Cork Oak. TO THE EDITOR.

Otago Witness, Issue 2558, 25 March 1903, Page 30

Cork Oak. TO THE EDITOR.

Sis,— Your Wellingtpn corresponden t ' mentions that the Government are aanxiouss s to procure acorns of this tree^ and had caused a visit to be made to Mr' Mason's garden at Taita, in the Hutt Valley, wrthr a view to procure a supply, but found the . trees bearing few acorns. It may interest; , your readers to know v that there is,- -orrecently was, a tree at ilontecillo gttminff" in tho garden of th© late Hon. W. HReynolds (now the property of Mr W. Sargood) which bore acorns freely, -whence, no* doubt, a small supply could be obtained. There is also a fine specimen m the Christchurch Public Gardens, but when I saw is once, in the. acorn season, it had few, 11 any, aconvs. It will be little use the Government attempting to import a supply, as the seed of this tree should be sown as soon as it falls, as it quickly loses its vitality. Importing th© young, trees wovia be the better plan, though, of course, morecostly. This oak (Quercus suber) would, X believe, thrrve excellently in the Molynwt Valley in the neighbourhood of Clyde ana Cromwell. The winters at Maniototo, whewthe Government nursery is, would, in ai* probability, be too severe for it. It is «t tree of even slower growth than the Engbsto oak according to my experience in tananeighbourhood. — I am, etc., iQBESTEB.