TREE PLANTING ON FARMS

Southland Times, Issue 25748, 11 August 1945, Page 8

TREE PLANTING ON FARMS

VIEWS OF FOREST CONSERVATOR Afforestation is a question to which the Southland Progress League has devoted a considerable amount of attention and in order to obtain some expert advice on the subject the league recently wrote to Mr J. F. Field, conservator of forests in Southland. . A reply has now been received by the league from Mr Field. In this he refers to a statement that the State Forest Service considered 5000 acres to be the smallest possible economic unit for afforestation.

“Though this is in the main true because of maintenance costs, fire protection and so forth, it does not mean that smaller areas, even down to small groups of trees, cannot be grown at very considerable profit,” Mr Field states. “Small areas of up to 10 acres of trees grown on farms is a profitable type of ‘forestry’ for the reason that with a farm lot the surrounding fire danger is very low, the farmer can prime and treat the small area in weather unsuitable for other farm work without additional wages expenditure, and, in addition, use the salvaged material for firing and temporary fencing material. Providing he does not charge his time and original cost against the forest at compound interest his return from the sale of the mature trees will show a very handsome profit, in addition to the advantage of shelter over a period of years. Mature pinus insignis 40 to 50 years old has netted farms in some Southland districts about £lOO an acre in stumpage.” REPLACEMENT OF TREES Dealing with a proposal that each land owner should plant from three to four per cent, of his holding in forest trees, Mr Field says that this would add very materially to the forest resources of the country. He suggests that it might be reasonable to have legislation requiring land owners to establish certain areas of their land in forest trees, but a more urgent requirement was some means of ensuring that every tree felled was replaced by four. Because of failures, thinning and other losses this would only assure existing forest resources being maintained. The forest laws of some countries contained conditions similar to this. “It is believed the people realize the necessity of increasing our forest areas by planting trees for shelter, prevention of floods and erosion and for maintaining climatic balance as well as for the production of timber, but the whole responsibility appears to be left to the State and local bodies to a much greater extent than in the past,” Mr Field adds. “Less than 10 per cent, of the mature trees cut and sold by farmers are replanted, though the cost of doing so would not equal five per cent, of the revenue received from the trees planted by their fathers. “A great deal of useful planting could be carried out by local bodies if funds were available, as legislation empowering the expenditure of part of their funds on tree planting is already in existence.”