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Uses to which the Different Kinds of Trees grown in the State Plantations may be put— continued.

H. J. Matthews, March, 1909. Chief Forester.

(B.) ANTICIPATED RESULTS. .... At forty years we expect to find that, after successive thinnings, 750 trees to the acre Temain. This question of thinning, then, is one that is extremely difficult to give even an approximate estimate of under the climatic conditions regulating the'growth of trees in New Zealand. Theoretically, trees are planted at 4 ft. apart. The first thinning leaves them at 8 ft., and the second thinning at 16 ft'., at which distance they are allowed to mature. In practice, however, thinning does not represent a geometrical problem, but is solely regulated by the growth made by the individual trees. Close planting is" done in order to exclude the light and air from the lower branches, and cause them to wither and drop off ; so that, in thinning, the overhead canopy must always be preserved. It is evident, then, that four or five trees may be left in a clump, while others of less dimensions are removed ; and just what number would be taken out at a thinning, and the period when it would be necessary to th n, are the points I wish to emphasize as being difficult to calculate. For the purpose of this report I have thought it would suffice to work on the assumption that 2,700 are planted per acre in the case of conifers, and 1,200 in the case of eucalypti, and that thinning would be done as per the attached table. These two classes of trees are fairly representative of the bulk of our planting. The value of thinnings is another difficult matter to estimate, as the market conditions in New Zealand differ so much from those on the Continent. For instance, Ido not think we could estimate the value of our thinnings at so much per superficial foot, as there is not the demand for this class of timber. The purposes for which the thinnings could be used are perhaps restricted to fencing-timbers, railway-sleepers, firewood, and scaffolding-poles. Probably we might be able to use the thinnings from larch in the forty-fifth year for telegraph-poles and general construction purposes, but I have classed all the |thinnings up to the fiftieth year, in the case of conifers, simply as poles, without taking into consideration the measurement beyond differentiating between small "poles and large ones. In a large measure the Government will require to make their own market until such time as the trees which can be sawn into boards are produced. There will, no doubt, be a demand for fencingmaterial and mining-timber ; but in, roughly, twenty years, at the present rate of planting, the Department will be annually producing something like 4,500,000 poles, which it does not seem possible can all be disposed of to the public. The surplus will need to be used up on Government works, such as fencing railway-lines, railway-sleepers, scaffolding, &c. Of course even on the Continent of Europe the first thinnings are often difficult to dispose of to advantage. There is no doubt that Pinus austriaca is an inferior timber-tree when compared with larch or Pinus Laricio, but then the proportion which we are planting of that species, compared with larch

Name of Tree. Number planted. Uses for which the Different Kinds of Trees are suitable. 'odocarpus dacrydioides. . ,, totara 4,280 546,500 ■ Butter-boxes and packing-cases. Telegraph-poles, sleepers, joinery, plates, and all purposes where durability is required. Hallii 'oplars (var.) .. 200 20,550 Ditto. Packing-cases, sides and bottoms of drays, furnitureframes and interior work. Beams, general lumber, scaffolding, and all constructive works. Cabinetmaking, furniture, turnery, carving, &c. House and ship building, wagons, carriages, casks, &c. Produces the cork of commerce. Posts, axe and pick handles, and general farm purposes. Cricket-bats, barrow and dray bottoms, knifeboards, bread-platters. Venetian blinds, general carpentry and joinery work. 'seudo-tsuga taxifolia 543,597 'yrus aucuparia Juercus pedunculata ,, suber tobinia pseudo-acacia ialix (var.) 32,033 2,041,621 1,124 161,800 13,663 lequoia gigantea ,, sempervirens iophora tetraptera 300 186,641 7,875 Posts, rake-teeth, dowels, and bent-work, and general joinery and interior finishing. General joinery-work and interior finishing. Coffins, coachbuilding, furniture, packing-cases, &c. luja gigantea Jlmus campestris Jorylus avellana )rnamental shrubs .leguminous plants 14,775 775 1,310 69,003 59,326 Total .. 33,092,637