PLANTING TREES.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 16, Issue 834, 6 October 1870, Page 3

PLANTING TREES.

Planting the treeless portions of the Colony having occupied much attention of late, the following paragraph from the Scientific Press will, no doubt, be read with interest:—" Our readers will recollect the paragraph in one of Mr Greely's late articles in reference to the effect of some evergreens which he had planted on his farm —he found they had increased the average temperature, in their immediate vicinity, several degrees. There is no doubt about the fact. We have now the record before us of a farmer in Canada who was unable to raise fruit with any reasonable degree of success. Having a love for trees, but without expecting any direct benefit from them, he spent much of his leisure time fur two or three years in Betting out shade trees around his house and along the lanes and roads passing through his farm. He was much surprised, after his shade trees had reached a somewhat extended growth, to observe that his fruit trees commenced to improve in bearing, which improvement continued until now tliey are yielding abundantly. Verily the planting of trees 1 tempereth the winds,' and the climate to the tender herb and vines within reach of their protection. We have no doubt but that many such examples might be found, if the attention of farmers was more generally called to such facts as the above. The coast range of California, where it is often found exceedingly difficult to raise fruit, on account of bleak ocean vviuds, and many localities in our sister State of Nevada, might be iniimensely improved in the matter of temperature and shelter from winds by the cultivation of forest trees, to say nothing about their advantage in the production of moisture. Although much has been done in that direction the past season, the number of trees set out is far below that which should be reported. A double profit may be derived from foxest trees — triple in fact. They will pay for their

fruit alone, and again for their climatic advantages, and after that for their timber. Every farmer who has any leisure on his hands (and what farmer in California has not) should make all due preparations, this summer, to plant trees the coming winter and spring. It is a business which is no danger of being overdone, if one-fifth of all the arable land in the State was thus covered with a judicious selection of forest trees."