Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit SATURDAY, 12, 1893. FOREST TREES.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XIV, Issue 3050, 12 August 1893, Page 2

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit SATURDAY, 12, 1893. FOREST TREES.

In TiMARU, in connection with the Domain, it has been decided to set apart a portion of ground for the special purpose of raising young trees for Arbor Day planting. The idea is an excellent one, and might be advantageously adopted by our County Domain Board. With, apparently, the noble exception of Bakaia, the School Committees and other bodies who superintended Arbor Day arrange ments, confined their attention to the planting of macrocarpa and pinus insignia. These are all very well in their way. Macrocarpa make an excellent and ornamental fence, and for shade and shelter and ornamental trees serve admirably when grown singly* Pinm Insignia do well enough where shelter is wanted, but by and by the growers of them are only too glad to have them felled and rooted out. If then they were valuable as timber, which they are not, or good as firewood—the Ashburton Domain Board got about three half-crowns per cord at auction for the last lot they sold— which is a matter of opinion, there would be some sense in planting them; but our experience of them here is that as soon as they are fairly well grown it is wise to get rid of them. We cannot, therefore, go on planting stuff of this kind extsnsively, and must, if plantations are to be valuable to u« in the future, or to those who are to come after us, turn our attention to forest trees that will yield us timber for the workshop, fourteen or fifteen years ago, when the county was bare of trees, and everybody planted fast growing speoies, Mr C. W. Purnell, vigorously attacked the policy then pursued. Not that he objected to the planting of pines, etc., as a measure of expediency, but he laid stress oa the unwisdom of neglecting the planting of hardwood forest treeß, slow growers like the oak and others, and prophesied that those who neglected these trees would in time regret it. There are many now who would be only too glad to have alternate trees of British timber with concentric rings £o the number of fifteen round their sturdy hearts. The Ashburton Domain is a county institution and a portion of it might very well be set aside for nursery purposes for trees of this description for the supply of public bodies in the county, who would doubtless be willing to pay for them such a price as would cover tho actual cost of raising, and no more should bo required.