THE Mount Ida Chronicle FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1873.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume IV, Issue 237, 19 September 1873, Page 4

THE Mount Ida Chronicle FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1873.

The devastations in the native bush, already becoming so manifest on the coast line of the Middle Island, should induce earnest consideration of the

question, "Whether or no it would be profitable to enter upon planting of timber trees as an independent pursuit ? During the last 100 years the formation of plantations both in England and Scotland has been extensively followed with very great success —one large proprietor alone, from 1783 to ]B2O, having covered no less tha.n 10,000 acres with oak, Scotch and spruce fir, larch, and birch. Of all trees noted for affording quickly marketable produce (and especially suited to the interior districts of this Province) we should name the larch. A reliable authority' says that " larch " plantations are becoming very nu- " merous in Scotland, and are found to "be very profitable. The returns " from a large plantation during the " time the trees are arriving at their " full growth, are estimated to be at " least double what they would have " been from an equal plantation of any "other timber."

John, Duke of Athc-I, who planted a large area of country—that beautiful bit of scenery, well known to tourists, a.t tlie falls of the Bruar (at:the special request of Burns, .the story goes) included states that "the larch " thrives in very exposed situations. "The lower ranges of the-..Grampian ".Hills, which extends to Dunkeld, are " at an altitude there of from 1,000 to " 1/700 feet above the level of the sea. "The larch trees are planted as high " as 1,200 feet up these hills, and grow " exceedingly well —a situation w here "the hardy Scottish firs cannot rear " their heads. The spruce fir, how- " ever, thrives equally well as the larch " oa high and exposed hills. The " growth'of the larch trees is very ra- " pid, and Scottish firs of the same age "will measure only half the quantity ; " and-so .much is the wood esteemed in "Scotland that, while the former is " worth 2s. 6d. per cubic foot, the lat- " ter brings only Is. 3d." ' The larch timber has been used for all'purposes—posts, rails, mill-wheels, fishing and ferry-boats—and has been fouud very durable. Larch plantations offer one other great advantage that many other trees do not: They actually improve the herbage for grazing purposes —on rocky ground forming a vegetable compost from the accumulating leaves that has produced undergrowth, making land worth an annual | rental of 12s to 14s. per acre, instead of Sd. or 9d. Larch, however, it must be owned, is liable to a disease called heart-rot, proceeding upwards from the roots. It will not thrive in a cold, damp soil, nor in a sandy soil. Sandy and gravelly soils, if situated so as to receive from declivities the moisture percolating through them, will, it is said, produce excellent larch timber, as will also the sides of rocky hills and mountains, in which no moisture can stagnate, and into the fissures and clefts of which the roots easily penetrate and find ample nourishment —. such a_ country as nearly all the ranges around Mount Ida offer. No country could holdout finer natural advantages for the growth of this useful tree than all that line, high ridge and^.gullies, from the JHyeburn Diggings to the Maer-:''whers'ua, the slopes on the Waitaki side being perhaps the most favorably adapted of all. , Wo are tempted to give one more extract from authentic testimony confirming our estimate of the value of this tree : ■—" Larix JEuropcea is the li most valuable species for its timber, " which is of great durability both in " its young and mature state! Young " larches, five feet or six feet high, and ■ " the spray of larch trees of any age, j " last a very long period when inrerj" twined with larch stakes, so as to ! " form .-.a. dead fence. Young trees

:{ from ten to fifteen feet in height are ■' found in the neighborhood of ITarn- :< ham and other places to form the u most durable hop-poles, and the " durability of the mature timber in "every department—both in civil and "naval architecture—has been placed " beyond all doubt. .... The " bark of the larch is also of consider- " able value in tanning , and, the '" leaves being deciduous, the tree " is more favorable to the growth of "grass under its shade than any other " species of pine or fir. • The larch is " increased very readily by >eeds, " which are ripened in abundance in " Britain ; and it prospers best in cool, " argillaceous soil, moist rather than " dry, and placed at a considerable ele- " vation above the level of the sea."

If some of the purchasers of large blocks of land on the Groldfields were to plant largely on the more exposed portions of their country,, they would confer so great a benefit upon theProvince that we" would almost forgive the original sin of the sales. Such an enterprise would prove at the same time highly remunerative. The annual trimming necessary in a larch plantation of 100 acres, planted when the Hogburn rush first took place —some ten years ago—would now furnish timber stout enough foi slabbing fencing, and all ordinary local requirements. Practical suggestions as to how to effect some .timber development for the future will readily occur. We have confined ourselves, in this article, to drawing" attention to the great value of the larch "as a quickly remunerative and highly useful forest tree.