FOREST OF PINE.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20095, 26 November 1930, Page 5

FOREST OF PINE.

PLANTATIONS AT BOTTLE LAKE. FORESTRY LEAGUE'S INSPECTION. When the first exotic pines "were planted on the City Council reserve at Bottle Lake some twenty years ago it was not with any idea that they should form the nucleus of a commercial afforestation scheme, but in order to settle the sandy waste land which the wind was constantly shifting. Yet, today, there are nearly 1000 acres, containing many thousands of sturdy conifers. These sandy wastes, which look out on to the Pacific, are clothed with as profitable a crop as they will probably ever carry. Members of the Canterbury branch of the New Zealand Forestry League visited them yesterday afternoon on the occasion of tlieij- annual field day. They inspected the different stands of conifers, varying in age from two to about twenty years, and commented 011 the remarkable growth of 'oOme of them. Before entering the plantations Mr M. J. Barnett, Superintendent of City Parks and Beserves, stopped at the property of Mr J. G. Armstrong to show the party some specimens of Pinus silvestris.

On the Council's reserve there are many acres of Pinus radiata; indeed, these predominate in this plantation. Some of them are sixty feet high though only fifteen years old, and are fast developing into timber trees. Experts yesterday pointed out what they thought to be two distinct varieties of Pinus muricata. Mr B. C. Wickens, who was responsible for supervising the planting of many of the trees, when he was Superintendent of City Beserves, explained that the seed for one had been gathered on the Canterbury Plains, while that from which the other grew from Belgium. The seedlings planted a year or so ago on one large area do not appear to be flourishing. The land is swampy, the contrast between the vigour of the small trees in the hollows and those on the knolls being very noticeable. Those on the low ground aire sickly. Most of them are macrocarpa. Thinning Operations. Though it will be several years yet before the trees aro ready for the mill the Council is already deriving some revenue from the sale of wood which comes from the trees which are being cut down during thinning operations. Much of this has been done by returned soldiers on relief work. Returning Thanks. At the conclusion of yesterday's inspection, Mr C. E. Foweraker, chair-

man of the Canterbury branch of the League, thanked Mr Burnett for allowing thcra to go round. They always looked forward to their annual field day, he said, and they hsd seeji a very ijjpe array of trees. As time went on the plantations would prove a great asset, both to the Council and the people. Others besides Mr Foweraker, Mr Barnett, and Mr Wickens present were Mr James Deans (National President of the League), Mr F. E. Hutchinson (Canterbury College School of Forestry), Mr W. G. Morrison (Conservator of State Forests in Canterbury), Mr H. Roche (State Forest Service), Mr J. F. Scott, Mr M. Dalziel, Mr J. E. Hayward, Mr F. W. Anderson, and Mr J." T. Anderson.