STATE TREE PLANTING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20603, 30 June 1930, Page 5

STATE TREE PLANTING.

ABSORPTION OF UNEMPLOYED; WORK IN AUCKLAND REGION, LARGE AREA DEALT WITH, Tree-planting on the State plantations lias helped considerably toward the absorption of surplus labour in Auckland during the past rhonth. Approximately 290 men are at present employed by the State Forest Service in connection with planting projects in the Auckland region. More than 200 of these were drawn from the ranks of the unemployed in Auckland, tho majority having been engaged since the planting season opened at the beginning of this month. Planting will cease about the end of Angust, and after then only sufficient men for maintenance work in tho plantations and nurseries will ho required, unless the Government decides to cany out preparatory work on additional areas for planting next season. Since last October, when unemployment relief projects were pot in hand on tho Maramarua and Tairoa-Wliangamata areas, a considerable number of men has been in constant employment there, carrying out the necessary preparatory work, such as road making, clearing fire breaks, scrub clearing and line cutting. This will enable the planting operations to continue uninterrupted until the works are completed at about tho end of August. Planting on a large scale did not commence until three years ago in the Auckland region, which does not include the Rotoma plantations. The current season will see the completion of the planting of 11,000 acres at Riverhead, where a commencement was made in 1926, in which year only 100 acres were dealt with. The planting scheme at Maramarua, involving 13,500 .acres, will also reach finality during the next two or three months. It was commenced .in 1927.

Tho areas which are being planted this, winter are acres at Riverhead, about 6000 acres at Maramarua, and 1500 acres in the Tairaa-Whangamata district, on the east coast to the north of Waihi. By the end of this season the plantings will have totalled about 26,000 acres. The Tairua-Whangamata project is a. new one, work having been commenced in the area last October. A large nujserv has been established to provido pkinting stock for future operations- In it are about 4,000,000 seedlings, most of which are of species requiring two years in the nursery before being planted. They will have to be lined out to provide planting stock for next winter. The clay lands at Maramarua and Riverhead are most suitable for various varieties of pine, and it is considered that the more valuable species of redwood and Douglas fir can be planted in the Tairua area, where forestry operations have been taken up recently.-' Planting stock for this season's operations at Maramarua and Riverhead are being drawn from nurseries which have been maintained at both those stations.