THE PUTARURU PRESS. Phone 28 P.O. Box 44 Office Oxford Place THURSDAY, JULY 18, 1929. TREE PLANTING ON GRASS LAND.

Putaruru Press, Volume VII, Issue 297, 18 July 1929, Page 4

THE PUTARURU PRESS. Phone 28 P.O. Box 44 Office Oxford Place THURSDAY, JULY 18, 1929. TREE PLANTING ON GRASS LAND.

AGAIN the attention of the Minister of Lands has been drawn to what one member of the Matamata County Council, at its meeting on Friday,

rightly termed a scandal in that tree-planting on grass lands suitable for farming is being allowed to continue'in the Putarufu district. As has been pointed out previously in the editorial and other columns of the Press, legitimate tree-planting is not opposed, but we again maintain that' there are thousands of acres still available for such purposes, and in saying so we are. not unmindful of the fact that Putaruru owes much to the afforestation companies and their operations. But the question calls for a wider and more farseeing view than that expressed in the immediate future. We have to look to the day when (if this policy is allowed to continue) the whole area, in the vicinity of the town is planted with trees. What then ? To whai extent is the town and country generally going to benefit during the years that have to elapse betweer the planting and the reduction oj the trees into wood pulp or to what, ever use that they will be put?

The. Minister in Charge of the Forestry Department has announced’ his intention to launch a new policy in respect of this phase of Government activity, and we believe the time is ripe for a conference of all local bodies at which the whole question could be thoroughly thrashed out. Representatives of the afforestation companies could be in-

vited to be present and give voice to their views after the conference had gone thoroughly into the matter. Concrete proposals could be drawn up and a deputation proceed to Wellington to place the result of the deliberations before Cabinet. When it is considered that 50 per cent of one riding alone is being utilised for tree planting, combined with the fact that tree planting on. the Club Run, including portions which competent judges assert is suitable for farming, then the seriousness of the position can be realised. It is in no spirit of opposition to afforestation that the protest is made, but simply that the wrong class of land is being utilised to the detriment of not only this district but to th 4 Dominion as .a...whole.