NATIVE TREES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 1, Issue 59, 6 September 1939, Page 7

NATIVE TREES

an impressive demonstration QUICK GROWTH SHOWN It is not easy to change an, old belief of many New Zealandei's that native trees arc slow growers. However, the success of various -wellplanted plantings of native trees is helping to spread the truth about their remarkable response to proper treatment. For Captain E. V. Sanderson has established a strong growth of about seventy species of native trees on a half-acre section at Paekakaiiki, Wellington. A dreary stretch of sand dunes, cover, ed with lupin, exposed' to strong winds from the sea has been changed into a delightful young forest, where one may enjoy that bush scent which warms the heart of nature-lovers. Of when the tree-lover began his task, which seemed absurd to many he heard frequent predictions of failure. The area became known as "the rubbish heap, '* because of the heaps of dead lupin jand other rdtting vegetation, destin. !ed to form the humus necessary for the young native seedlings,. Some critics declared that the plants would be blown out of the ground. They felt that the experimenter was wasting his time, and they were rather sorry for him. Those adverse commentators who have lived to see the success of the experiment wished tha<t they had followed Captain Sanderson'fc example. He had observed Nature's way in the establishment of forests, and took a similar course. Some of the lupins were left to act as nurse plants. As the young natives grew T up they shielded and sheltered one another. It was a kind of "close corporation'' for mutual benefit. In addition to the nitrogenous nourishment supplied by the roots of lupin, the young trees had the help of natural phosphates in the sand. Artificial fertilisers were tried, but potash alone gave any desirable results. Any organic manure proved bene-* fidial. Cow manure gave a notable fillip to ltaraka. A general height of 15ft to 16ft was attained by the plantation in ten years. Any species which out_ grew the others was cut back by heavy winds to the average height of the whole stand—the height at which the trees were mutually protective.