PLANTING SCHEME AT BOTTLE LAKE NOW EXPLAINED.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18011, 23 November 1926, Page 11

PLANTING SCHEME AT BOTTLE LAKE NOW EXPLAINED.

SUPERINTENDENT GIVES COMPARATIVE COSTS.

A report on the expenditure and other conditions of the operations carried out at the Bottle Lake plantations since 1911. Was submitted to the City Council last night by Mr James Young, Superintendent of Parks and Gardens. “Seeing that it has been reported in the papers that the reserves department has been guilty of wasting thousands of pounds on the Bottle Lake plantations.” Mr Young stated, “a comparison of figures I think will prove that this is not the case. The following are the figures:—l922-3. £498 15s sd; 1923-4. £527 2s 4d: 1924-5, £490 8s Sd: 1925-6. £399 8s Sd; total, £1915 15s Id.

“This expenditure, together with the cost of planting this coming autumn, will complete the planting of 564 acres at a cost, of £2 10s per acre approximately. This is the result of four years planting operations since my appointment.”

Mr Young added that the yearly expenditure for the eight years prior to his appointment was as follows: 1914-15, £249 18s sd; 1915-16. £260 3s 6d: 1916-17, £613 3s sd; 1917-8. £444 Gs 4d; 1918-9, £1333 12s lid; 1919-20. £692 6s lid; 1920-21, £495 5s 7d; 1921-22, £639 19s lid: total. 4728 17s. The report continued:—“But to plant 468 acres took fourteen years. I was able to obtain only the cost for the eight years quoted above. Now, taking that cost for the eight years only, planting operations cost the City Council £4728 17s, an average of over £lO per acre. Taking into consideration the old system of planting at 4 feet spacing, it will cost at least another £9 per acre for thinning and cleaning operations. If the City Council is desirous of growing a crop of forest trees to form a profitable and paying concern, thinning operations must be carried out at once. To show that I am not the only man who has lost trees during planting operations, starting from 1911. there were planted Pinus austriaca, Abies Dottglasii, Abies excelsa and Pinus ponderosa. The three first alt died. and the ground the next year was planted with Pinus insign is, and made good the following year.” Mr Young supplied data regarding the trees that had been planted from 1911 to 1921, and mentioned that in several cases they had failed to make good. “Regarding my principle of thinning,” Mr Young continued, “I may say that this principle is not more than the conservation of physiological energy, and the best utilisation of this, with the specific object of growing the largest quantity of marketable timber per acre of the best quality and of the highest market value of the .whole crop that can be produced on a given soil and situation. From the sylvicultural point of view, however, the main object of care is the timber trees which it is desired to utilise on their attaining maturity, and any measure that will aid in stimulating their rate of growth is desirable. Year by year the number of stems diminishes from which the future mature crops must be formed, and the removal of all unnecessary stems not only improves growth of the dominant portion of the crop, but also becomes a source of revenue to be realised as soon as convenient so as to reduce the amount of capital invested in the crop. Thinning young forests is one of the most indispensable operations in arboriculture. The right understanding of its value and design forms one of the most important points to be aimed at by any practical forester. I hope that the above explanation will prove to the council that my operations of forest work at Bottle Lake have not by any means been extravagant. “The Bottle Lake area is composed of many different sections of land, and it would be useless to plant conifers in wet areas. I might say that I have transplanted a quantity of Platinus orientalis, the Oriental plane of America. This tree in its native habitat grows to an enormous size on wet land. I am also working up a stock of Populus dilatata, which tree, in my opinion, is one of the most valuable timbers for the manufacture of butter boxes. It is also used for flooring boards and many other purposes.” The report was received without discussion.