WESTLAND FOREST CONSERVATION REGION.

Hokitika Guardian, 22 September 1927, Page 4

WESTLAND FOREST CONSERVATION REGION.

EXPERIMENTAL STATION. (State Forest Service Annunl Report.) The State-forcslation activities in this region are at present confined to experimental plantings of various exotic species on the cut-over forest lands near Hokitika and on the tailing-heaps at Rirnu. During the year .'l6B acres were planted at the experimental station and 38 acres on the dredge tailings, giving a total of 406 acres for the region. The trees in the plantation made much better growth than during the previous year. The species planted at the Experimental Station were as follows: Species. Area Percentage in survival Acres. Per cent. Pimio radiata 250 87 Pimts inurieata 10.5 75 Eucalyptus 45 29 Cupressus maeroearpa ... 25 .96 Pin us eauariensis 2 69 Cupressus Lawsoniana ... 15 87 Thuya plicata 10 91 Crvtoineria japonic-a ... 2 99 Sequoia sempervirens ... 1.5 98 Pious earihen. Alnus glutinosa. Aeaeia decu irons 0.2 Excellent results, as shown by the above percentages, were at first obtained, with the exception of C. maeroearpa and eucalyptus; but later many trees died off through an attack of black-rot; probably due to excessive dampness of the. soil. The cost of planting average s ,02 9s per thousand for ah' species. NURSERY. The year, on the whole, was a good one for the nursery, being much drier than the previous one. Heavy rains just after seed-growing washed much of the seed out of the ground and caused some to rot in the ground. From 2981 b of seed sown 605,400 seedlings were obtained. All trees in the nursery have made excellent growth during the year, hut the cost of production is still high, due mainly to weeding-costs. r lho tree stock amounts to 1,250,000 trees. Of these 645,000 are two to three-year-ohl trees, most of which will be fit to transfer to the plantation during the 1927 planting season.

BUILDINGS. A three-roomed cottage, an implement shed, with office and store-room attached, and a stable, were erected during the year. A substantial bridge was also erected to give access to the nursery, and the formation of a good gravei' road overcomes the previous difficulty of transport. PROPOSALS FOR 1927-28. 1. Planting of 400 acres ol new plantation and tilling up the blanks on 200 acres. 2. Improving the drainage of the area by cleaning out the crocks filled with rubbish during previous Raw-mill-ing operations. 3. Continued experimental work iri the nursery and plantations and developing improved methods.