A VALUABLE TREE

Hokitika Guardian, 6 October 1927, Page 1

A VALUABLE TREE

For treatment of waste and inaccessible lands, the following has been urged by a Wanganui resident, who has given considerable attention to the subject: “Collect a quantity of karakn nuts sow or distribute them on the grass or on the rubbish on the surface. Do not cover with earth, as the seed will rot. The karalca is known as the greatest fodder plant or tree, affording the actually tested return per acre of from 200 to 250 tons of valuable food every five years when cut periodically above the reach of stock. The rapidity of growth is known to ho'loft from germination to profit in five years. The frn't is abundant, and equally as valuable as the foliage. Pigs, birds and cattle gorge and fatten on the product, quite apart from its beauty and affinity of its clustering as a shelter. The karaka is not a native of New Zealand, Java being its home. The vast amount of young plants quickly exterminate all undergrowth completely excluding light and retaining vast amounts of moist-

ure in its velvetly leaf and fibrous wood, and arresting rapid evaporation from the ground. A further great advantage of this beautiful tree is that it a ill flourish on the hardest rocks and any exposed positions. It does not incorporate itself readily with the New Zealand forest,”