N.Z. FARMERS' UNION

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLI, Issue XLI, 9 May 1921, Page 4

N.Z. FARMERS' UNION

HAWERA BRANCH

LECTURE ON AFFORESTATION

The monthly meeting of the Hawera' branch of the Farmers' Union was held | in Mr Buckerklge's office on Saturday afternoon. Tneie were present: Messrs F. Mills (chairman), H. Batten, G \V. vane, J. Finlay,'H. Fmlay, A. Haseltine, G. H. Buckeridge, and others. Owing to the day fixed for a v:sit to Mr Owen's farm having; been wet, members decided that in view of the lateness of the season it would be better not to pay the visit this year. x'he chairman referred to the "notes of the month" which had appeared for the first t.nie in the farm and dairy columns of the Star. He stated tLut ne did not think there would be any difference of opinion among membeis as to the value ot these notes, and thought that they would be a very good gu.de to many farmers in the district. On the motion of the chairman and A. Haseitine, it was deeded to express the branch's appreciation that their suggestion had been carried into effect j und a:so to add that the notes were ot much value to them. It was also suggested that it would be of great value to farmers it Mr Ford could see his way to add a few notes indicating what ailments stocks were likely to suffer from at particularseasons of the year and g:ving simple directions for minimising or preventing these possible ailments. Mr E. Maxweii, who gave a most interesting and practical address on the need for local aftorestat-on^ was intrbducipd by Mr Mills, who expressed pleasure at seeing those who had responded to the branch's invitation to be present. He wished that more had taken the opportunity of increasing their knowledge and obtaining such oractical advice.- " ■ . " . Mr. Maxwell then proceeded with his address, and dealt with his subject from many different viiew points. Tree Planting. The need for afforestation must be so apparent to all that there would seem to be no reason to refer to it, but he would "point out that whiis natural supplies were rau-dly vanishing no country had so far by afforestation produced nearly enough to meet its own requirements, let aione any surplus from which supplies for other countries could be drawn. Further, whilst the supply or timber was ever diminishing the demand for it was ever increasing, and the uses of wood and wood products were daily extending. No country • could hooe to be able to obtain its requirements in timber from, outside for more than 2 uitc a few years at the most, and therefore it was imperative that this country should carry on a vigorous system of afforestation. Afforestation was not only necessary for the purpose ot supplying tipiber, but was also important for its effects on the climate conservation of water supply, retention or fertility of the soil and shelter, all of I winch were of vital importance

Large Forests

i The Question arose' of carrying all these purposes, into effect. Would the ! system so far followed by- the State, that of aftoresting considerable areas in a tew localities, answer H:s opinion was! that such a system, if followed, would be unwise, risky, and at the best would be entirely inadequate. Concentration m a few extensive forests enormously increased the risk of loss by disease and fire, and would do little towards wieetrng climatic requirements. At the best concentration could not ,be nearly soi proiltab^e for reasons such as distance from a market and lack cf use tor the greater part of the thinnings.

Local Planting. A system of local planting— a w'de spreading throughout the whole Domin--J ion, throughout every d^trict, and, he i might say throughout every holding— was ? the.ideal one—one by which every j locality would produce and have right i on hand at all times its own needs in j timber, box-wood poles and fuel. One by j one the whole country, each district and each home, would be beautiful^ the con- , ditions of its climate emeliorated, its j soil protected, and its water supply con- ! served. J " j Under a system of local -planting the great question of weed suppression could I be settled by the dense planting of all weed infested areas with overshadowing . trees such as pinus insignia. Anothe? . most important result of planting in , every locality was the beneficial effect ; n would have on labour—that of occupying much labour in the slackest time, winter. .The question is, how could all these desirable condjt.ons be attained ? Some of our country, 6Ue h as much of this district, was level, r:,ch country of such Jigh value that a minimum of its area only could be profitably taken im by Sfi -hf r pt\rts were mol c broken and less rich, and still other parts again S YeP + i br°. ken- rOUgh and I™?: Much of thejast named land would, better laid out in forest than exposed to the weather and subjected to a steady denudation of \ its soil y A very large proportion of noor, broken country wuld be better i£ planted ,A less proportion, but still a considerable amount of the better and less bioken land could be profitably planted and even on the rich land there were many farms on which there were odd corners or poor slopes which would by oZ ng Vl*nted > afford shelter to stcrk crops and pastures, and supply a con! siderable amount of fencing an d fuel Itf "J^ 8 on a large in-that ; i!^ yb6tTned local Bkniing that was be-na;, undertaken there was one common princple that mustbe the first _ guide-that of what to plant p.-oduce (l^l "hit "w the greatest bulk of fmlwr rf Sew % ™>7-«»«* 8 . By this ,v;,, ~,S m?- dc; C'ded on the class "hoo«e are ifkeivT^ *TV are known?'o?- . Requirements, requirements were shelter n -™A In ??,' "Jack w»ttle and enms- for 3ase tlmhe ™> ™;Zn% for buiSg 'etc. Practical Attainment. LlJH+^ WoUld &?\ Vemark that '^"^t iU trees grew better n valley hotinm* md sides, and in broken, hi fv countn*n?Jr eS th-f Ved ex^"e'ntly- fnpoor and often qirte p S well « r even hotte • ■«pt-perhaps the redwood. •Shelter. For aM comnnrafcivelv swall nlnntnt'on tieleer was essential to get the best re-

suits. He would say shelter was the first thing. If the chief object was helter and rows, narrow beits, or small corners were to be planted, then only the hardiest trees should be chosen. If more than this was aimed at then only the outer parts would be of such He recommended as shelter, fiivt a hedge &o as to prevent an underdraft, then, in | exposed situations, a row of muneata and an inner row of insiguis If i n land or not very exposed, a hedge and single row of insignis would do For hedges an ricSh, sweet land, such as th's d strict bxthorri was the thing on the sunny sides. In poor or sour land and in the shade on the -south side, eleagnus Eleagnus would grow 30 or 40 feet up the face of a pine belt if 'the p: ne branches were cut back. It would make a wonderful wall. Mncrocaroa was a I good shelter tree, making good fencing! and fair fuel, but it was slower gro v ■ and less certain thaw :ns:gnis or even muncata, and took up too mu.b icom. Plants. i Pines could be obtained from the State j nurseries and from all nurserymen. As a rule it was best to purchase voun°pines. _ Gum sedlings could be obtained rrom the State and from some nursery- i men, but not many. Messrs Duncan and , Dav.es, of Ne\v Plymouth, were making a business of raising young gums and grew the most desirable kinds. • For help in raising seedlings Mr. Maxwell gave the following advice • Seed (Gums)— These can be obtained from the State nurseries, Whakarewarewa, Gibbons and Co., Wellington or other seed merchants. Sowing—Prepare soil in beds or boxes, carefully press down and smooth' the surface so as to prevent seed sinking in,, sprinkle seed evenly over surface, and cover it to not more than a quarter of an inch by sieving fine soil over it; slightly press with back of spade—don't beat it. Time for sowing from September to December. Seedlings grow best with early sowing but against this is the trouble that seedlings are more likely to grow too large before the transplanting season. Seedlings—Time for transplanting, early autumn to late spring. Dry windy weather unsuitable and ground should be reasonably moist. Damp weather is always best. Handling—Seedlings should have roots moistened immediately on. being taken out, and should on no account be exposed to;sun o,r wind. It is best to roll up in wet sacking between taking up and putting in. Cut off all long, weak, or straggling roots with a sharp knife, and it is much better to cut severely than to put in with roots twisted,or doubled. Plants can be transplanted direct from bed or box to plantation, but the better plan is to get a number of shallow boxes, say 24 to 30 inches by 15in.. by 3*in. Use three boxes at a time, so as to allow for grading the .seedlingsj place the boxes on a bench,, end on arid raised to about 45 degrees at the back. Moisten fine soil to a condition so that it can be pressed in layeVs across the box. Take the seedlings from the seed boxes or bed, cut out roots, press layer of about ] an inch of moist soil against end of the boxes, press roots of seedlings against layers of soil in each, box according to size, press fanpther layer of earth against and row of I seedlings, and so on. Distances apart iof seedlings will depend on size—an , inch apart for very small. The seedlings ,oan be planted out any time after, say, two cr three weeks, or may be kept much longer,1 but it is most important in the case of both gums and wattles that seedlings should be planted out small. Gums should not at most exceed 12 inches in length, includ ing root, and wattles not much more? Wattle seed should have boiling water I poured on it and be allowed to soak for a day—several days will not hurt it. bow deeper than gum and plant out direct. Planting out—Use first the boxes with the largest seedlings. Take boxes out to plantation, and on no account expose plants to sun or air wjiilst moving from box to soil. Turn over a spit depth of soil, firm down split across with spade, wipe the seedling into the cut deep, raising upwards so as to'get the roots straight and thoroughly firm • with feet at both sides. See that the plants are upright. Best to plant in dYll, damp weather. Followingthese directions there should Be no losses Exposure of roots, so that they dry whilst moving-, will cause a heavy percentage of losses. Distances—Gums: According to the kind of gum the distance should vary, but on the average gums will grow into strong saplings—say 12 inches through —at 3ft. to 4ft. apart. Such as stnngybark may be. planted in rows dtt. apart, and the'plants 2Jft. to 3ft. apart, or the rows 3ft. apart and the j plants 4ft. Alternate rows first being cut would leave remaining plants 4ft I apart and rows 6ft. With some gums, [ such as gigantia rows could be only 2ft. and plants 3ft. apart. Shelter—On this coast all plantations to be a success must have an outer I belt of pmes; unless otherwise sheltered.

4 Pmus Insignis—The most rapid growing tree in the world-, but run dose by some of the gums. For firing, the wood as interior to watte or gum. Insignis and wattle can be planted ih mixed plantation. Planting the insignis and wattle alternately in every second row, and wattle only in each alternate row | rows oft. to 6ft. apart and trees the same, would give about 435 to 302 insigms and 1200 to 900 wattles to the

Particular Trees. Insignis, besides 'being the most rapid grower, would grow anywhere between the North. Cap© and the Bln'F it would grow on inland places or on the sea coast, on plains or hills, in the poorest of soil and also in the 'best: It would make fruit cases and cheese crates when 10 years old, and butter boxes, for -which it has proved excellent at from 14 years onward 'It made excellent building timber after 2o or SO yeans of age, and fair fuel except when young. Redwood was/not so hardy and preferred rich soil and humid conditions. I his tree showed a remarkable rate of growth in ISew Zealand. It produced a most valuable building and. furnishing timber, but he would not recommend it ror small plantations. Black wattle is not a timber tree; that was, it never grow into milling timber but nevertheless it was most valuable and useful. It was of easy and very rapid groAvth, and made absolutely perfect fuel for general use and tor producing steam, it was excellent for practically all farm purposes, grew good durable posts, and after ;■ a few years made excellent rails and /poles. Gums.—(Jut of the several hundred gums Mr Maxwell picked the following as reliable rapid growers, producing in a short time valuable timber: Euealyptu.s Obliqua (stringy Bark): Very fast, hardy, good splitter. Eucalyptus Eugeniordes: Nearly as fast a grower, nearly but not quite as hardy, more durable, good splitter.; most valuable for timber. Eucalyptus Fastigata : Rapid grower, hardy, easily grown, good splitter, durable ; general purposes, including ibuilding. Eucalvptns Vim in alls: As above, but not as durable. Eucalyptus Gigantea : Rapid grovor, very hardy, grows in high snow country, very durable, valuable timber; grows very densely ;■ good fencing. EncaJvpti:s Risinifera : Fairly hardy, | slew tv burr., exceedingly valuable tim-

be*-, almost indestructible, best fencJfiucaljptus Macarthuri: Fast Valuable, haray durable, good fencing, suitable for inland, but not close to sea Eucalyptus Gunnu : Extremely j hardy, good doer. ! The following were useful gums that have qualities warranting their .placiiv 1 well up in any list: Euc. Ascerrula, E biebenana, less hardy; E. Microcorn. h, Corynocalyx and j&. Botryoides." Uithout doubt what had retarded tree planting was the general idea that trees were very slow growing, and one would only be planting for one's -sons or grandsons. Whilst such wou.'d to a^ certain extent ibe true if applied to Europe, where the growth was slow, it was a fallacy if applied to this country, where the growth of many valuable kinds of trees was exceedingly rapid." Profitable results could be obtained in a very tfe.w years. As an indication of the rate of growth and what can ibe obtained he gave the following particulars : There are splendid pinus insignis trees, of about 40 years' growth, 150H high and up to 4ft in diameter growing in the Park, at New Plymouth. At, Mokoia there is a plantation of insignis of about the same a^s and nearly as high; splendid straight trees (that would make excellent timber. I have cut twenty-five strainers and 500 fence posts, hundreds of rails, battens and several cords of, firewood out of sixth of an acre of black wattle albout 12 years old. I have stringy barks (E. Obliqua), the trees that Hobar.t ■shingles, palings and rails are split from, 60 feet high, 12 to 18 inches through at 4 fedt from the ground, with s.oles as straight as (billiard cues, 12 to 14 years old. Up north I visited a >place where a saw plant was dealing with a o-row belt, on either side of a drive-way, of pinus insignis. The trees were 34 years old and were averaging 900 ft to tlie tree of ex-, cellent building timber. Every district, he said, should grow timlber for its own needs, and dairying or fruit districts should at once plant insignis to supply case timber. Every holder of land should plant1 without delay, beautify his home, and 'help to beautify, .the country land ensure a sufficient supply of timber when outside supplies run out. ' , On the motion of Messrs Mills ancl J. Finlay, a hearty vote of thanks was accorded Mr iMaxwell for his splendid address. . . ' Mx Buckeridge suggested that the members of the Hawera branch, should pay a visit to Mr Maxwell's farm and 6ee for .themselves some of trees he h.i 3 spoken about. Mr Maxwell, who took the suggestion up, tendered an invitation to all those interested to pay the visit. Mr Maxwell's offer was accepted^ and it was finally decideds that members should go next Friday, leaving _Ha■wera at 10 a.m. and taking their own lunph. . .