FORESTRY.

Hokitika Guardian, 27 August 1921, Page 4

FORESTRY.

AN EXPERT’S VISIT TO FRANCE WELLINGTON, August 23, Mr Taimock. the superintendent of reserves at Dunedin, was among those who cam,, from England to-day in the Himntakn. The French, said Mr Ta.iinoek, wore great foroslors. At Nancy lie found that all their trees were forest trees and that there were practically no gardeners trees, except in the towns. All the trees were straigH stemmed trees, grown for (heir timber. At Nancy there was the nursery th.n' had recently been started for the reafforestation of the zone devastated in the war. This was very interesting, a> was lib visit to the communal forests there. Waste spaces such as the English commons were in France all plum ■■■' with trees. They were managed b v l’>< Forestry Department, and the revolt t<‘ over and above actual expenditure went to the communes, which . were doing '■••- inarkalily well out of such a valuable asset. That, said Mr Tan nock, was a principle- that might very well be applied in New Zealand. Tf every little village and town in New Zealand went in for forest tree planting*, instead .if the making of parks and gardens, tk would gel a much finer result, both from Lite point of view of amenities and from the point of view of finance. Tn France the timber forests wer'e so sciont ifieall v dealt with that they went co for ever, and they were a tremendous asset to the nation. One point that interested Mr Tan nock very much in France was that the big nurseries for tree planting were now done away. with. Gmail patches were sown in the actual firsts. am from these tlm young trees were taken for pda ii ting out in the forest ill whi. 1? they had been reared. This was mi every way a satisfactory and an economical plan. Mr Tannock found that the public gardens of England were being improved to their pre-war standard, but that the private gardens had gone lac': People who had mansions before the war could not now afford to keep them going, and many of the gardens were now turned into market gardens. Everywhere lie found an enormous demand for recreation grounds. 'I his was partly the result of (lie fact that so many soldiers learnt to play games during the war and still more largely due to tin far I that they had now daylight saving. Tims the people were a great d« a| more in the open air than they were before the war. and were able to indulge in athletic sports to a much greater extent Ilian ever before. this was going to lie a tremendous asset to the British nation in time to come; indeed, its beneficial effect was already being felt. lln difficulty in Britain, was, of course. i< provide the necessary grounds. They could now only lie purchased from estates at great'cost. In tills there w :n a lesson for New Zealand to providi for the future while land in the vicinitv of flu' large centres was cheap. In a city like Glasgow - tile cost of providiny lie w recreation grounds for the masses would to-day be enormous.