the recommendation of Campbell Walker. "In forests of this kind", wrote Kirk, "the timber is frequently of small value, and in many cases removal would be too costly to prove remunerative at present rates. In certain climatal reserves, however, the present timbers may be replaced by others of greater value, and will prove of great importance in years to come. ln forests of this class only a limited area can be felled in any one season, and the trees must be branded by an officer of this department." Class Il, for est reserves and plantations: "This class", said Kfrk, "would ultimately include the great bulk of our convertible timber, whether kauri, rimu, totara, eucalypts, oaks, or other kinds. Felling will be by periodic selection, or by rotation of area, according to the nature of the forest." Class III; timber reserves: This class was to include forest blocks reserved until the timber could be profitably converted. When cleared these blocks were to be transferred to Lands Department for settlement unless re-proclaimed under Class II. Kirk found a need for thorough revision of felling regulations because those in force varied throughout the colony. For instance, in Southland Crown timber could be cut at 3d. per 100 super. ft.; in Otago on payment of £1 ls. per acre in three instalments; in Canterbury on the purchase 8 of land at £2 per acre; in Nelson on payment of an annual rental of 4s. an acre; and in Marlborough on payment of royalty of 6d. per 100 super. ft., measured in the logo In Westland on payment of £5 per annum almost an unlimited quantity of logs could be cut. Kirk therefore devised regulations flexible enough to be applied to the whole colony, but with safeguards against unnecessary interference with established customs or needless increases in royalties. He kept four important considerations in view: 1. Providing areas sufficient to ensure a certain degree of permanence to the operations of the licensee and to yield fair return for the capital sunk in buildings, etc. 2. Giving the licensee a financial inducement to prevent wasteful conversion and so diminish risk of fire. 3. Avoiding unnecessary injury to young growth and ensuring the natural renewal of the forest. 4. Facilitating efficient supervision. Within a week of his appointment Kirk had reserved 341,127 acres of Southland Crown forests; 312,467 acres was virgin bush, in that, though settlers had encroached on it, sa wmillers had not cut into it. The next week he reserved Auckland kauri forests ( Omahuta blocks l and 2, a total of 7,770 acres; Waikoropupu blocks 1, 2, and 3, containing 8,256 acres; and Kauaeoruruwahine, 12,800 acres). Shortly afterwards he asked the Commissioner of State Forests to buy two blocks of Maori land growing totara in Hawke's Bay district, stating: "I am convinced that the available supply of totara in Hawke's Bay will be exhausted in less than ten years." By the time his branch was disbanded early in 1888 Kirk had had 800,000 acres proclaimed as forest reserves.

Export Duty on Kauri In July 1886 Kirk advised the Commissioner of State Forests to impose an export duty on baulk kauri to favour local conversion. In 1885 round and hewn kauri worth £27,215 (more than a fifth of the timber exported) had gone to Australia, mainly to New South Wales and Victoria, which were also the best markets for sawn kauri. "There can be no question", wrote Kirk, "that the conversion of these logs in New Zealand would employ labour to the value of at least £20,000 per annum. If the supply of kauri were unlimited the abstraction of this amount from the labour fund of the colony would not be a serious matter, but as the export of kauri will necessarily cease in about ten or twelve years, it is worth while to consider whether the colony may not derive some benefit by retaining a portion of this raw material for home conversion instead of leaving the whole of it to our neighbours ... " ... the limited quantity of standing kauri, the near approach of the period of exhaustion, and the propriety of securing the utmost amount of benefit for our own settlers, combine to surround the question with peculiar conditions, and in my judgment neutralise the ordinary objec­ tions against imposing a tax on exports . . " 9 SCHOOL OF FORESTRY, POMOLOGY, AND AGRICULTURE Kirk was immersed by mid 1886 in preparations for the School of Forestry, Pomology, and Agriculture*. The Whangarei High School reserve, of 3,891 acres known as the Kioreroat Block, was granted by the Government for the school. The block was examined by W. de Fox Reeves, head of the agriculture section, who found under the fern and manuka very light and thin topsoil on "cold and hungry-looking clay" suitable in combination with climate and neighbourhood, he thought, for a school of forestry; a school of agriculture would be out of place in a district suited only to growing fruit, tobacco, and maize, he reported. After seeing the poor soil of the block, Kirk looked for some good land to add to it. He found it nearby at Papatawa. A man well liked wherever he went, Kirk put his problem to the settlers and to the Whangarei County Council, which owned the land. The Council voted half of the area of 102 acres for the experimental grounds of the school and the settlers raised money by public subscription and presented the rest.

Kirk's Proposals for the School Students, resident and non-resident, were to be between 16 and 21 years on admission and to have passed an entrance examination based on the primary school sixth standard. A course of practical work was to be compulsory, but there was to be special provision for any who had taken a university degree and wished to acquire technical knowledge of only one branch of study. The objects of the school were to be to teach the principles and practice of forestry, pomology, and agriculture. Two courses were to be provided: 1, forestry and pomology; 2, agriculture; students were not to· be permitted to take both at the same time. Instruction was to be by lectures, by experiments and analysis in the biological and chemical laboratories, and by practical work in the plantations, forests, orchards, and garden and on the farm.

Staff The staff of the school, never appointed, was to comprise: 1. General manager, sole charge, thoroughly acquainted with the theory and practice of agriculture and able to lecture; with experience in the management of teaching staff and control of students; salary £500 and house. 2. Lecturer in biology, with theoretical and practical knowledge of botany and zoology and a detailed knowledge of common forest and fruit trees and agricultural plants, especially native and exotic grasses

*Kirk had added pomology (fruit growing) to the course because of its potential as an important industry. tNow Port Whangarei. 10 and forage plants. A knowledge of diseases of plants to be an additional advantage. Salary £300 and house. 3. Chemistry lecturer, well acquainted with organic and inorganic chemistry, especially as applied to forest, farm, and orchard products. Salary £250 and house. 4. Lecturer on forestry and pomology, acquainted with the theory and practice of those branches, able to direct the forester and in charge of plantations, orchards, and the larger portion of the nurseries and experi­ mental grounds. (Salary not recorded.) 5. Mathematics lecturer to teach geometry and trigonometry (as applied to land surveying, levelling, mechanics, and hydrostatics) and book· keeping for forestry, farming, and fruit growing. Surveying and levelling to be taught in the field. (Salary not recorded.) 6. Porter to keep the lecture hall, class rooms, laboratories, library, lecturers' room, and offices in proper order and to light fires, lamps, etc.; salary £80. 7. Gardener-forester, to carry out experiments and to instruct students in the plantations and orchards. Salary £125 and house. 8. Dairyman, to take charge of the dairy and generally supervise stock. Salary £100. The first three and last three on the list were to be appointed for the first year, salaries to total £1,355. Kirk thought that some instruction in carpentry and blacksmithing as applied to forestry and farming should be added when the school was well established.

Accommodation Kirk envisaged an eight-roomed residence for the manager; two six­ roomed and two five-roamed houses for lecturers, and one six-roomed and two five-roamed houses for forester, farm manager, and dairyman; day rooms and dormitories for residents and students; kitchen, lecture hall, two classrooms, biological laboratory and museum, chemical labora­ tory, reading room, and library (free for reference to settlers who chose to consult the books), manager's office, lecturers' room, and porter's room; and a garden shed, tool house, and packing room. All were to be built according to Kirk for £4,000! In addition, there were to be stabling for horses, milking shed, cattle yards, piggeries, implement shed, dairy and cheese room, superintendent's office, seed room, and granary.

Revenue Fees paid by students were not to exceed the actual cost of their board; costs of teaching and maintenance were to be defrayed by the Govern­ ment until plantations, orchards, and farm were contributing to revenue. Each student was to clean his bedroom and study (and his own boots), to wait at table as required, and to share other domestic duties. Kirk wanted to foster a spirit of self-help and to avoid turning out trained men who were dissatisfied with the "plain homeliness of a settler's life". 11 The Whangarei County Council was to be requested to make a grant from rates for five years. After seven years plantations of black or golden wattle were expected to return an average profit of £2 an acre from bark for tanning, and Kirk conjectured that "the return from 100 acres of ripe jarrah would amount to £10,000", though not in his lifetime. Other sources of revenue were to be oil-yielding eucalypts, thinnings from plantations, mint and other perfume- or drug-yielding plants, crop plants such as the "earth-nut" (presumably peanut) cultivated on a large scale, and proceeds from the leasing of 400 or 500 acres of land, at £1 per acre, for grazing until it was needed by the school. Kirk was determined that the forestry and pomology sections should be self­ supporting in a few years, and he was instructed to delay the formation of the school until some revenue could be assured from the produce of orchards and plantations.

BEITER USE OF FOREST PRODUCE It had been a bitter experience for Kirk to see the poverty and distress of many settlers while around them forest wealth was wilfully and ignorantly dissipated. As Chief Conservator of Forests he took the opportunity to point out that increased employment for settlers, a more stable economy, and revenue for forestry could be gained by wise use of secondary forest products. "During the year ending 3lst December 1884, the imports of tanning bark into New Zealand amounted to 4,129 tons, valued at £43,578. A large portion of this outlay might have been kept in the colony had the extent of our resources been understood", wrote Kirk. He pointed out that thousands of tons of tanning bark from hinau, rata, towai, kamahi, rimu, and tooth-leaved beech could be had at small cost if settlers stripped trees felled to clear land. Hinau and rata bark were bringing £6 per ton at local tanneries. He felt it desirable that even barks with low tannin content should be used instead of being wasted to the extent of thousands of tons yearly. Branches and sawmill refuse from which turpentine, resin, tar, pitch, and varnish (imported to the value of £19,000 per annum) could have been produced were left to decay, adding seriously to the fire risk in forests. "It certainly cannot be considered economical" wrote Kirk, "to export kauri resin to the United States and import it in the form of varnish, paying outward and inward freights, with the addition of a heavy duty, and allowing another country the profit arising from the manufacture." He described the chief methods of extracting turpentine, resin, tar, and pitch and of manufacturing lampblack, oil of turpentine, potash, and charcoal. Of wood pulp for paper manufacture he wrote: "It is obvious that this process affords the means of utilising a hrge quantity of waste timber; but ... it is not easy to form a definite idea as to the possibility of effecting this at a profit." 12 Overseas Staff for Forestry Branch A list of the staff of the Forest and Agriculture Branch is given in Appendix 3. At least two of the men employed were from overseas. One was a nurseryman, Henry D. Twohy, from Canada, who had previously resided in New Zealand for 11 years and had remained a ratepayer. He must have been well qualified, because Kirk held the job of nurseryman at Gimmerburn Reserve, Maniototo Country, open for him for the six months he needed to get back to New Zealand. Appointed at a salary of £80 and given a cottage and tool house, Twohy proved efficient and was kept on at Lands Department when the forestry branch was disbanded. The other overseas man was W. Edgar Spooner, who was made superintendent of the Kioreroa reserve. He had had "the best private and public training" and in 1873 had been selected by Sir Joseph Hooker, Director of the Royal Gardens, Kew, as Superintendent, Agri­ Horticultural Society grounds at Lahore, Punjab, where his admini?tration gave great satisfaction. He started work at Kioreroa on 6 July 1887, at a salary of £115, the promise of a cottage when vacated, and Kirk's encouragement: "It will afford an opportunity of doing good work of the kind to which you have been accustomed, but at present you will have to do with a limited amount of assistance so that much will depend upon yourself." And he adjured Spooner to exercise "a discreet reticence with regard to the instructions sent to you from time to time. Possibly Mr Walker [the nurseryman already there] may be able to lodge you during the period of his stay, or you may find it preferable to sleep in the seeds room ..." After six weeks, during which Kirk sent him innumerable packets of seeds and tree seedlings and ordered the formation of seed beds in any suitable place, Spooner resigned and Kirk then spent a very busy time at Kioreroa.

ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE FOREST BRANCH At the end of 1887 the revenue received from State forests since the passing of the 1885 Act stood at £7,305 (The figure for 1885 had been £800.) Expenditure had amounted to £10,036 12s. 2d. for forestry and £1,966 12s. lld. for agriculture. Kirk estimated yearly revenue to be £4,000 and capable of indefinite expansion. A uniform code of regulations for the measurement, valuation, and sale of standing timber had been brought into force in all State f,orests and waste had been reduced. A total area of 4,720 acres had been fenced in a substantial manner at Maniototo, Waerenga, Kioreroa, and Papatawa. Four cottages had been built. Over 1,600 acres had been cleared, ploughed, and planted or sown with black and golden wattle, Eucalyptus rostrata, iron bark, jarrah, stringy bark, and other timber trees. About 350 acres had been ploughed for planting the next season. 13 Many thousands of seedlings of oaks, jarrah and other eucalypts, kauri, tanekaha, pines, and other species had been grown for planting out and nursery beds had been sown with totara, Californian redwood, Douglas fir, and other timber trees. Nine acres of the forestry school grounds had been trenched and planted with oranges, limes, apples, olives, and other orchard trees. (Kirk estimated a minimum net income from these plantations within six years of £4,500, increasing at the rate of 15% per annum for five years. The colony had little fruit for export. The value of that exported in 1885-86 was £175, the value of fresh .and dried fruit imported was over £130,000 a year.) Experimental planting of crops suited to subtropical and general culture had been begun. Voluminous reports had been prepared; much travelling done; "The Forest Flora of New Zealand" was well started, with about 100 plates prepared; and staff had been partially trained. Then came the bitter pill of retrenchment

DOWNFALL OF FORESTRY In 1887, the Stout-Vogel Government, which had pioneered forestry administration, was defeated after three years in office and the new '.Atkinson Ministry took up the retrenchment axe to try to cure some of the colony's economic ills. Kirk tried to protect the forest branch. He proposed modifications in management: that only £4,000 annually (derivable from forest revenue) should be expended, £2,500 for manage­ ment, rangers, "valuators", and nurserymen and £1,500 for labour in plantations (Gimmerburn £250, Waerenga £250, Kioreroa and experi­ mental grounds £700, travelling and contingencies £300). Kirk reminded the Government that the chief objects of his branch were to: • Prevent waste of forest resources. • Increase revenue. • Open up markets for neglected forest products. • Replace or renew forests as they were logged. • Form plantations for future timber supply. • Conserve water supply and prevent damage from heavy floods. • Provide the important benefit of employment for labour. Two objections had been raised against the Crown's participation in forestry, Kirk said: 1. That if forestry were profitable it would be undertaken privately: Kirk dismissed this with the comment that colonists were not ready to undertake work that did not return profits during their lifetime: " ... a crop of jarrah, oak, or redwood pays better than farming, but many years must elapse between sowing and reaping". 2. That forests were more economically administered by local bodies: Kirk held that this had not been so and never would be. Local forest administration meant obtaining revenue without protection, replacement, 14 or renewal-the most rapid destruction of the resource with the least amount of benefit. He cited earlier provincial administration of forests and Australian and United States experience.

Plea for Retention of Rangers Kirk maintained that rangers were forest police and could not be dispensed with safely. He pointed out that thefts from forests had been stopped and not one acre of kauri had burnt in the preceding season. He instanced Puhipuhi forest, the marketing of timber from which would return £500,000 in wages alone. "It is surely advisable to pay a small premium in the employment of a ranger to protect such an amount of material for profitable labour, even in the present depressed state of colonial finance ... "When Captain Campbell Walker, Deputy Superintendent of the Madras Forest Department, presented his report on New Zealand State forests in 1876, he expressed the opinion that an income of £2,000 would be realised the first year. Starting under greater disadvantage than existed at that time! the department has realised an income of nearly double that amount as the result of the first year's work. This will not only be maintained but increased and there is clear evidence that, if judiciously managed, the forests may in a few years be made to con­ tribute largely to the general revenue of the colony and provide a timber supply for future generations. An interruption would be fatal to progress and render it necessary to take up the work at no distant day under less favourable conditions and with large expenditure." Kirk's plea was partially successful; one forest ranger was retained at Puhipuhi (a forest razed by fire the following year) and one at Omalmta, and three nurserymen and the office clerk were put on to the Lands Department payroll. On his sixtieth birthday (18 January 1888) Kirk furnished a return which began: "Officers dispensed with ... T. Kirk, Chief Conservator of State Forests, Wellington, salary £600, date when services end, 29 February 1888." Kirk received £110 18s. 6d. compensation for loss of his position; Hickson, forester and valuator, £31 5s. 8d.; and von Porat, forest ranger, who was retained for three months, £20 5s. 3d. Duncan Campbell, forest ranger, omitted to claim his compensation of £40 and the amount was used to pay seven constables to act also as forest rangers, one receiving £10 per annum and the others £5.

Retained to Complete "Forest Ffora" Kirk was retained for three months to complete his "Forest Flora". This involved a great deal of work, there were excessive printing delays, and another nine months was needed. Kirk's application to the Govern­ ment for nine months' salary at the rate of £400 a year gained him a reluctant £100 in full settlement and he was left sadly out of pocket. 15 REMAINING YEARS Kirk devoted his remaining years to services to New Zealand botany, living little more than a hand-to-mouth existence. His major written work at this time was The Students' Flora of New Zealand, part of a manual he was preparing when he died from the effects of the bursting of a pleural abscess on 8 March 1898.

Memorial A concourse of citizens followed his kauri coffin to . His grave is unmarked and the writer believes that this is how he would have wished it. Poor in pocket, rich in character and endeavour, he left the only memorial he valued: someone to take up his work and pass on knowledge. His five surviving children were: Thomas William Kirk, head of the Biology and Horticulture Divisions of the Department of Agriculture; Amy Kirk, teacher, church worker, and official charitable aid hospital visitor; Harry Borrer Kirk, professorial treasure of Victoria University, for decades counsellor and friend to students; Lily May Atkinson, a talented public speaker and champion of women's and children's welfare in many official capacities-noted, as indeed were the other members of the family, for a fine sense of humour-and Cybele Kirk, teacher and Justice of the Peace. Kirk lived to see a revival of forestry effort. He was invited to be Government representative at the 1896 timber conference, from which stemmed the re-formation of a forestry branch of the Lands Department and some planting of exotic species on the Kaingaroa Plains and at Hanmer and Dusky plantations.

16 EPILOGUE

General Crown Lands Office, Wellington 14th December 1888 Francis R. Webb Esq. U.S. Vice Consul, Auckland Sir, I have the honour to reply to your letters of 15th November and 3rd December, which would have been attended to earlier, but for my absence from Wellington on a journey in the Country. You ask:- ( 1) "What per centage of forests in this colony belong to the Govern­ ment?" In round numbers there are 20 million acres of forest in New Zealand, of which 10 million acres or 50 per cent belong to the Government. (2) "For what is the revenue from these paid?" A revenue of about £3,000 is annually derived from sawmill licences, charged on an average rate of about six pence per hundred feet of sawn timber. The revenue derived from firewood and fencing material is very small. The Government has no great desire to extract revenue from the Forests, and so long as the settlers use them without abuse or waste, there is little or no interference. I have the honor to be Sir, Your obedient Servant James McKerrow Secretary, Crown Lands Department

17 APPENDIX 1 KIRK'S 1886 REPORT ON FORESTS AND TIMBER TRADE Kirk's report on native forests and the state of the timber trade is printed in the Appendices to the Journal of the House of Representa­ tives, C. 3, 1886. Some salient points are given here in the geographical order of the report; district and place names given by Kirk are not always as now known and estimates of areas are approximate; forest areas were not mapped then.

SOUTH ISLAND Southland Most of the area now Southland was at the time of Kirk's report known as Otago. The area was approximately 2,300,000 acres. The timbered area reserved by the Crown was about 345,000 acres; 33,000 acres of this had been denuded by sawmillers and 312,000 acres of "virgin" bush had been encroached on by settlers. There were about 200,000 acres of convertible timber. The greater part of the forest lay in the southern part of the district, nearly one-half between the Oreti and the Waiau Rivers, the remainder between the Oreti and the Mataura. Crown forests (mixed podocarps and beech) comprised Seaward, Long­ wood, and Dunsdale [Hokonui]. Longwood, the largest, extended from Jacob's River to the Waiau, about 18 miles from north to south and 16 miles wide. Seaward was renowned for straight, clean rimu; saw­ millers' estimates of yields varied from 3,000 to 25,000 super. ft. per acre; Kirk's estimate was about 25,000 super. ft. per acre. Of Dunsdale's 34,000 acres, 21,000 were permanent forest reserve, and the large proportion of matai and totara increased the value of the forest. The 36 sawmills in the district (seven on private land) employed about 700 men and had a total output of about 24 million super. ft. per annum. Crown land was leased to sawmillers in blocks of 200 acres at a royalty of 3d. per 100 super. ft. of timber converted. One sawmill paid royalty on 141,194 super. ft., but the quantity on the section was estimated at 1,400,000 super. ft. By the standards of the time, sawmills were efficiently managed and well equipped, though Kirk suggested that frame saws would reduce waste. Sawmillers' profits were at times slim. Good rimu on railway trucks was 4s. and 6s. per 100 super. ft. "Even accepting the general average of 6s. per 100 ft. inclusive of dressed stuff, they can scarcely be con­ sidered commensurate with the capital involved, the risk incurred and the skill required for efficient working," wrote Kirk. The rapid development of the Southland trade had closed the mills at Catlins, annihilated the coastwise timber trade of Westland, and greatly restricted that of Marlborough and Nelson. For the year ended 31 March 1885, 1,659,038 super. ft. of timber was shipped from Southland ports to other parts of New Zealand and 1,107,674 super. ft. overseas. "Over 2,000 acres of forest are denuded yearly in Southland alone," Kirk reported. 18 Stewart Island Forests were mixed hardwoods and softwoods, principally rimu and southern rata. Sawmill areas had not been defined. "Practically," noted Kirk, "the proprietor of these mills enjoy an unlimited licence to cut timber wherever they please". But according to official returns the two sawmills (in Paterson's Inlet and Half Moon Bay) turned out less than 11,000 super. ft. each week.

Otago This district had an area of 13,759,000 acres, 3,000,000 acres more or less covered by forest, but probably less than 1,000,000 acres of good forest. More than four-fifths of the entire forest lay on the western side of the district. At the northern extremity of Lake Wakatipu forest extended up the Dart and Routeburn Valleys nearly to Lake Harris. The western flank of Mount Earnslaw and the slopes of Mount Alfred were clothed with tooth-leaved and other beeches. Similar forest occurred in Queenstown Valley and extended to Hollyford. In a southerly direction was Dunton Forest, between Te Anau and Mavora Lakes, one of the most valuable beech forest areas in Otago. The Waiau forest, inclusive of Dean Forest, extended from the Waiau westward to Preservation Inlet. Kirk saw nothing of forests on the western side of Lakes Te Anau and Manapouri. In what Kirk described as "east of the Waiau," there were smaJl forest areas in the Matukituki Valley on Lake Wanaka and in the Dingle and Timaru Valleys on Lake Hawea, Rankleburn Forest, the extensive forests of the Catlins River, Tautuku Bush and Waikaia Bush, a small forest at Otepopo [Herbert], and some water reserves at Silver­ peak and Blueskin. Dunton Forest had 222,000 acres mostly of tooth-leaved beech ("first­ class timber probably not more than 100,000 acres"). Kirk thought jt would not be difficult to mark out the boundaries of a block from 8 to 10 miles by 6 of mainly large-dimension timber. At Dean Forest, matai was the principal timber, with some fine silver beech and totara. At Catlins and Tautuku, makomako, mahoe, and totara were drawn from the forest for converting at the Catlins River powder mills into charcoal used in the manufacture of gunpowder. The Catlins timber trade was depressed because the extension of the railway system had enabled Southland sawmillers to drive competitors without a rail link out of the market. Rimu could hardly be sawn in Catlins River under 5s. 6d. per 100 super. ft. Even so, Kirk remarked, fully half of the timber yield of the Otago provincial district was pro­ duced in the north-eastern portion of Tautuku forest.

Canterbury In Canterbury there were 374,350 acres "more or less clothed with forest". In the lower Makarora Valley (now Otago Province) the forest was worked out; of a block of 120 acres of chiefly rimu, totara, matai, and silver beech, saved probably by having passed into private 19 ownership, Kirk observed that nowhere had he seen silver beech of better quality. Of Oxford Forest, originally 57,000 acres, only the higher slopes remained Crown land. Bealey forest, a beech forest, extended from the valley of the Poulter to the Bealey and thence to the source of the Waimakariri. Twenty-one sawmills were operating, their average output being less than 500,000 super. ft. per annum and total production not quite 10 million super. ft. Oxford, centre of the industry, had nine mills con­ verting mostly "entire-leaved beech". Six mills (two large) at Little River and in other parts of Banks Peninsula milled mainly totara and rimu, but Banks Peninsula forests were nearly worked out.

Westland Almost 1,900,000 acres of splendid mixed forest were Crown property. Though 13 sawmills were operating, some were on only one-third time. The mills were capable of converting 11,500,000 super. ft. per annum, but were converting only 3,000,000 super. ft. Kirk mentioned rimu "beautifully sawn", 22 in. to 26 in. wide, and adapted for the best class of ornamental cabinetwork selling at 9s. 6d. per 100 super. ft. On the lower levels the average yield of timber per acre was 40,000 super. ft. for rimu and white pine. Near Lake Brunner several acres of rimu, kahikatea, and matai gave over 80,000 super. ft. an acre: an entire block of 300 acres near Hokitika averaged fully 70,000 super. ft. per acre. Sawn timber could be produced for less than 4s. per 100 super. ft.

Nelson Though there were 3,290,000 acres of Crown forest in Nelson, probably not more than 1,000,000 could be converted profitably. In 1884 there were 22 sawmills in the district with a claimed output of 5 ,260,000 super. ft. per annum, which Kirk thought an understatement. He estimated output as 7,000,000 super. ft. without including shingles, fencing timber, and firewood. Takaka Valley was the most important centre of timber conversion, the six sawmills in operation producing about 3,000,000 super. ft. per annum. A sawmill at Wakefield converted about 500,000 super. ft. per annum of which 400,000 super. ft. was rimu, 50,000 super. ft. was matai and kahikatea, and 50,000 super. ft. was tooth-leaved beech. Totara was practically worked out in the Wakefield district.

Marlborough Nine-tenths of the 510,000 acres of forest was in the northern portion of the district between Pelorus Sound and the Wairau River. The Rai Valley had about 46,000 acres of fine forest. Tawa was converted largely for shipment to , where it was used in the manufacture of dairy tubs, buckets, etc., and sold at the same rate as rimu. Fourteen sawmills were operating, the estimated annual output being almost 9,000,000 super. ft. Five mills were in the Kaituna Valley, two small mills were south of the Wairau, and the rest were in Pelorus or 20 other sounds. Forest near the sea, which had been cut from very early days of settlement, was practically worked out. Where royalty was paid it varied from 6d. to ls. per 100 super. ft. NORTH ISLAND Forests on the line of the North Island central railway occurred at Pourewa* and Mangaonet Valleys, Rangataua, Waimarino, Marie-Pai, Ngarewi, and Waimiha. At Pourewa Kirk saw a valuable native reserve at "the Pokiore loghouse" which would yield fully 60,000 super. ft. to the acre; at Rangataua he was surprised at the abundance of first class convertible timber of large dimensions at an altitude of 2,000 ft and higher; and at Ngarewi he remarked on a magnificent grove of totara in the Pungapunga Valley: "Grand columns from 60 ft to 90 ft to the lowest branch and from 3 ft to 6 ft in diameter at the base were to be seen on all sides; in higher parts no other tree occurred, but on the lower levels, kahikatea and matai of exceptional dimensions were sparingly interspersed ..."

Auckland The forested area was 7,200,000 acres, of which about 1,606,000 acres (including reserves) were held by the Crown. Kirk considered the Puhipuhi block between Whangarei and Kawakawa to be the finest forest in Government hands; it covered 20,000 acres, 12,000 being of kauri. Kirk put the quantity of timber at 300,000,000 super. ft. Omahuta had about 40,000,000 super. ft. of kauri. Forests at Waikoropuput, Kauaeoruruwahine, and Tuma (on the Thames River) are also mentioned. Kirk found it not easy to form an estimate either of the average return per acre of kauri forest or the total quantity. At his request S. P. Smith, Chief Surveyor of Auckland, made an estimate, excluding inaccessible and scattered timber not then likely to pay for working: acres "In the hands of Government" ..... 36,470 "Owned by Europeans" 58,200 "Owned by Natives" .... 43,800

138,470

The annual output of the Auckland timber industry was about 112,000,000 super. ft. and it was said to employ 8,000 men. (Kirk thought the latter figure too high, and that possibly it included kauri gum diggers.) Eight of the 43 mills were worked by water power. The value of timber exported from Auckland was £135,952, more than five times as much as from the rest of the colony. Tramways, invariably used in the south, were rare in the north. Mills were usually erected on the banks of a creek or navigable river; trees were felled,

*Probably the present Rata area. tMangaonoho. tPossibly Omahu or Puriri in Thames County. 21 cross cut, and rolled into the creeks, the cost varying generally from ls. to 2s. per 100 super. ft. To this cost was added that of floating logs downstream, the construction of a single dam costing from £250 to £1,000. In measuring, an allowance of 4 to 6 in. in girth was made for bark, but Kirk thought that this told unfairly against the sawmiller, because damage to kauri extracted from steep country and buffeted over rough creek beds in transit to the mill often resulted in 30 percent loss in conversion of logs. Ten shillings per 100 super. ft. was a fair average price for sawn kauri. Some of the best kauri land had been bought for from 2s. 6d. to 5s. per acre. Rimu and kahikatea were not highly valued in "kauri districts", though rimu was sometimes converted for cabinetmaking and 2,000,000 super. ft. of white pine was produced at the Tuma mills, much as flooring, which was sent to Christchurch. Kirk considered Auckland sawmills among the best in the world; the largest were said to be unequalled in the Southern Hemisphere. "In one or two cases", he stated, "employment is given to nearly 500 ... and the annual output is stated to exceed 8,500,000 ft per annum". Many mills had an output of 5,000,000 super. ft. or more. " ... no expense is grudged to secure the most efficient appliances." The largest mills were worked by joint stock companies which had secured sufficient kauri to last for 15 to 20 years; one mill with an output of 5,000,000 super. ft. had timber for 30 years. Kirk estimated the total available forest at 200,000 acres-a much higher figure than Smith's (see page 21)-with average yield at 15,000 super. ft. per acre for all classes. He believed that the supply of kauri would last for 26 years (until 1911) or be exhausted by 1900 if demand expanded at the rate it had done in the preceding 10 years. Kirk recommended strict conservation of all kauri forest.

Hawke's Bay About 480,000 acres were forested, of which 226,000 acres were Crown land and 254,000 acres were held by Maoris. Of the Crown land about 125,000 acres were in Crown forests, 87,000 acres were forest reserved for "climatic purposes", and 13,600 acres were educa­ tional reserves. Of Maori land, about 40,000 acres had been leased to Europeans. Kirk reckoned that totara would be cut out in the ensuing decade. There were 18 sawmills in the district, their annual output was 15,000,000 super. ft., and they employed 265. On land adjacent to the railway, royalty of from 3d. to 9d. per 100 super. ft. was paid for "ordinary pines" and ls. to 2s. per 100 super. ft. for totara. The "most important" totara forests were leased from Maoris at a yearly rental without restriction on quantity converted. Some leases were very profitably sub-let. The ruling prices for totara were: Ordinary building purposes-first class, 8s. 6d. to lls. 6d. per 100 super. ft.; second class, 6s. 6d. Bridge and wharf timbers, etc.-14s. to 16s. 6d. Railway sleepers-2s. lOd. to 22 3s. 3d. each. Totara was the chief timber for telegraph poles, average prices being- 8in. x 8 in. tapering to 6 in. x 6 in., 20 ft long, 15s. each; 25 ft long. 18s. to £1 each; 16 in. x 16 in. tapering to 10 in. x 10 in .. 35 ft long, £6 1Os. to £7 each. Taranaki In this district 729,000 acres of forested land were held by the Crown and 1,034,000 by Maoris. Much forest had already been cleared for settlement. On Campbell Walker's recommendation a circle of 12 miles round Mount Egmont had been set apart for "climatic purposes". It con­ tained 72,382 acres, of which about 50,000 acres were forest and scrub less than 20 ft high, 15,000 acres low scrub, and 8,000 acres open land, forming the cone above 4,500 ft. There was forest down to about 1,300 ft, except on the north-western side, where it was little below 4,000 ft. The amount of convertible timber . . . in this large area is very small", Kirk reported. Replacement planting, he thought, would not be costly; the area suited larch, black Austrian pine, Douglas fir, English oak, and various eucalypts and he envisaged the making of a forest of great commercial and protective value. The timber trade was important to Taranaki; its seven sawmills employed 106 men and output was estimated (conservatively, Kirk thought) at 5,750,000 super. ft. a year. To prevent reduction in profits from excessive competition resulting from over-production, sawmillers had agreed on a common scale of prices: about 10s. per 100 super. ft. for first quality rimu, 6s. for kahikatea delivered to New Plymouth or Waitara, and ls. to 2s. less if delivered along the railway. Royalty paid to settlers for timber varied from 2d. to 3d. per 100 ft log measurement; instead of royalty settlers sometimes accepted a house-lot of timber. Wellington Kirk put the total area of forests, exclusive of climatic reserves (210,680 acres), at 2,406,000 acres-706,000 acres held by the Crown and 1,700,000 acres by Maoris; 435,000 acres of Crown forests were under survey for settlement. Extensive areas of forest had been reserved for "climatic purposes" on the higher slopes of the Ruahine, Tararua, and Rimutaka Ranges. Kirk thought that in parts of these reserves the "whitewoods and other valueless kinds of timber" might be gradually replaced by useful timber, although the process would be tedious and costly. Thirty-five sawmills in the district employed 550 and annual output was 35,000,000 super. ft., second only to Auckland's. Mills frequently bought land for logging, though sometimes logs were obtained from settlers at a royalty of 3d. or 4d. per 100 super. ft. for rimu and kahikatea and at least 9d. to ls. for totara. During 1884 the three railway lines of the southern part of the North Island carried a total of 103,217 tons of firewood and timber (38,510 tons of firewood and 32,354,100 super. ft. of timber). 23 APPENDIX 2

DEVELOPMENT OF PLANTATIONS During its brief existence the Forest and Agriculture Branch of Lands Department began some development of plantations as follows: Gimmerburn Plantation Reserve, South Otago: This reserve of 2,350 acres consisted of four small blocks in a largely treeless district. Extremes of climate made plantations desirable to assist agriculture and it was expected that thinnings from the plantation would always find a ready market as firewood. A hut was built for the nurseryman and a small nursery was established. A rabbit-proof fence was put round 439 acres, 100 to 150 acres were ploughed and subsoiled, and part was sown with "mountain gum", the rest to be planted with pines raised in the nursery. Waerenga Plantation Reserve, Waikato: 1,900 acres of stiff clay covered with fern or manuka, rather broken on the western side, and "unfit for settlement" was completely enclosed except for a few chains of open drain cut through a deep swamp. About 15 miles of 7-wire fencing, mainly on puriri posts, had been erected with gates for each section. A small hut had been built for the nurseryman. It was expected 700 acres of wattles or timber trees would be planted in the first season. Kioreroa Reserve, Whangarei, and Experimental Grounds, Papatawa: These areas occupied almost 4,000 acres of mainly poor land. Eleven miles of fencing and a cottage with tool house and seed room were erected on the main reserve and a small cottage at the experi­ mental grounds. Six hundred acres had been "sown with wattle, jarrah, and other timber trees": nine acres were planted with oranges, limes, apples, olives, etc., and fruit trees had been obtained for another five acres; 12 acres had been trenched by hand and about 20 acres subsoiled to 14 in. deep. Rootstocks had been planted for propagation of fruit trees for future orchards.

24 APPENDIX 3-STAFF OF FOREST AND AGRICULTURE BRANCH OF LANDS DEPARTMENT (12. 12. 1885-29. 2. 1888)

Designation District Appointed Left Salary

Thomas Kirk ...... Chief Conservator of State Wellington 12.12.1885 29.2.1888 £500-£600 Forests Walter de Fox Reeves Officer-in-Charge Agriculture Wellington 16.10.1885 30.11.1887 £300 Branch Thomas Stock Montrose Cowie ...... Clerk and Accountant Wellington 9.12.1885 Retained in Lands £250 Department Theodore W. Hickson Forester and Valuator* Invercargill 16.7.1886 31.5.1888 £200 Duncan Campbell Forest Ranger Invercargill 15.1.1886 31.5.1888 £100 Harvey S. Wilson Forest Ranger Hobson County 18.10.1886 31.1.1888 £150 Hugh Mclhone Forest Ranger Puhipuhi 25.10.1885 3.5.1886 £150 Joshua Garsed Forest Ranger Puhipuhi 19.6.1886 Retained in Lands £125 Department Theodore von Porat Forest Ranger Hawke's Bay 21.6.1886 31.5.1888 £150 ~ John Maxwell Forest Ranger Omahuta, Hokianga 5.7.1886 Retained in Lands £125 County Department N orreys Kensington Nurseryman Waerenga Reserve, 19.7.1886 Retained in Lands £125 Waikato Department Henry D. Twohy Nurseryman Gimmerburn Reserve, 21.5.1887 Retained in Lands £80 Maniototo Department William Hislop Nurseryman Papatawa 411.1887 Retained in Lands £80 Experimental Grounds, Department Kioreroa G. Abercrombie Nurseryman Kioreroa Reserve 22.8.1887 Retained in Lands £125 Department G. M. Walker ...... Nurseryman Kioreroa Reserve 6.9.1886 31.12.1887 £125 W. Edgar Spooner Nurseryman Kioreroa Reserve 6.7.1887 21.8.1887 £125 John T. Ross Forester and Valuator* Southland 11.12.1886 31.3.1887 £150 Erna Nehua Guide Puhipuhi July 1886 Not known £10 Paturopa Ranger's Assistant Invercargill 25.1.1886 Not known £1 p.w. as employed

%Appraiser APPENDIX 4

EQUIPMENT FOR RESEARCH State forest research began in New Zealand with equipment obtained by Kirk early in 1887 from Messrs W. K. Graham & Co., 23 Great St. Helens E.C., London. His list reads: 1 Collins' Best Harley Monocular Microstope, with the following:­ ] Eye piece ea A .B .C. 6 Objectives, lst series, 4", 2", 1", 2/3", 1/4", 1/8" 1 Websters' Achromatic Condenser with Collins' graduating diaphragm 1 Live Box-I Compressor 1 Loophyte Trough 1 Stage Forceps 1 Slide Parabolic Illuminator 1 Large Stand Condenser 1 Large Polariscope 1 Camera. 1 Micrometer 1 Frog Plate l dble nosepiece packed in Mahogany Cabinet 1 Erecter for dissecting 1 Lieberkuhn 2/3" 1 Maltwoods Finder 1 Eye Piece Micrometer 1 Rivets Section Cutter ( 812) Beck, in brass

BY AUTHORITY: R. E. OWEN, GOVERNMENT PRINTER, WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND-1968 41776-68 G