PINUS INSIGNIS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LIII, Issue 103, 2 May 1919, Page 7

PINUS INSIGNIS

ITS VALUE FOR TIMBER

INFORMATION FROM SOUTH AUSTRALIA.

i.h.9 fodowiirtr invOTUirtlnoj letter dealing ' with p:&«r, •insignb- hr.s been received by Mr. K. G. .Kiagsland of Appleby, iTOrn Mr Walter Gill, Conservator of Forest,, for South AusLalia

In loor.r.octien: with this mat-tor 7 may say that v.-.’.th respect to the di;.tanco apart Icr planting, very grad timber n:.a been produced in our piantsticiw tor trait ca&e making by planting Sft. by Bft, The k-nsots. in this timber have bom onily .small,' seldom exceeding the size of the thumb, and more often' even lest; than the little- fingr, If timber of liner quality is desired, however, the trees may be planted 7ft by 7ft in .strong good land or 6ft by 6ft in land of jxrorer nature, because the object to be attained is to get the res to make cover—rthis is to close the hint ■ over i.he ground as this makes the lower branches die off, and thus prevents the formation of big knots, for the sooner this dene the smaller are the knots. Another end attained by this is that * the timber grows denser —though it takcgi longer to • grow. A man must 1 therefore decide what he means to grow the timber for before fixing the distance. The wider apart tin lives are planted the''bigger are the branches', the more the tree tapers, and the shorter the height of merchantable timber and bigger the knots. The pin us ins siguis ix a strong grower on good wen drained soil and will gener;. iv gn w its branches to meet in 6 or 6 years, but in poorer land it will take a longer time, it planted too far apart, and thus* make timber more knotty. As regards the amoitnt of timber produced per acre or the “stand” of timber as it is called I enclose a statement which shows the quantity actually grown in one' of the Department’s plantations from which it will be seen that a return ha® been received of £lO and over per acre per annum for 33 years’ as a result of the operations of the saw mill worked by the Department for ■ case cutting. This is of course a fine result and it is not expected that all plantations will reach -such a satisfactory state as this, but in proportion as laud is fit for growing thig, pine an equally good result may reasonably be expected. As regards the question oi treating the crop the method followed here in South Australia is to thin out for a time a fi , far as any demand for (smaller produce may occur and tnen clear out off the whole crop and replant in due course. 'There is not any likelihood that young seedlings will come up sufficient to slock the. plantations in dry climate —though it iis quite _ possible that .with vour different conditions you may be able to restock by natural regeneration. But this is. a question lor you to decided on the spot. The usual recognised, course . is to survey sample arc% Ad sample trees of varying dimelisions and thus estimate the volume cl Umber standing as the crop by the quantity contained in the trees growing, on the aim actually measu td, wh'-m may, in round figures range from saj'j the low estimate of 10,00U super feet per acre up to 100,000 super teeter acre according to the fitness or qlherwne of the conditions. Calculations are made not in lineal feet but first incubic feet and;' then, in super feet or what the Americans call board measure, the basis being a piece of wood 12 inches wide by 12 inches long by 1 inch thick. . As regards Die time in which a return call be expected, and the amount of super feet probably yielded by an

uci'O it may bt; stutocl that conditions, to bo moderately fai oui able the quantity of timber. available » 25 years may bo estimated; at 5.C00 'Cubic feet pox' a ere dr 60,(XX) super feet. This is arrived at by taking 200 cubic feet a-s a safe average annual increment per a.-re (or the’ wood growth on all the trees per acre taken collectively). Specially suitable land etc. will give more, and less suitable land, less. At 30 year e ot age ot course, normally speaitug, in? amount of timber will be greater, viz.,— 6,000 cuuic feet per acre or 72,000 super feet. In some very suitable kind the same quantity has been grown in 26 years as proved by actual survey, but usually the “stand will be better at 30 years thait at 25 years. With respect *” to prices realised these may be said to range from £>lso to £1360 per acre for timber “in tire log at the stump felled and removed bv the purchaser according to volume or the timber and the price obtained ah lowing prices to range from 5s per 100 super feet to 10s 3d per hundred. At the last figure the Department sold hurt year 5,000,000 super feet which the buyer ha e been carting. 8 or 9 miles to the nearest railway station,_ Wirrabara, and then railing it 154£ miles-right u» his mill in Adelaide. On the other hand in a district 300 miles .South of Adelaide a firm using quantities of this pine for rabbit crates and boxes only pays the ridiculous pribe of 2s 6d per hundred super feet for timber in the Jog delivered at their mill, purchased from local grower's for trees the Forest Department; gave them 30 years ago. This works out at i”5 per acre at'2s years or £B9 per acre at 3W year®. Needless to say it pays far better to exploit your own timber than throw it away at that price. l J think these particulars will give you a basis on which to form a fair idea as to the position here, but of course, you may have better conditions which will enable you to exceed these results which are purposely wofked on a molest aid conservative basis.