A Desert made Fertile

Te Ao Hou, April 1955, Page 11

A Desert made Fertile Tasman's story began in 1925 on the Kaingaroa plains, a 350,000 acre pumic plateau, in 1925 still a desert sparsely covered with tussock. An English visitor, Mr William Adamson, suggested that if New Zealand only had the courage to plant the whole of these plains with pine trees, it could sustain not only sawmills but a pulp and paper industry big enough to compete in world markets. The idea was taken up by Mr Alex Entrican, then departmental engineer in Forest Products and the then Director of Forestry, Mr L. M. Ellis. Most of the stands totalling 260,000 acres were planted between 1927 and 1931—the period of the slump. At present, the Kaingaroa plains boast a greater concentration of wood growth than there is in any other similar area in the world. There may be other forests as dense, but none so quick-growing. It can produce a constant yearly output of 23 million cubic feet. Planting was followed by a long period of study, during which the Forestry Service found out by tests that the New Zealand pine could make pulp and newsprint as good as is made in Canada or Scandinavia—not quite as white, but making up for this in greater strength. Government experts also worked out an unsurpassed method—later adopted by Tasman—of making the very best use of the trees. In 1951, the government was ready with its plans and preparations and offered the timber output of Kaingaroa for sale to a private company by tender. The only tenderer was the Fletcher organization. In June, 1952, the Tasman Pulp and Paper Company was registered with a capital of £6 million and the right to issue debentures. At this stage, the only shareholders were the government and the Fletcher organization, although others came in later.