VALUE OF EXOTIC PINES.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 19 April 1922, Page 8

VALUE OF EXOTIC PINES.

A SPLENDID TIMBER YIELD

Increasing attention has been paid I of late years to the milling of exotic ! pines in various parts of New Zealand, I and in this connection Mr E. Earle Vaile, of "Broadlands," Waiotapu, sup- ' plies some very interesting particulars in a recent communication to the State Forest Service. He writes: "The area near Matamata railway station, in the Auckland district, where milling operations have been going on for the past two years, has already yielded 2,250,000 feet of good timber, and there is still about 250,000 feet left to cut. Most of the cut timber has been taken from an area of between 20 and 24 acres, but by far the largest portion has come from about ten acres covered with a smooth-barked variety of pine with a small smooth cone, identified by the State Forest Service as pinus insignis. The thing that' impressed me most was the beautiful straight, branchless boles of these trees, planted in rows 30 feet wide, this space having been probably originally intended for firebreaks. The credit for the origin of this fine plantation is due to the late Mr Josiah C. Firth, who, with unexampled foresight, made these plantations, remarking at that remote date, when timber was an encumbrance on the ground, that men would some day build houses out of them. As far as I could gather no attention whatever has been given to these plantations. The seedlings were placed • right end up in the ground, and the event left to providence. Placing the area planted at 22 acres, this gives a yield averaging 113,636 feet super per acre. The trees grow to a very great height, are staight, and remarkably free from knots. Some of the pines ran to 140 feet in length of millable timber, and cut out well over 4000 super feet each tree. Very many of the trees contain over 100 feet length millable, and yield over 2000 feet per tree. The average of 19 trees of the smoothbarked variety Pinus Insignis, taken at random, is: Length 94ft, centre girth 4ft 2in, contents 1332 super feet. The number of age rings in the trees varies j from 40 to 47, and this confirms the j opinions of old residents as to their i age." :