FRUITFUL NORTH

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22107, 13 May 1935, Page 11

FRUITFUL NORTH

UNTAPPED WEALTH EXPERIMENTS IN PROGRESS GROWING TUNG OIL TREES INTRODUCTION FROM OVERSEAS No. V. ' At the head of the Mangakahia Valley, a few miles south of the townships of Kaikohe, is to be seen one of those large-scale experiments for which New Zealand is becoming renowned. A few years ago a North Auckland settler, Mr. E. G. Little, of Kerikeri, formerly of Central China, came to the conclusion that the soil and climate of the northern half of the peninsula resembled those of Central China sufficiently closely to make it probable that the tung tree could be successfully acclimatised and established in the North. After one of his periodical visits to his estates in China, Mr. Little brought back with him some nuts, and a potted plant of the tung tree. From the kernels of the nuts an oil is obtained which has considerable commercial value as 6 an ingredient in the manufacture of paints, varnishes, linoleums, oilcloths and similar goods. The first plants introduced by Mr Little throve remarkably well in their new environment, making greater growth, it is stated, than in their natural habitat. The essentials required by the trees appear to be a moderately rich, free and well drained soil, inclined to acidity, an average rainfall of from 50in. to 70in., combined with sub-tropical temperatures and an absence of frost and wind. Tests in Other Lands These conditions, it is claimed, are difficult to find in combination, the areas so far found suitable outside of Central China being the Gulf Coast region of the United States, where 40,000 acres of trees have been planted by private, interests, and in parts of Burma, Nigeria and Malaya, where smaller experimental plantations have been established. If the conditions in the Far North are favourable to the tree, its cultivation may well have considerable influence on the development of this area. From plants propagated at Kerikeri, from berries both locally grown and introduced from China, many thousands of tung trees have been established in the North. Seed has also been procured from Florida, and several varieties of the species have been experimented with, having as the objective the selection of that variety most suited to North Auckland conditions. The older trees in one extensive plantation are now three years of age from planting out, or five years from seed, and in a few instances nuts can be seen on the more advanced trees. Provision of Shelter The rate of growth of the trees in this plantation has, it is stated, been retarded by the lack of suitable shelter, which the trees demand. As appears inevitable with all new ventures of the sort, mistakes were made in the initial stages, some of the major errors being the failure to provide adequate shelter from prevailing winds before planting out was commenced atid the planting of some areas which were not effectively drained. These mistakes are being rectified by the planting of shelter belts of hakea saligna—a quick-growing plant of Australian origin, which has long been established in the North —between every sixth row of tung trees, and the employment of the mole-plough •'"and subsoiler to drain areas where the soil moisture is apparently retarding growth. Cultivation of the whole plantation is done annually, both with tractor-drawn implements and by hand digging where this is more convenient. A Possible Side-line It is estimated from experience in Florida and elsewhere that the tung trees should reach maturity and full bearing at 10 years of age, light crops being borne from five years onwards, and that their life of profitable production may extend for 30 years or more. These estimates necessarily remain for verification in the future. At present, according to Dr. L. A. Jordan, director of the Research Association of British paint, colour and varnish manufacturers, the United States of America consumes 10 times the quantity of tung oil that Great Britain consumesi. One of the chief virtues of the tung tree is that livestock will not eat either the foliage or the bark. It may thus be possible, when the trees are established for a year or two, and have outgrown risk of damage by trampling, to utilise the ground also for grazing sheep, or possibly cattle. This possibility of taking two chops off the same land simultaneously would be of more interest to the small farmer than to the large planter, and the future development of the tung oil industry will no doubt be watched with interest by many small farmers who could well utilise waste areas profitably.