THE VANISHING KAURI

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 165, 2 April 1918, Page 6

THE VANISHING KAURI

ITS PERPETUATION URGED. | The following paper has been written | on "TUe Perpetuation of the Kauri" j tor the iotesiry League (.at Uie instance of die presittenu, (sir dames Wili sou;, by Air. J. lircmstou, of Wellington :•— ~ ".because the kauri (Agathis Australis) 'has not been lound in a state of nature south of I'trongia, most people have assumed that a will not stand tlie climate further south. The fact that the tree thrives on the tops of the highest hills both north of Auckland and along the Thames Peninsula has been overlooked. It is also found without a few hundred feet of the top of the To Aroha mountain where the climate is more severe than that of Duncdin.

"There is a fine specimen in Bishop Nevili's garden, Leitli Valley, Dunedin, thirty years old, which measures twenty-five and a half inches in girth two feet above tho ground line, and is estimated to be thirty-five feet in height. Thero is another small tree in /Mr. George Fenwick's garden, Dun-; ediiv planted out some three years ago, which proves that the kauri (the finest of all thi; pines) is fairly hardy and should be more cultivated than it is.

"Another erroneous impression is thac tho kauri grows best and is only found on poor land. It is true that it is invariably found on 6uch country, and the kauri, gum lands (where • great kauri forests once stood) mostly consist of poor, cold clay hills covered with tea-tree scrub.

"From observation I have noticed that when the young kauri seedlings come up in good land such _as river flats, made up of volcanic or limestone, wash dirt, or other'rich land, tho more rapid growing shrubs of the C'oprosma and Cleria families, together with vines and creepers, simply smother the young kauris in the seedling stage. It is essential for the development of the young kauri that there shall be no obstruction overhead. When the, kauri seedlings come up in the poor land they have only tea-tree scrub (manuka —Leptospermum Scoparium) and sonie minor heaths to contend with. Unlike the Coprosmas the manuka does not form an enveloping mantle, but grows straight upward, thus allowing the sun's rays to moro or less penetrate to the ground. For the first decade the young kauri will not grow half as fast as the manuka, but as it becomes deeper rooted it eventually raises its head above the manuka, which in time is smothered and dies out, leaving tho kauri supreme. Of course, no such conditions would-now bo allowed to transpire, as the man with tlie fire Btick will take care that no scrub containing young kauris shall remain many years without having a blaze, and it is needless to think that the kauri can be perpetuated in its old haunts and' under former conditions. "The whole North of Auckland, with its warm, humid climate,, is too prone to the growth of scrub and fern, etc., to admit of the artificial growth of timber trees except at an enormous cost for the perpetual grubbing and clearing of fern and scrub to prevent risk from fire. Any attempt to perpetuate the kauri in the worked-out forests or gum hills would be a pure waste of energy. "As already pointed out it is hardy and will stand a fair amount of snow and frost. The chief consideration is that tlie ground shall admit, of deep rooting. In my opinion, the most suitable country for a trial forest would be on tho 'i'okoroa Plains, or some of the Taupo country not given to growing" fern. In such location the risk of fire would be reduced to a minimum and tho probability is that the young trees would grow much faster than, in the poor clay lands further north. Plantations of this valuable tree should also be established in other suitable locations throughout the Dominion, such ! as the Waikato, Upper Thames Valley, and Canterbury Plains, eto. The prison | farm at Templeton would lie a good site for such experiment. Although the kauri will not grow quite so fast as the "oak for the first decade or so, given suitable ground it will in time raise its liead high above any oak. Under favourable conditions the kauri_can be reckoned upon to grow from 15 to 18 inches per annum for the first fifty years. It is a deep-rooting tree and is therefore difficult to transplant. Probably the best method is to raise it in pots and plant out before the seedlings exceed six inches in height.'