NECESSITY FOR EXPERT ADVICE IN PLANTING TREES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3101, 20 August 1913, Page 14

NECESSITY FOR EXPERT ADVICE IN PLANTING TREES.

If the question of afforestation was viewed in a similar way to that in which the farmer regards his crop, there would be no difficulty in determining that expert advice was necessary at every stage in the proceedings. Just as the land is carefully cultivated by a man who knows what he is doing, the crop selected to suit soil and climate with the object of making the greatest possible return from a particular section of land, and the seed dressed with care, true to kind, plump and vigorous, how much greater care should be exercised in dealing with a crop the bulk of which is not to be reaped for 50 or 60 years ? How easily all the expenditure might go for practically nothing without expert advice, and instead of the expenditure being more than recouped with compound interest, all the work done would result in the formation of what was practically a native hush with all the valuable timber extracted from it. That might Improve the scenery and the climate, and hide np barren rocks, but something more than that is necessary to feed the mills. There is no compound

interest in such ill-considered work. The manner in which young plants ought to be raised and the seed they are grown from, the soil and situation, the manner and expense of planting, the method of management,, and the probable profit are all points which demand intimate knowledge of the subject. There are so many points which bear heavily on the ultimate outcome of such work that no sane man would rush into it blindfold, and only ascertain the folly of his action 60 years afterwards. The importance of the first point mentioned was well brought out by Dr Somerville in lecturing before the Royal Arborical Society, who drew attention to experiments made in Austria and Switzerland to test the influence of elevation on seed of the spruce* and larch. These demonstrated that there was a gradual though by no means regular reduction on the size of the tree according as the seed was obtained from high or low elevations. It was also clearly shown that there was a relationship between the growth of the seedlings and the elevation at which the seed was gathered. The percentage of germination followed the same order. As is well known, above a certain altitude the growth of trees in height is affected, and at the upper levels the trees become more or less stunted. These experiments showed that the reduction in stature was a character which was inherited. Fifteen years after sowing the seed the difference was conspicuous, and it seemed probable that this characteristic would be maintained throughout the life of the tree. A number of other trials confirmed the conclusion as to the transmission of the tendency to slow growth. The converse is also true, for seed from lo'w elevations produced plants that throve badly at high altitudes. The conclusion arrived at was that generally seed should be obtained from well-grown healthy trees, situate in the district where the woods were to be grown, or from one of a similar character. But this is only one instance of the care necessary in dealing with this subject. It does not matter what the land is, there is such a great variety of useful trees that might be found to suit it and the climate experienced that no one has any excuee for rushing into expenditure which will not be more than recouped later on without having the best advice it is possible to get from men who understand the subject in all its bearings.