A VALUABLE LEGACY

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXII, Issue 268, 27 October 1932, Page 10

A VALUABLE LEGACY

WAKARI HOSPITAL TREES.

When Mr William Hepburn 61 years ago planted the fine plantation of pinus insignis trees that is at present being felled in the grounds of the Wakari Hospital, he probably little thought that his action would have the effect of providing much-needed work at a time when the wheels of industry had been clogged by adverse conditions and a general falling off in trade, but, as a result of his energy, this is being attained, and several sections of the community are receiving direct benefit (states the “Otago Daily Times”). The Otago Hospital Board recently disposed of, to Messrs McLeod Bros., the timber in the plantation, and the’felling and milling is being carried out by Messrs Hogg and Co. The Hepburns were a well-known family in the district, Mr W. Hepburn being a son of Mr George Hepburn, who for a considerable period represented Wakari on the Otago Provincial Council, where he was chairman of committees, and later, in 1868, was elected to the House of Representatives as member for Roslyn. These trees, which are of a good milling type, represent wonderful growth for the time since they were planted, and are all of good size. The largest that has been cut so far is one which was 94 feet in length, 40 by 40 inches diameter at the butt end.'and eight inches diameter at the top. It has been sawn into several sections, and is estimated to contain a total of about 4740 feet of timber, yielding about 3200 feet of milling timber. Messrs Hogg and Co.’s men have now been engaged for a fortnight on

the work of cutting and milling the trees, and as it is considered that there is still six weeks or two months’ work left it can be seen that only the fringe of the plantation has been touched. In the first week 23,000 feet of timber were sent into the mill, yielding about 17,000 feet of sawn timber of excellent quality. On an average about 4000 feet of timber are felled in a day, and it is estimated that the plantation contains about 200,000 feet altogether. Not only do the millers benefit from this work, but as the timber will be used principally for box-making this industry will receive a considerable uplift, while the labour that is entailed in carting the logs from Wakari to the mill must also be taken into consideration. Thus.Mr Hepburn left a valuable legacy to Dunedjn at a time when such a stimulus to trade is in the greatest demand.