THE TREES TO AVOID PLANTING INLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 3005, 18 October 1911, Page 14

THE TREES TO AVOID PLANTING INLAND.

Roughly, for tree-planting the Otago district may be divided into Coastal, Central, and. Lake districts, and these again into dead flats, where the frost settles down solid and hard, and hillsides not by any means »o inhospitable. So far as the Coastal and the Lakes districts -are concerned tree-planting has got beyond the experimental stage, and individual trees of various kinds may be seen growing rapidly and luxuriously; while in the Central district the experience of many years in forestry m only available from a select few. The information given, here is the result of over- 30 years experience, and will be found reliable, and may be acted upon with confidence. They have a rougher winter at Home than we have here, but do not experience the same variation of temperature in 24 hours that the Central district sometimes can produce, where 80deg is sometimes experienced through the day, and an inch of ice &b to be found on the water the following morning. It must be admitted that a young tree must be hardy indeed before it' can stand that. This may be exceptional, but happens occasionally in the Central district, and any tree that will be touched with frost at all will be more permanent up a bit on the hills ■ than in the valleys. Of the trees to be avoided in the Central districts the American deciduous trees like hickory, walnuts, etc., take precedence. They throw out growth early in spring, and get nipped back severely. The ash also is useless in Maniototo. It gets frosted down as easily as potatoes in the spring, when the shoots be "-in to sprout. The sycamore does well in some parts of the Lakes district, but would require very sheltered spots in Maniototo, for instance. The poplar grows well in the neighbourhood of Alexandra and Clyde, but is slow in growth in other parts of' the Central district. Some of those growing in the White Sow_ Valley have not made 3ft of growth in nine years, and sometimes may be seen as.bare as masts in January with north-west winds. Nor would one ever think of

planting insignia or macrocarpa. Cupressua JLawsoniana would be much, preferable, and can be shaped for shelter as desired-.. The Norway sprue© (might not escape frosting in the early stages of its growth, and they ran the chance of catching the late spring frosts. And although the thugas are hardy, the gigantea is not likely to do on stiff clay soil. Abies Canadensis would stand all right if the summer frost kept away, but that cannot be relied on, and of our natives trees the broadleaf is a coastal plant, which it would be useless to attempt to establish. The kowhai would do well enough if there was plenty of moisture in the ground, but not unless.