A SPLENDID SHELTER TREE.

Shannon News, 7 December 1923, Page 3

A SPLENDID SHELTER TREE.

LAWSON'S) CYPRESS

(By P. M, Page, Foxiest Extension Officer, Rotorua.)

Nearly all the conifers introduced into the. Dominion from the Pacific States of North America have proved suitable for our climate aflid are valuable for both the production of timber and for shelter purposes. “Lawson’s Cypress” has been no exception t othis and the Dominion acquired a. handsome aifid efficient shelter tree 1 with its introduction.

Thei botanical name, of this wellknown tree is Gupressus Lawsonia (Lawson’s Cypress), but it is also known in its native states of California, and .Oregon as “Port Oxford Cedar,” and is considered a valuable timber tree- The wood is light, strong, very close grained, abounding in fragrant resin, durable, easily worked, light yellow to almost white in colour, with hardly distinguishable sapwood; largely manufactured into lumber used for the interior finish and flooring of buildings, railway ties, fence posts and ship ahd boat building, and on the Pacific coast almost exclusively for matches. The . resin has medicinal properties.

Up to the present this tree has not been, extensively planted for the production. of timber in New Zealand!. owing to the types generally planted here having originated from the innumerable forms developed in nurseries, in the middle Atlantic States and California, and in all the temperate countries of Europe. However, with the introduction of seed gathered from the great timber producers of California, ahd Oregon, where the. trees attain a height of 200 feet and frequently a diameter of 12 feet, this species.,.will play an important part in future* planting schemes. It will' also probably be found one of the best trees for introducing into some of our native forests, on poor land not suitable for settlement, many 'of which do> not contain more than two or three timber producers to the acre.

It is for its-calue as a shelter tree that this .valuable member of the Cypress family, is best known, to the country settler, and as it becomes better known there is no doubt but.that it will be very, extensively planted for farm shelter, particularly by dairy farmers, who are recognising the value of shelter for their stock more and more each year.

As the cow becomes more of a but-ter-fat producing machine, so she becomes more delicate in constitution and\an asier prey to the diseases that attack dairy stock, and it has been repeatedly stated by veterinarians that with adequate and efficient shelter the danger from these diseases will be reduced a minimum.

The Lawson’s Cypress is the beau ideal shelter tree, for dairy, farms, it retains' its side branches right down to the ground and if not planted too closely together .affords perfect shelter around When planting for shelter about 20ft high the trees should be planted 12 feet apart, but if it is intended to keep them cult to about five or six feet high, they should be planted at six feet intervals, Ilf the planter thinks lie would have to wait too long before receiving much benefit from the shelter, when planting at 12 feet 'intervals, the trees may be planted six feet apart and every second tree, removed later when the space between the trees becomes closed up.

This tree is rather slow growing for the first few years, after which it makes rapid! lateral growth and soon forms good shelter. When planting a single row around a paddock it is advisable to plough a strip four or five feet wide, and as these, trees quickly respond to cultivation it is advisable to keep the ground -around them worked for a year or two. This wilt increase their growth considerably and if they are given a little hone or super manure they will make double, the groAvth they would if left to fight against the growth of grass, weeds, etc. It has been reported that a settler obtained excelTelit' results by using the sweepings from his oowyard for this purpose.