FUTURE OF FORESTRY SCHEMES

Dominion, Volume 27, Issue 183, 2 May 1934, Page 8

FUTURE OF FORESTRY SCHEMES

No Necessity For Alarm “PINE WILT” DANGER IN NEW ZEALAND / The extent to which New Zealand afforestation schemes are endangered by losses in plantation is discussed in a letter to ‘'The Dominion” from Mr. H. H. Corbin, a forestry expert, of Auckland.- Stating that the softwood forests of pinus insignis and other species are a valuable asset to the country. he deplores “recent propaganda by a certain section of the Press calculated to do harm to the great national ‘work o-f providing adequate raw material in the forests.” Mr. Corbin writes: —"In respect to the woods and forests of forestry companies 'in tins Dominion, which aggiegate about 250,000 acres, those companies which employ high-grade trained foresters’of standing will have good forests so long as their foresters remain hi technical control, but those companies which are not substantial will no doubt pay the cost of lack of skilled technical direction, and there will be increasing inevitable losses due to this cause- i : .■ ■ Unsuitable Localities. . “Already some of these companies have suffered through planting pinus insignis in unsuitable localities, or planting weak nursery stock, or resorting to cbeafi and bad methods of raising the trees and planting. Hence the scare about ‘pine wilt’ on frost flats. ’ . “It behoves those who are interested in forest plantations to. see that they are properly managed, whether the forests are State-owned or privatelyowned. and we are all ratepayers, and therefore Interested in the State-owned forests. There is no need for any alarm where plantations have been properly established and are under efficient technical direction. “It is well known that ‘pine wilt’ exists in some plantations,, both Government and private. This complaint has bfen well known for many years in Europe under various synonyms, and existed probably thousands of years before it was known, and is certainly present in this country on certain trees in certain localities. / Does Not “Devastate.” “It is wrong, to say. that fungus devastates pinus insignis. The fungus only attacks, young plants and trees which are vulnerable owing to having been‘ badly raised with deficient- root systems or are planted badly and then only on frosty flats where the'cold is intense. The frosty flats are a very, small proportion of the total area of pinus insignis plantations in the genuine pumice areas of the North Island, probably not greater in extent than about a fraction of one per cent. The position is very different in some places outside the genuine pumice area, and I would exclude these areas from the references made above. “Pinus insignis, as a crop generally in the pumice area of the North Island,_ is a flourishing and exceedingly healthy’ crop. Even, on the colder frost flats the tree thrives, provided, it is a good robust plant when put out in the forest' and is properly planted. x Reply to Statements; “No calamity faces the industry. There is a very bright future ahead of the .industry, and the prospects are brighter with the passing of time in relation to pinus insignis forests and the industries ancillary thereto.. In my opinion, the pinus insignis forests will save this Dominion from the worst phases of a softwood shortage in the near future.” . ' , Other recent published statements are replied to by Mr. Corbin, as follow :— ■ ,’’ . '■< ' -■ ■ . ■ . ‘.‘Every tree in • thousands of acres will have to be slashed out pnd replaced.” . • ’ • “This is a gross exaggeration. Certain areas in some cases would be better if planted with pinus ponderosa,’ which flourishes on the frost flat where the growth of young pinus insignis trees is impaired. “ ‘Millions of trees are dead or doomed to destruction in public and private forests of the. North Island.’ This is also an exaggeration when one takes a proper view of'the case. Literally the statement might be regarded as correct, but when the losses of trees through Phomopsls strobi are taken in proportion to the number of trees which are perfectly healthy and vigorous over the whole of the North Is-, .land, the losses are negligible. It is estimated that in the case of one company there are over thirty million trees, and I doubt if there are any at present with any serious disability caused through phomopsis. “’The “wilt” has reached the state of semi-epidemic virulence.’ “This statement is. true only in relatively few and small areas. The great bulk of the pinus insignis forests are perfectly healthy and vigorous. • “‘There is no stopping it.’ 7 “This is equally sweeping.®An experienced forester can counter this disease by silvicultural methods, e.g.. by planting robust plants properly. The wilt will not attack healthy trees and only slightly impair the growth of any pine tree unless it is under some other seri,ous disadvantage such as a twisted root due to bad planting or something akin to this. To imagine that because one tree develops phomopsls disease that the disease will sweep through the whole forest and become epidemic is contrary to all experience.” *