Value of Tree Planting

Huntly Press and District Gazette, Volume 2, Issue 24, 10 January 1913, Page 2

Value of Tree Planting

GROWTH AND PRESERVATION OF FORES'i S. _ [By Hugh Biseawen. Inspector j * of Forests.] Every season brings floods in rivers and creeks, also droughts ; both occur more frequently than formerlv. By replanting and preservation of existing bush lands, these floods and droughts can be minimised. The aim of ) settlers in the has been to get rid of the bush, and xiinni.- 1 its place with gras cases, the bush on been the best crop likely to grow, either the poorness of the i account of the ruggea the hills. Great attention has been given by 1 the Government to the growth and j preservation of existing forests. There are large State nurseries that can raise millions of trees 1 per annum. Each acre planted j with forest trees should produce about 25,000 superficial feet of marketable timber in 60 or 70 years. I speak of foreign treebecause, with the exception of the puriri, Ne w'Zealand trees are too slow' growing for profit. It is absolutely nece siry to preserve bush for climatic purpos s, so as to maintain the water sup ply required for the sources of rivers and creeks. Many countries visited by me which, at on a , time w'ere thickly bush covered, ! have been cleared of, forests, and are now barren j wastes, or nearly so, with sudden

wumos, ur nearly so, wiin suufien floods in rivers, alternating wdili long droughts in summer. Foi example, parts of Palestine. China, Spain, etc. It was durs ing my time in the navy, on an c Island not far from St. Helena H.M.S. “ Ascension,” so called a because the inhabitants were under the Articles of War that 1 l saw what could be done for ~ a barren land by tree planting When first I saw this island, the bare scoria cone looked very e uninviting. Its shape was not un rl like a very large Rangitoto. y Rain seldom fell, and there were r no springs. The inhabitants, whe :, w'ere mostly convicts, worked in the naval yard, and had to use condensed sea-water to drink. It was decided by the naval aus thorities to plant the high vols canic " e in the centre o f •*’ ' i**’ trees. T> me, t the a >. 1 alias die cone a: Scotch garden ob--iued, and trees were planted I under his supervision, and j j watered with condensed water. _ j The island being situated in the * j tropicS| it did not take long for j ! the trees to grow. The clouds , ! were attracted by the green j growth, and nin fell. It took a | remarkably short time for the < : former dry scoria cone to bei come a beautiful green .mouns | tain. The last time I saw the i island, there was a pretty naval *• j hospital on a portion of the cone, i j grass and trees growing haP * | way down, and fresh water fuVfy i abundant in the dockyard,' hav--1 ing been convoyed by pipes from t catch water tanks on the cone, r This is a positive proof of the result of planting h ire hilltops to attract rain. * It does not pay to reforest with native trees. Native trees make quick growt-h for the first few 1 years, then they become particularly stationary, their grow'th [ being hardly noticeable. Puriri is the only marketable New Zsa- ■ i land timber that will mature in 59 i years. All New Zealand trees require shade, especially in the j beginning, and this can only be obtained by fencing off old cut- | out areas, that have been partially cleared; the quick-growing under-growth that springs up must to so ms extent be kept down. ..-by cutting. The young forest trees start growth at ‘ ; once, without injury to their j roots by replanting. The necessary keeping clear | each year of the shrub growth, j costs money, and, moreover, this ' must bo continued until the I young forest trees have grown | above the scrub. It is necessary 1 to keep tlie roots of young New' \ Zealand forest tree- sheltered ; from the sun and wind, because their roots are on the surface, and would rapidly dry up. The probable age of well-grow’n New Zealand trees run into hundreds of years. A good rata i< estimated to be hundreds of years old. Kauri, over 1,000 years, rimu, 70(\ totara, 900, even kahikatea 800. 1 know of one transplanted kauri which was planted during my first visit to New' Zealand, in 1870 ; it is now only 25 feet high. There is a good example of New Zealand bush in the p Irish of Titirangi, belonging to Mr Atkinson. This young bush : shows the growth of timber ; very well. The bush was burnt | 50 years ago, and young trees of all sorts sprang up aft *r the fire, j | and none of the young trees, j such as rimu, totara, kahikatea, j taneka, are now over 40 feet, most of them a deal under. If in 'suitable deforested areas, foreign trees were planted, such a** oak, J ash, various pines, many varieties of the Eucalypti, Sugar maples, walnuts, Spanish chestnuts, and ; other trees hearing nuts apart from timber trees ; this mixed forest would, in a climate like ! that of Auckland, he giving a handsome return in 50 years a I return for money spent in a 1 man’s lifetime. Thinnings from i the plantations could be soldjur ( railway sleepers, fencing j posts etc,, and so the cost of * planting and supervision could ; be kept down. It is only in !

t. i: "imVrriit’o begin** f the growth in height slower. I would suggest the planting of | puriri, and p.dmtukawa, on land near the coast north of Auckland. As hath trees when young are ! touched by frost, th«y w’ould not thrive further inland. To conclude:— Ist. It is absolutely necessary that bush on hill-t'rjH s and gullies should be int of water supply. 1. It is too cosily and \ to replant areas with * trees. Suitable foreign trees 1 in New Zealand, in a ime, and are therefore most economical for reforesting poor land. ======