FORESTRY AND AGRICULTURE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18211, 3 October 1922, Page 10

FORESTRY AND AGRICULTURE.

' Sir,—Many people are highly pleased with your articles on afforestation. The :dea abroad that there is plenty of saw-1 millinz timber in Westiand is wrong. Granted that there are very largo areas! of forest, they are mostly'beech. Tbe.geo-1 logrical. formation of the. country is not suitable for growing sawmilling timber. I am speaking from 30 years' experience in sawmilling J contracting, bridge-building, supplying piles, and building wharves. I aiso had charge of a district as 'Crown Lands Ranger there, and I found it very hj.rd. in my reports, to convince the denartment that sawmilling timber was getting scarce. I had photoirraphs taken of sawmilling areae that had been worked out of millahie timber, and of areas that had not. and the ttandinjr forest looked the same in each. It is all very well to plant an area with trees, but to "choose an area that will grow sound, durable, millablo timber, free from shake, is a question for the geologist and botanist. To get an idea of the value of forestry to agriculture, we need only to look at the fact that the monsoon rams from the Indian Ocean falling upon the forests of the Abysinnian mountains and draining iiito the Rlue Nile, flooding the desert sands of Eevpt, hcivo rendered them fertile enabled them to grow grain to feed a large population for thousands of years. In the same way the drainage from the forest clad Alps of the South Island enriches the pastures there, so that it is not necessary to ton drciss them, as is so necessary in this island. The trees not on2y impregnate the moisture, which soaks away with plant food, but they also hold the rain water like a gieantic sponge and let it soak away and keep the slopes moist during long spells of dry weather. Farming conditions in the South Island are quite foreign to the Auckland district, and any farmer who has had experience of farming in both islands, will tell you t'o be guided by the man who has had experience in the country which ycu are going to farm. There is vast hidden wealth in our north lands, and in our beautiful Waikato basin. Access can only bo gained by the aid of the teachings of the biologist, geologist and chemist. To develop the Auckland district we must have an up-to-date agricultural college, equipped with all modern appliances. C. Wesley.