MR TANNOCK’S TOUR

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18351, 15 September 1921, Page 8

MR TANNOCK’S TOUR

REPORT OF HIS INVESTIGATIONS. FORESTRY, RESERVES, AND GARDENS. Mr D. Tannock, Superintendent of Reserves, last night submitted to the City Council a full report on his recent trip to the United Kingdom and Europe. Tho report was received, a copy being provided for each member of tho council. It read as

follows FORESTRY, My main object in visiting Europe was to .study the methods of afforestation, forest management, forest utilisation, and communal forests, and, with the assistance ot Captain Ellis, the Director of Forestry in New Zealand, who gave me a letter of introduction to Colonel Sutherland, the Assistant Commissioner of Forestry for Scotland, and other kind friends, 1 was able to attain my objective and acquire much valuable information. After a few days in Scotland, I went over to France,

where forest management has been carried out on scientific lines for many years, and I noted at once that all the trees were forester’s trees, the first object being to obtain clean, straight stems which would cut up well; and whether planted by the roadsides, canal sides, or beside the rivers, they were tall, straight, and free of side branches. At tiiq School of Forestry at Nancy, I was able to visit the nursery where trees are being grown for replanting the devastated areas, and their methods, while unusual, wore very effective and economical. To provide the natural shade for species which require it the seed beds are made in the forest, and to avoid transplanting, the seeds are sown thinly and the seedlings (when from three to four years old) are sent straight to the forests. This is a decided saving of both space and money, and is the method we have followed with Pin us Radinta for Several years. I intend to try it with other species. I also visited the forests round tho nursery which are worked by the students from the school. In places where these have been cut rather hard during the war they are neing underplanted with silver fir. Forests owned by communes and villages wore also visited, and tho difference between these and the privately-owned ones was very marked. The communal forests are managed by the Government Forestry Department, which makes a small charge for supervision. They are cut at the proper time and are a considerable source of revenue to tho villages to which they belong. These forests arc a dis tinct contrast to tho common lands in England, which aro covered with heath, broom, gorsa. and blackberries, or tho domains belonging to some of the towns in New Zealand, which are a burden on the taxpayer instead of a source of revenue, and at tho same time they are solving to some extent tho problem of future timber supplies. Along with ons of tho inspectors, I also visited the forests on tho south of Nancy, and saw the methods fallowed in felling, natural regeneration from seed and stools, and thinning. This forest, which is very extensive, is well roaded, and the different sections are divided up by good paths. Plots are treated to demonstrate the effect of tho removal of the undergrowth. thinning of the overgrowth, removal of rvorgrowth or standards, etc. The work of the School of Forestry in Nancy is thorough and practical, and the officers were most kind and willing to explain all that was - being done in their extensive forests.

“ I next visited the Museum of Forestry at tho Botanic Gardens, Brussels, and the Arboretum and Nursery at Gi'oencndael. Brussels. In tho Arboretum all the trees which are hardy in Belgium are grown in groups to illustrate their rate of growth and behaviour under forest conditions. ’flic results aro most instructive, and it was satisfactory to find that the exotic trees Which we plant in New Zealand are the most satisfactory in Groenendael —Douglas Fir, Menzios Spruce, and Finns Laricio being the best. 1 also visited tho seed cleaning works, tne seed stores, and tho nurseries, wnero trees arc groan ior planting all over Belgium. The Belgian mecnods were very similar to the French, but 1 noted several labour-saving devices which I hope to introduce in our nurseries. The next forests 1 visited were at St. Fagan’s Castle, near Cardiff, in Vales. These were mostly hardwoods which had been planted about 14 years. They were pruned and thinned and were making very satistactory growth. There is a ready sale for young trees suitable for mine timber and large areas have been planted for this purpose, but the landscape effects have not been lost sight of, and considerable areas are planted with scarlet oaks and wild cherries for autumn lint effects.

■ Through the influeuco of Colonel Sutherland, I was able to visit the School of .forestry at. Burnham, and the torescs at Murthley Castle, and Dunkeld in Perthshire, Scotland. The School of Forestry was established for training ex-service men, and I should say that it will be very successful. They have a nursery in connection With it *vhero trees are raised for the various afforestation schemes of the Commission, and the practical work in sylviculture is obtained in the forests nearby. I was particularly anxious to see the old Douglas Fir trees at Murthley Castle, which were the first planted in Scotland. They, are 80 years old, and though they have not been grown under forestry conditions they have splendid trunks, and are very vigorous and healthy. I also saw an old Menzies Spruce which is little short of the Douglas Fir in growth, and is also quite healthy, though one would not expect to find it doing its best so far from the sea. There aro many young plantation* up to 12 and 15 years old, and though those have been neither thinned or pruned, they are quite healthy and growth is satisfactory. The hardwood forests of oak, beech, and birch aro boin£ changed into coniferous forests as rapidly as possible, the scrubby oaks being out down, just sufficient being left to provide a forest screen overhead, and underplanted with Douglas Fir, Norway Spruce, and Scotch Pine. I also visited the Museum of Forestry where a complete collection of timbers grown on the estate has been formed, and noted several fine avenues of Lawson’s Cyprus, Thuya Gigantea. etc. I also saw a small plantation of Douglas Fir, which had been pui out at 3ft apart and never thinned. It was not a recommendation for close planting, and the distances adopted on this estate aro now 6ft, 6ft, and 7ft, according to soil and situation. The nursery at Duhkeld was the bestkept and most satisfactory which I saw on my travels. It is designed to produce 300,000 trees a year, the soil is light and easily worked, and the young trees looked very healthy. A most interesting feature was the hybrid larch, a cross between the European and the Japanese species. In the first generation the seedlings were more healthy and more robust than either of the parents, but in the second generation there were many reversions, which is just what we would expect. I visited several of the plantations, which are about 12 to 15 years of age, and very similar in appearance to many of our planations at Ross Creek. Several mixtures bad been tried, but in most cases this mefliod of planting has been discontinued, though it is said that larch are less liable to become diseased when mixed with Douglas fir. Those plantations were pruned and cleaned, and it was satisfactory to note that the treatment was exactly the same ns ours. I also saw the first larch tree which was planted in Scotland. I was fortunate- in meeting Sir John Stirling Maxwell, Bart., who is a most enthusiastic forester, and visited the plantations on his estate at Pollok House, near Glasgow, as well as plantations at Culzean Castle, Bargnny, Barskimming, Failford. Montgomery Castle, and in Ayrshire, Portion of my time while in London was spent with Mr Dallemoro, the keeper of the Muso .m of British Forestry and Forest Products at Kow, and from Evidence on all hands forestry is a real nve subject in Britain.

The problem of replacing the woods which cut down during the* war is being tackled in a thorough and practical and all foresters were prepared to discuss* with me the methods they are adopting and algo our Now Zealand methods. New methods are being tried, and it was distinctly encouraging to find that wider planting and planting straight from the seed beds, both of which we follow, are being recognised ns the correct thing. PARKS AND GARDENS.

The management of parks, gardens, and recreation grounds hag undergone considerable changes during recent years. The adoption of daylight saving and the reduction of the working hours in offices, shops, and factories Has enabled the people to spend more time in the open, consequently parks, gardens, and recreation grounds receive greater patronage than formerly. During the war gardening (except food production) was practically at a standstill, but things are rapidly regaining

their pre-war conditions, allotments are being levelled and sown down and flower beds are as guy as ever. I visited the parks in London, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Paris, Brussels, and Nancy, and while each have distinctive features they have also much in common.

It would take too much space lo describe these parks in detail, so I will confine myself to Roath Park, in Cardiff, and mention briefly the special features of the others. Roath Park, in Cardiff, is about 103 acres in extent, is roughly triangular in shape, and eyas at one time a low, swampy piece of ground with a stream running through it. Tse lower end, which is fairly flat, has been drained, and is now laid out as u recreation ground for football, hockey, and cricket, a row of trees being planted round the margin for shade and shelter. Next to the open space there arc bowling greens, tennis and croquet lawns, all made and maintained by tho City Corporation, u fixed charge, being made for their use. Between the recreation ground and the garden portion, the superintendent’s residence, offices, yards, stables, tool sheds, propagating houses, and nursery are situated. From the nursery to tho band stand the botanic and flower garden is situated. There is some good bedding, a collection of hardy shrubs, rock garden, and lily pond, and in the botanic section the herbaceous plants and shrubs are arranged according to their natural orders and labelled. There are no extensive plant houses, but one bouse is devoted to the cultivation of succulents and ornamental foliage plants. Below the embankment, which was built across the gully to' form the lake, (be baud rotunda is situated in a sheltered position. There is an enclosure filled with chairs round it, and a charge is made for admission. During the summer open-air concerts are given every evening, including Sundays, and so popular have they become that the enclosure is being roofed over and a stage orccbnl so that they may be given in all weathers. Tho lake is 30 acres in extent, and is used for boating and swimming. The boats arc hired oiit by the City Corporation, and the dressing boxes are also under the same control. Above tho lake, at the apex of the, triangle, there is an arboretum and wild garden, and all spaces not required for recreation purposes and lawns are filled up with trees and shrubs to provide shade and sheUer.

The special features of tho Glasgow parks wore the winter gardens and mode! yacht ponds, and ns moat of the newer ones were private estates before they were taken over by tho corporation, the mansions have been turned into refreshment rooms, the stables •into yards and tool sheds, and the walled gardens into old English gardens planted with suitable hardy bedding plants and collections of sweat peas, carnations, chrvsantbomums, and roses.

The chief feature of tho Edinburgh parka is tho bedding in Princes Street Gardens. In the spring the grassy slopes are covered with crocus and daffodils, the beds being filled with hyacinths, tulips, wallflowers, etc., and in summer with antirrhinums, pentstemons, geraniums fuchsias, dahlias, etc. The unique setting of these gardens and their proximity to the main street cause them to be tho most elaborate and most admired in Britain. There is a floral clock which is not only a fine example of carpet bedding, but it also shows the correct time, the mechanism being concealed under a monument near by. BOTANIC GARDENS.

Kcw is still by far the finest, most complete, (fhd most beautiful of all the botanic gardens. It combines scientific botany with landscape gardenimr in a wonderful way, and though there is now a charge for' admission it h crowded on holidays and Sundays The Ik)tunic Gardens in Edinburgh. Glasgow, Paris, and Brussels are all attached to universities and are used for teaching purposes. They each aim at cultivating as large and representative a collection of the world s flora as possible, and these are arranged according to thoir botanical affinities ami their cultural requirements.! It does appear desirable that there should be one Botanic Garden in New Zealand, and Dunedin seems to be the most suitable place to establish it. The gardens are near the University, and the soil and situation so varied that a large collection of plants could be grown ifith the minimum of expense and effort. We should also aim at getting together as complete a collection of the native plants as possible. RECREATION GROUNDS.

The Meadows, Edinburgh, i s a good example of a park devoted entirely to recreation. It is fairly level, and with the Bruntsfield Links, which are really a part of it, is 98 acres in extent. It is divided into east and west sections by a broad path through the middle, is properly fenced, and, with the exception of the avenues and paths round the nßirgin, is all available tor recreation purposes. At one end there is a public drying green and many hard tennis courts, and judging by the activity on the day of my visit, they are well patronised. There are four bowling greens, a place for quoiting and archery, children’s playground and gymnasium, croquet lawns, Cricket and football grounds, etc. On the east side the grass is eaten down by sheep, and on the west side, where the best cricket grounds are, it is cut with mowers, the sheep bring put on occasionally. The golf links cover 35 acres, and there axe three short-hole courses. All these recreation grounds are made, maintained, and controlled by the City Paylw} Department, charges being made for their use. In all the places I visited there is an unsatisfied demand for facilities for recreation, and efforts are being made by the Government and municipal authorities to meet this demand. The problems in England, Scotland, Wales, and the Continent are the same as we have in New Zealand. There is a genera! complaint that the time allowed between the end of the football season and the beginning of the cricket season is too short to allow of proper topdressing and repairing, and owing to the great demand for playing areas, those have to be allotted from week to week, which means an enormous amount of work for the • management, and disanpointment to many intending players. In most cases the creation grounds are very rough, and in some cases all attempt at growing grass on them has been given up, and they are covered with ashes, which, though clean, are very hard to fall on. MUSIC AND DANCING. Band rotundas are erected in all the pi'incipal parks, and bands play at least twice every week, but in a number of cases openair concerts are given in the evenings, a charge being made for the seated enclosures. Facilities for dancing are also provided in some of the London and Glasgow parks, and so far there seems to be no objections to this form of recreation.

STREET TREES. Paris is the city for street trees, but all the Continental towns make a feature of them, and they certainly add much to the beauty of the wide streets and boulevards. In most cases they are planted in the pavements, an iron grating being placed round the stern. There were no signs of the asphalt footpaths being lifted or damaged by the roots, and the trees looked quite happy. Most of them are protected by iron tree guards, but they aro all well staked when young with stakes 12 to 11 feet in height. The young trees, when nut out, aro well-grown specimens, with at ‘least 6ft of clean stem, and the chief varieties aro London plane, elm, horse chestnut, lime, beech, and acacia. Some of those trees were pruned in a most ridiculous fashion, and the main effort is to secure an arboreal effect in the streets rather than to grow individual specimens.