RURAL JOININGS-FROM HAMPDEN TO TIMARU. (By Arbor.)

North Otago Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2081, 3 January 1879, Page 1 (Supplement)

RURAL JOININGS-FROM HAMPDEN TO TIMARU. (By Arbor.)

Some time has ela;»se<) since I t'»nk » look nhnut Harrpden. I knew it first ten years since. Its timber trade was then fl turis'ii i«r, and wn the lame stitims and new furm homestead* in Vnrtli Q'&<4<: I regret to hive'nsiy the native forest of H impd n i* fast disappearing, and not n lit' le »a«tefullv, although 1 hear that carpenters hive f'»r some lime pas' purchased their b.)ildin<» materials I'mtn Oimaru nnd Dunedin. Who woul I hare predicted seven years ago that railway sleepers (Oregon timber) would be i >- ported from north America, and would not be three years in wear before they had to be substituted by Tasmanian timber, the Oregon timber having decayed, and at many other places in the colony where it has been used within cooey of our native forests What truth there is in the old saying — "Strange tricks in trade." In the Hampden district, or south Waitaki, are large tracts of land belonging to the Crown, and also freeholds, well suited for new forest* — rough rugged hills and glens, probably not keepiu!* more than a sheep to the acre. I have no hesitation in saying that if forest tree planting wm properly carried out on such lands ns I have named the outlay would prove a good investment, better than sheep pasturage ; and there are muiiy thousands of acres of such lands on the east co<nt of Ot-tu'o and Canterbury, which *re all hu* timberlesi. I wish I could find words which would arouse the members of both Provinces in both Mouse* oi Assembly ns to the necessity f»r extensive forest tree planting, a* hii •additional measure to the prese t F.ire^t Tree Planting Act. I hope before I complete mv jonin.'S to hnnu tin '< r notice » lew iimtiinocw w'nre the F »r«st l'iee Pianfitg 4rt has added t'.e two acres f>r tin i»n«« plwitcd. Mitjht I a»k coul In »t the members who represent the^e mdl o i* of .icies ot timber! s-« land on the Hist CVnit ot O itf'i and Ointenmry do soniethiu * in P.irliament, and als » locally in their reopective countiet to sti nul'i'o progress in forest tree pinning. Surely im uiemb.-r would s*y they canii'it do iinyttiing. -li ultl their bo any mich ineuihcr-i, |»irnnt me t<i niv t lit the/ rtt't it i ler a ini.Mnken blind u-84 to the interests of th present nnd future >'v >er.itinn, not o ily in tiii Hiipplv of ti nb.-r, but the uu lurou* advantages to mmi mid bensl — ye-, an the birtltt would Hnd a reding place, cheering at with tlieir aweet* uoiis, nnd b\ fe.»-d-in^ on destructive iiHects w>i it 4 kaejii.i^ ulieck what i« aa injuriimi to f<tnn and garde. i. I must return to my Hampden jottings. Y<»ur correspon lent from there — Vulow — Utely brought under notice the pUuting of the Cemetery with trees and aluubt Of the latter I could not dud any, except about a veiy few graves And as to the | ' tree planting, the least said about it. the better. To apeak pUinly, what I siw d'tie I compared to an old hen scratching. If U.uiipden wuhoa to look to her j liiureU in G«»J'» Vcre, as to mukitig the beat of the nv.ney voted by the Cuauty Council for Ceinettry works, I would sa^gedt that there ars abundance of Native shrubs and trees in full view of the Cemetery, which on properly prepared (autumned trenched) ground, say a good belt on the aea board of the Cemetery, and in dry weather run a grubber or harrows over it a few times, and in September car fully dig up the shrubs, &c, from the Forest— not pull or grub up, keeping the roots moist, and planting in dull weather. Probably a digging, or rather trenching Bee, with a plaittiiu B«e in September, might be worth a trial. I hope these well-intentioned suggestions may prove serviceable to other Ceinetwry Unumittitti iv Wnntkij wai *i*> w»r»y

homesteads where our Native shrubs, especially, would add greatly to their adornment. I would repeat — Patroniss our beautiful Native shruhe ; our nurserymen should propagate them largely for sale. And I pre<Hct if some of the Hatnpdenitee would at the proper season transplant into their gardens Native shrube, they would not regret the labor, and when it is known they are for sale, would prove a far better investment than a garden of weeds or potatoes. Hampden as a town and district should claim a position of no small importance as a sanatorium in South Wai taki— excellent water with numerous rivulets : a fine sea view, with the bold heads of Moeraki, and other scenery of the most picturesque description, including the mountain glen and forest to the westward. And in the culture of many fruits Hampden freeholders might cultivate some of their lands with a large margin of profit — the railway is so favorable for export. I must leave Hampden, hoping your correspondent or others will forgive me if I h**« overdone it. I should not omit recording the Mans* all but embosomed in native bush and European trees, and just below it a neat and substantial residence, lately built by Mr Murcott, of Hampden. The clump of gum trees planted on what I was tola was church lands within sight of the town, northwards, were in healthiness of growth— more than ordinarily, and were planted by Mr Craip, who occupied this land previoiM N> pifc'iMing land on the Punchbowl Estate at Maheno. Awiy by rail to Otepopo, en route I no,ticed to tho westward some pleasing homesteads with good gorse fences and belts of the (ttitn tree, with but few «>f our Ts'Ji'<»p«*ail «»r other trecn. Nev t«» th« railwiy 1 observed a cill'ii|> of -M'X'-d trees — the Switch Pine the most promis* in .'. In plantations of tre^s but f«w equ il the Rev. Mr Ryley's in Orep<»po. Tim* wonM not permit my climbiiu the hill to iriapect the Ctmetery, which I ani informe 1 is greatly improved lately by the planting of tr«»*s and shrubs. {To be continued.)