TREES ON THE FARM.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 832, 2 June 1910, Page 8

TREES ON THE FARM.

FOR PROFIT AiS'D BEAUTY. Jo so long ago the chief agricultural problem in New Zealand was to clear th£ land of trees and scrub. With wasteful axes pioneers "chopped their way to the covcted foil, and scarred ■•'■and' blackened hillsides everywhere represented their work. Tho destruction of the bush did not stop at" the areas capable of agricultural use, and in many cases precipitous slopes were also burned off and cleared. Even'".to-day in some districts the wauton destruction . continues, but thoughtful farmers arc beginning to show an interest in,the preservation of forests and the planting of commercial and ornamental. trees. On every farm there arc areas that could well be devoted to trees that combine beauty with utility. Everyone has felt the charm of a well-wooded farm where the homestead. and orchard nestle in the midst of long-lived shade and shelter trees, and the 'stock can find ample protection from the wintry blasts. - Every farmer and his family are ,the better for such' beautiful surroundings. Contrast $uch a farm with the bleak wilderness, with its homestead cheerless and forlorn on a bare hillside, its wind-swept garden, and its stock cowering in the gale without a stick to shelter them. Our appreciation' of trees is not yet sufficiently developed to make us active and enthusiastic on Arbour Day. Yet I many a young and even middle-aged J farmer could lay out plantations that would not only greatly improve his property, but give, liim a substantial return even though he should not live, to be as old as. Methusaleh. In last year's, forestry report it was estimated that the Government plantations of larches should: yield in thinnings <£195 per acre , at the end of 15 years, -£31 ss. at 25 years,. «£io at 30 years, <£30 at 40 years, .£ls at 50 years, and finally at the end of .60 years yield 30,000 superficial feet >of timber, valued at <£187 10s. Thus the aero of trees in 60 years would give a yield.of very nearly J6500, or at the rate of-about 4s. per . annum. Tho total return from an acre of eucalyptus was estimated at .£370 in 45 years. , Even from the most sordid commercial point of view, farm plantations and shade trees are a good: investment. Yet how many a farmer is there, who, if a corner of his crop looks sickly under tho shade of a fine old tree, thinks of tho.axe instead of tho grateful shade that refreshes man.and beast? As. an American writer gays, it takes a patient, home-living, landloving people to see profit in forests. ' many 'a beautiful verse, says this writer, has been 'inspired by trees. From tinie immemorial men have craved .and gloried in theirs companionship. Under .'hoary oaks the Druids held impressive; rites. In modern times picnickers gather under them in gay moods. . Practical farmers here, as America, as a rule do not allow themselves to bo influenced by artistic values,; contending that'"busy men on high-priced • land" cannofc afford to "fool with the beautiful unless it pays." Nevertheless, almost every one of them inwardly feels and craves natural beauty in all its; simpler outdoor forms. Men have planted trees, shrubs, and vines who could not writ© their names. •

If boys and girls are the best crop that our farms produce they should have their impressionable years filled with 'all the ennobling pictures that can bo thrown upon Nature's great canvas—the ■ earth. To perfect this crop under ; favourable conditions it is essential to onnch, beautify, and broaden country life, and in achieving these ends we shall increase' our own health and happiness mahyfold. A man who plants a tree delights in its growth. If in .some" vision he se?s. his grandchildren playing on the grass , beneath'its cooling shelter his affection for it .is heightened and he is a better, man. . - '