A GROWING ASSET.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12285, 6 April 1918, Page 12

A GROWING ASSET.

CANTERBURY TIMBER

TREES.

Vast Shelter Plantations and Milling Bioek&

It would probably coino as a surprise to nauy a reader, ns it camo to a U.u lepiesontativc yesterday, to loam that between tb o Hakaii, and Kanguata Rivers tiioro i 8 a rcsonau.n ol <,OQ() acres purely and simply ior shelter and timber trees. Tins re serration is under the care and protection oi the iSehvyi, Plantation Board, an official body, which made one of its periodica! visits ol inspection, yesterday. Ibis visit was ot absorbing interest, inasmuch as afforestation is one of the. most usol til and rcprodnctve activi ties that any country could put its hand to and it is gratifying to know that the Canterbury plains, once the sceno of fierce gales that actually tore crops out ol tho ground, are now a succession of dense pine and blue gum plantations that shut out the horizon on every hand. J Plantations are primarily designed as shelter. Although at a imlo or so the heavy blue lino of trees seems dwarfed to the size of a hedge, it is serving the Useful purpose of a shelter belt both for crops and stock and mankind. But its function docs not begin and end there. A plantation keeps the countryside moist, and induces a rainfall; but above all it has a commercial value that cannot be overestimated. Occasionally a fierce wind will tear through a plantation, am] over will go the lopheavy trees that have climbed arid outgrown their fellows, making little root growth in the shallow soil that is usually assigned to a mere plantation. When this happens the sawmillor is sent for, and the fallen giants are quickly reduced to a commercial commodity. There is a 100-acre plantation a little distance’out of Colligate, where the terrific gale of nearly three years ago practically uprooted the whole of the In rger trees. Upon this reservation a highpowered milling plant has been working at high pressure fr the last two years, cutting timber on royalty, and it has another two years’ cutting ahead. W ha. res of pinus ins ignis have come into being, and even married quarters have been built from timber newly sawn to tempt the married worker into the bush. Yesterday half a. dozen saws were singing, each in a, different key, as logs were split up into slabs, shaved off to the thickness cf fruit case timber, cut up, and stacked in endless piles. The timber is principally pinus insignis, or, more properly speaking, pinus radiaia. It is a. resin-ous-looking limber that is sticky with turpentine as it comes from the saw. This is a virtue as far as building timber is concerned, for the wood borer will not face tm-pentine, but it is 'ai disqualification for butter-box making, as the odour of the pine forest docs not blond harmoniously with the butter content. In the plantation there are a few small Oregon pines, but they arc knotty and have to bo cut in small sizes. There are also a few poplars, eminently suitable for butter-box making, but they are not present in commercial quantities. The commercial value of the trees, however, is nob realised only when a gale blows a few trees down. There is always a certain amount of thinning to be done, and if necessary trees will bo cut out and.said. For instance, it has been necessaiy for the authorities to order tunnel props for Otira. from the Selwyn Board, and this is very significant of the dearth of timber nearer at band. These props could bo supplied by felling young gums, which are too soft and unseasoned to serve for telegraph or electric poles, but do admirably for temporary work. Since tbe big gale of October three years ago. the hoard has cut out 200,000 or 300,000 superficial feet of sawn timber in all sizes, up to 4iu by Sin, while other timber, being cut on royalty, makes a total of nearly a million feet, most of it pinus radiata. There is winter firing for the whole province in the mere waste timber of the plantations, and the rough stuff from the sawmill. There are 300 cords of cut firewood in one plantation alone, just four miles from Coalgate railway station, but there is no labour to transport it, and traction haulage is too dear. The pine cones alone are unequalled for grate fires, but once more the labour problem of getting into touch with the householder proves insurmountable. The stringy bark is a comparative stranger to Canterbury, but it has thrived, and will be planted more extensively. For fencing, palings, shingles or similar woodwork it is unrivalled. Some fine specimens may be noticed in a 45-acre area known ns Page’s at Kirwee. The straight growing oregon pine, with pretty feathery foliage, and the spruce are also valuable trees. 'The eucalyptus viminalis, or raauna. gum, i- also in evidence, giving promise of growing as high as 300 ft. The eucalyptus amygdalina, also, is much encouraged by the Plantation Board, and is useful for distillation. It .is significant that trees closely planted grow straight and slender, reaching up for tlie air and sunlight, while an odd tree in a slight clearing will branch out malfonnedly. Sometimes an English oak may be noted among its tall colonial companions. These trees do indifferently on the plains, where tbe soil is not suitable, and there is not sufficient moisture. Nor’-wesborly winds, also, are fatal to the oak; but given an eastern aspect, and plenty of water near the roots, tbe oaks grow sturdily, as one may note in one plantation where they line a water-race, with an eastern frontage. Underfoot, in every plantation, healthy little seedlings may he found; hut the board does not trust to Nature for supulies, and a healthy little nursery has been established