POWER POLES.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 5021, 1 September 1926, Page 3

POWER POLES.

TREE-PLANTING SCHEME. THAMES VALLEY BOARD’S ACTION. The development of electric power throughout New Zealand has led to a heavy demand for poles, the supply of which will be difficult to maintain. Nolt only has the increasing demand for poles in connection with new work to be provided for, but alsoi the replacements which will be necessary when the poles now in use have run their course of usefulness. At present Australian hardwood is. used for poles, and vast as the Australian forests, may be, ; there is a limit to the strain which their resources can stand, and as is the case with all timber, a gradual rise may be expected in • prices. For some time past the Thames Valley Power Board has been considering the possibility of obtaining for future use a siupply of New Zealand-grown poles, and experiments are now in progress on Mr F. M. Strange’s farm, Mangaiti, for testing the durability of various- classes of New Zealand timber under different treatments. It will be at least five or six years before, the board has any data that will serve as, a guide for the future. It will take 25 or 30 years for trees to obtain a sufficient size for poles, and this, with all the other facts, points, to the necessity of early action if the board is going to seriously deal with the problem, of providing locally for its own requirements. The Thames Valley Board, while exercising teaiitioh so as to avoid mistakes or waste, has mdved quickly, and now has everything in readiness, for extensive treeplanting. The first difficulty was met with l in securing a suitable area bf land. The late chairman (Mr Claxton) . inspected an available area at Karangahake, but the price asked was; too high, and it was understood that there were other objections as well. Shortly after he met Mr W. E. G. Willy, a member of the bo'ard, who recommended an a,rea of 520 acres (section 29, Piako survey district) at Waitakaruru. This was Crown land, and had been offered by ballot for settlement. The successful applicant was the Mayor of Qhakune, who, after inspecting the land, was so poorly impressed with its capabilities for farming purposes that he forfeited his right to occupation and .the land continued to remain idle. It was Mr Willy’s belief that the. land, which appeared to be just what was required for tree-plant-ing, could be obtained without much difficulty from the Lands Department. Aii inspection was made, and the board was convinced that the land would meet its requirements.. After negotiatiions extending over a considerable time the area was purchased outright for £4OO. It may have been possible to obtain it without thjs Outlay, but the advantages of ownership rAvith an absolutely free hand outweighed any immediate gains that might have resulted from an easier financial arrangement which would leave the Lands Department in a, position to dictate. The land is well situated, about 4% miles fropi the Firth of Thames. If planting is commenced this year it will have to be without proper cultivation. The proposal is that ten acres be planted each year, and to atone for the delay if no planting is done this year, it is probable that 20 acres will be planted next year.. The cost of planting per acre can only be given approximately, blit it was estiby Mr Morrison, Chief Conservator of Forests, at about £8 per acre. The clearing of the scrub will Only mean a small item of expenditure, and the ploughing should not cost more than 30s per Acre. If the trees are planted Bft apart 680 will be required to the acre, but if 6ft .apart the number used will be over 1200. "Mr Morrison stated that the trees would do quite well 6ft apart. What is aimed at is a final crop of a,t least 300 trees suitable forepoles, and Mr Morrison thinks, that there should be a yield of 600 to the acre. At Rotorua no gums are grown less than 6ft apart. After a few years the trees /will be thinned out, and for timber removed: in this way there will be a, ready .sale for fencing purposes.. Even if the whole scheme is a failure as far as the main objective of the board is concerned there can be no doubt that it will be a business success and that timber with a commercial value far in excess of the outlay will be produced. Growth is much more rapid in New Zealand than in Australia, where it would take 100 years to get the same volume as can be obtained in 25 years in this country, but the quicker the growth the lesser the durability. In 30 years, the total outlay, if the present scheme ist carried out, will be £19,000', so that if it is taken that the board is paying about £5OO a year as an insurance against the checking of its operations by a shortage, of poles, the scheme has a very commendable ‘feature. No other power board, with the exception of Lake C&leridge, which has planted a large area, has taken up a similar scheme. Estimated conservatively, the value of each pole on the ground will be £l, and every 14 years the Power Board expects that it will have to replace 25,000 poles.