REAFFORESTATION OF KAPITI

Evening Post, Volume CIII, Issue 63, 17 March 1922, Page 3

REAFFORESTATION OF KAPITI

SEED-BED CONDITIONS

Some remarks were made a-t the deputation to the Minister of Lands regarding Kapiti, with reference to broadcasting forest tree seeds on the island, notably Kotukutuku—the tree which bears the konini berry, and which flourishes on the shady side of afforested hills in the country lying away from the sun and wind, and where moisture abounds.

Now s,eeds require certain seed bed conditions before they will germinate (writes a contributor). They are enclosed in a shed or covering which protects them for as long a period as twenty years in some instances, awaiting the necessary conditions to germinate. This seed-bed condition is moderately present in our forests, and directly sufficient light is let in from the roof through any cause, seeds germinate, and this will happen arid is happening on Kapiti today, aa will be seen if the forest enemies are removed, and the seedlings allowed to live. The parts covered at present by forest would in a few years be almost impassable, as : they were once before being 1 initially damaged by wild cattle (large numbers of which once roamed the island), and later by other stocK. There are plenty of seeds of Kotukutuku and other forest trees. present now, some of which germinate, but are promptly destroyed.

This condition of affairs does not apply to the open grass lands, as' forest requires the soil to he' in a free condition —not so grass, which requires compression; hence.the necessity of compressing the ground with stock after felling and burning the bush before a good pasture can be obtained.

To broadcast forest tree seeds on the open,grass country is a waste, as the necessary seed bed condition is not there, not is the necessary shade, shelter, and moisture immediately present. Sir David Hutchins speaks of pigs as being valuable to make seed beds, owing to their habit of rooting. The pigs which were on Kapiti are said to be exterminated, and no further introduction is desirable. Therefore we must look to the- remaining method, that is, planting, in order to expedite Nature's efforts. She will quickly grow manuka, tauhinau, etc., which .Sir David Hutchins terms "the nursery of the forest," nnd we can anticipate her by planting what 1 we wish, in the shade and shelter thus afforded, and thus help the routine of bird food in localities suited to the desired variety, as, for instance, kahikatea in Taepiro Gully. The forest trees planted in this —manuka, etc.—will overgrow the nursery and destroy it. Pending the time' before these trees reach the berrying stage, the pigeons, etc., can fill in any food shortage period by migration* to the mainland bush. By the time this forest has been further or totally destroy^ ed by deer, fires, etc., the island will supply the wants of the birds. The keynote of reafforestation and forest preservation is non-disturijance by fire, animals, or otherwise. Quite an interesting ex position of a forest in the making is to be found immediately east of the Day's Bay bush. ' '

The original immediate, coastal fringe on Kapiti was-probably Taupata-, similar to the remnant still on Tokomapuna, art adjoining islet to Kapiti,' and a glorious sight it must have been, It is not an impossibility to replant even this, leaving considerable spaces for Nature to complete. The cliffs on the western side of the island are in a seed bed condition in many places, and such trees or shrubs as are to be found on the Paekakariki faces would prosper, also pobuta-kawa, if desirable. The patch of lunin now growing on the lower r>art of cliffs north of Titeremoana should be promptly exterminated as 'it is an exotic, and the very best .thing to decide ■is whether Kapiti is to be retained as an example of its own particular flora or tof any New Zealand flora. This is for some eminent botanist to decide, aii3 when the decision is made it should be strictly adhered to.