TREES IN PUMICELAND.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 124, 18 February 1908, Page 11

TREES IN PUMICELAND.

STATE: PLANTATIONS.

COMMERCIAL AND. ARTISTIC GAINS. Tlio Auckland "Herald" recently published a mosfc-intorosting article in.connection, with tho. work-. of-th6' State Forestry Department, from;ita'.'.opepial, reporter/-'- So. says that one "of: the'most?.striking •improypments..which is bemgmndo on tho pumico lauds of the Rotorua distinct)valid one tthich ■ will have . farreaching effects on all the thermal legion, is the' planting ..of :Vees'carried^ out ; under/,tho.: New.Zealand bepartmVnt.-. Hitherto the lack of trees ta3 been a serious diauback to'-the - scenic effects interesting part :of, .Now 'Zealand. The convtko ' coiintryl'-is picturesque) 'enough'. An artistwould dolight 'iu. tlio outline pf hill 1 ) and:peaks;..valleys 'sind- plains/ but : the of,\'.nianulijbi,': scrabor'. ; brown. vistas groire monp- ' tiwoOs.' V 'vThe Forestry ono.-.of, thivumnoroiiS' sections of- tho New Zealand Department'i of Lands,' isplanting' trees by tlio milliPn on: tho "hill -slopes -. about tlio ■"Whakarov.-ftrowft' .arid '.Waiotapu, and it takes brifc HtfcloimftgmatiohTt'o ; !realisc how this -will odd to.tlio'-beautyof -'these' district 3 and to tho wealth.of tlio. nation, v : \TALKING IN MILLION »• ■l-'n'. •;< Tho.State-nurseries at.AVhakarewarowa are among the features of-.that-place, ; anU;!he%;Zeala'hdors';should certainly!:include them 'iimong-, tho (sights ■■' thatshould ["-not 1 be ! inissed. 1 : instituted ; vjuSt ! . about', ten yoars'ago;- andin this short tiine.havo raised 23j million trees.: -It is-easyr.enough to talk ! glibly of millions; but- the.human,nund,does not really.grasp their significance. ; The capacityofitne,nursery, is -yearly .increasing.. Last season . oVor : 7,00bj000 trees' v/ere 1 , raised,', or nearly. 0 -the total ■ for - tho ten- years it -:has beon ln'cxistencc. That tho pumico. soil is admirablyradapted : for. the growth of forest'.trees-i. no- .one- can doubt after, seeing orWaiotapu. - Even. at tho nursery-:,no - great [amount .of-. fertilisers -is required: .Tho seed.beds-are-manured.every, secondvyoar; and when tho season's.crop is ■removed: they- aro ; allowed to remain fallow for -a-.year. -No manuro is used 111 the permanent plantations. THE" INVALUABLE LARCH ' The principal , 1 varioty. of, .treo raised. at Wliakarowarowa' is. tho lurch,- which .represents about half the total amount. Tb>.s-tree, as everyone knows, produces a very useful class :of-timber, which .can -be used not only for gciieral -.farm, purposes but for railway s sleepers^'bridge .work, and .general building. '■ As an ifistance',. of '.the' rapid growth of larch. on these poor pumice soils, one can see quite a number -of -trees - which have reached tho height';df';2sf(;: I'm"; five'i.years';:',' As.;thfi maximum growth of this treo 111 Europe, oven .on th'oTmost suitabla.'soil,' Mver:;ex'ceeds;;2ft. :per year,-.it will acknowledged .that pumico soil : must havo somo; 1 magical properties. Other, larch troos planted nino years ago in another part .of, the pumico belt, were .measured recently. .-Several of theso were 3oft. in height and ■ wero" dm.-..m-.diameter,- 3ft. ..from .the ground.-. Each iof.-'thes? .trees..would produco a 1 straining' post: and "two prdmarv fencing ponts. : As farmers establishing, larch plantations . would- place • tho trees. about 6ft.. apart, this .would mean 1200. trees per aero or'3ooo posts. ' •

, OTHER /PINES GROWN. : Another j tree largelyplanted .is the Corsican pme, • which has 'an annual growth of ~Bft;'!,after.; itsflfourth fyeariVor. about tivioe the European rato of growth: Unliko the larch, .which revels in high dry. uplands.; and does not like- low or -swampv , ground,- the Corsican -pme-vwill grow- 'in almost any. soil and at any altitude from-sea-level -up ito the snow-lmejvand in almost ;aiiy soil ( frojn puro sand to sti'ff clay.' The only other piha grown in.j large numbers 'is .•the' heavy-wooden ; pine (pinus l pondorosa). 'The timber of this tree is : imported aixto New Zealand, from America.'for. general joinery; .: It .is a: tree suitablo for.any soil if not too wet/or for any elevation,* and, frequently makes a growth of 3ft. to 4ft: yearly.: are about 40 varieties of'the eucalyptus family !grown, ; hut only four or>fivo 'outi of this number, aro well adapted., for,,>tho«pumice country.- These gums: make-a . growth :of' from 4ft-". to Cft. per year after the fourth-year.' Tho broadleafed ■ unch as oak, -' ash, elm, and sycamore,- have not proved . themselves coneThey require a ratheristiif olay subsoil, and would ■-.flo'urlsh| > bestV6>i^tHe r ;'pia*;iE3lm"fieldsj V./J/.'.i PRISON LABOUR

;The .Waiotapu plantation is worked. entirely by prison .labour, • and • tho experiment/of utilising-.this form, of labour has been. most, silccessfulvin every-respect... That, those who have broken fthe laws, of tho country should have the opportunity of. carrying out such interesting and valuable. work for the. State is undeniably a„good <nlan. About ; forty, or fifty prisoners are employed, drawn from the gaols of Wellington, and Auckland. The men themselves like the'work;" and' give, very, little trouble.:/ The- work .-well ■ and take an interest, >iii;:the'growth -, of. the' trees. Evidently ;tree-planting~hag"proved a turiiingpbint in .tho. career of'.a good many of these men, for quite a number of ex-prisoners are now...employed by the: Forestry .Department in various .parts of tho' Dominion, and give every satisfaction. Latterly a new departure has been made in this. respect: ' A special camp^has* ; been establislied. near 'Waiotapu for ex-prisoners, and these jinen arc . tract work enabling them to earn about Bs. per day,;.thus,giving them the chance of making a fresh start m life. : as'giving an'idea the popularity of .this'move, among-,the prisoners, over 50 per cent, of the men under sentence have'' expressed their intention of joining this camp when their: term-is. up.'.

A MILLION . ACRES'FOR. PLANTING. ._.The' ; importanoe! of this forestry work to the' Sfcate may be'gauged from the fact tlnit there are fully a million acres of Government land on the Kaingaroa Plains available for tree-plauting. . .Several ..experimental plantations were made on these' Plains about nine years ago, and though- they were 'in very exposed positions,. and on,"the poorest description of soil, the trees :ha.ve thrived; amazingly well. For : the sake of. those may dosiro to plant- trees on; thoir own account—and in this country they 'should ■ be' very numerous —some (were inado'' as: to. the cost. Men?'.raising theirs own.' seedlings/, and not counting .the cost 'of. their own labour/ could produce ,young ftreies for about- ss. perJipOO',aiidv could plant .thorn out at a cost of £2 per - acre. '■ Afc this rate', nearly every ■ farmer could- probably some portion, of hi? land,'for besides tho advantageof shelter for stoolr, '.larcil plantations ,on pumice • viand should yield at.cight'years odd over £70 per acre'from, fencing post 3 alone. /' It has. always been contended 1 that the establishment^.of forests affects the, climate, and inquiries were made , : ds .to:'whether any change: had been noticed: in 'this direction. The phief: forester said that rbefore, the,plantations . wore ■ established : tit 'Waiotapu sharp , frosts wero experienced in the valley even as late as December, doing considerable damago to. ..all; classes' of'trees' growing in the hollows or Sinco the trees iii the plantations'ihayo; made several' feet/of growth, the . frosts"have ;bccpnie sciisibly lessened in their intensity, •

COMMERCIAL RESULTS. Looked at puroly from the commercial standpoint' this State tree-planting promises groat results. In the Government report on •plantations and nurseries for 1906 the trees in the Kotorua .Nursery alo.no wero valued at • £26,(8)6, those in the ,AVhakarowaiwa plantations at-£16,620, and those' at, Waiotapu at £1.7,618;' .'The total, value oi all tl'.ti citato plantations in the colony wos £148,388, while tW total expenditure has amounted, to oiily £f?5,779i ; .- : ; In '".thesevalues, the . ti'fo.s iycfe. estimated at 25 per cent. lessthari "vrhoi^siafc-'trade'rates, 'so it can be seen that the.,work-•■'La'""going- to' ho - profitable to the State, ' : v ' hoivbver, can:,:calculate' the value,.of.-'the..added beauty -and comfort to this wonderland-of ; New Zealand when'the hillsides ; art;'coyered with forest verdure, and the traveller drives fronvono beauty spot,to another throutdi avenues of noble trees!