A Valuable Asset to Canterbury—Afforestation on the Plains.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 471, 4 June 1932, Page 17 (Supplement)

A Valuable Asset to Canterbury—Afforestation on the Plains.

IONTROLLING 14.000 acres of I plantation lands, the Selwyn ftntation Board is entrusted with ft charge of one of Canterbury’s Ist valuable assets. Through ft years, capable administration by ft board and skilled afforestation I the experts who have served it ■ve resulted in improved plantations I all that wide belt between the Waiftkariri and the Rakaia, and, this lek, when it comes of age, the board In look back on twenty-one years of ■liable service to the community, ■'he Selwyn Plantation Board was Instituted by section 77 of the Re-

serves and Other Lands Disposal and] Public Bodies Empowering Act, 1910,j and gazetted on May 18, 1911, with the! following members: Messrs G. Bedford! (Malvern County Council), D. Craig-, head (Tawera County Council), R. M l Morten (Halswell Comity Council), J. M’Crostie (Springs County Council), R. Nairn (Spreydon Borough Council), G. Scott (Heathcote County Council), S. A. Staples (Waimairi County Council), J. Storry (Ellesmere County Council), K. Wilson (Selwyn County Council), G. Witty (Paparua County Council) and the then Commissioner of Crown Lands, Mr T. N. Broderick, as chairman. Of

those foundation members only two arc still on the board, Mr Nairn, who is chairman of the finance committee and to whom is due much of the credit for the board’s present satisfactory financial position, and Mr Morten. Also at that first meeting the appointment of Mr Johannes C. Andersen as secretary was confirmed. The appointment of the board was hailed with satisfaction in Christchurch and among the residents of those areas under its control. The appointment of the board meant a return to a system which had been tried and proved thirty years before. Tree planting on a large scale on reserves in Canterbury was begun by a plantation board about 1880, the board consisting of delegates from the Land Board and representatives of the county councils. In 1866, the plantations were placed under the control of the Selwyn County Council; those in Ashburton were transferred to the Ashburton County Council, and the remainder were administered by the Lands Department. The old board and the Selwyn County Council, during its period of control, did. good work, but there was much to be done and it was generally considered that a board devoted exclusively to afforestation could best undertake the task. There could be no doubt about the value of continuing and extending the work. Large belts of trees and thick plantations broke the force of the winds and afforded shelter to both crops and stock—shelter that was particularly necessary in a province which is so much at the mercy of gales through its lack of natural shelter as Canterbury The board’s plantations still serve this valuable purpose. The timber, too. has now become a valuable asset and milling is carried on fairly consistently, j

The Selwyn Plantation Board Comes of Age.

A Great Work Quietly Carried Out.

(Written for the "Star" by MAX WHATMAN.)

By clearing scrub land in preparation for planting, the board has brought into production much land that might otherwise x have lain long untended. There is, as well, the aesthetic value of the millions of trees that diversify the monotony of the Canterbury Plains. The first annual report of the board showed that, although it was late in the season when the board assumed control, more than 6000 trees had been planted under the direction of Mr R. G. Robinson, superintending nurseryman for the South Island. Mr Robinson was asked to report annually on the progress of planting, although, at that time, he was acting in an advisory capacity. He was an acknowledged expert as a forester as the fact that the Government chose him to represent

New Zealand at a forestry conference in Stockholm showed, and, in 1918, he was appointed the board’s superintendent. Mr Robinson is keenly interested in his work and the board is fortunate in its servant. His knowledge of the land under his control, even to the smallest and farthest flung plantation, is wide, and he covers a tremendous lot of ground in his work each year.

In 1915, Mr Andersen resigned from the position of clerk and Mr C VV Hervey, the present clerk, was appointed from a large number of applicants. Mr Hervey is another servant of the board who has its interests well at heart and his administration of the board’s affairs *s another factor in the success of an organisation which lias

been called more than once, “ The most useful local body in Canterbury.” At the time of Mr Robinson's appointment the board was no longer the stripling of seven years before. Tt was handling up to 184,000 trees a year —mainly the three varieties of pinus, and the effects of its work were plainly to be seen dotted all over the big tract of land between the two rivers which are the boundaries of the board’s territory. Board members are kept in touch with the work done by their direction when a tour of inspection is made each year. Afforestation in all its stages, from the planting of seedlings to the milling of timber is demonstrated to them, although, even on a two days’ tour, it is impossible to do more than skirt the more important areas of the board’s lands. The activities of the board have now assumed really large proportions, and work is given to a considerable number of unemployed, two relief camps having been established; at Racecourse Hill and Southbridge. Last year, in spite of the dry season, the board had 95 per cent success with planting young trees. This splendid proportion is mainly due to the preparation of trees in the nursery and systematic planting. The nursery, which adjoins Mr Robinson’s home at Darfield, w r as a picture of healthy plant life when members inspected it recently. There were more than 700,000 young trees growing there—4so,ooo pinus radiata, 100,000 Oregon, 100,000 pinus ponderosa, 50,000 pinus laricio and 30,000 macrocarpa. All were in splendid condition and represented a fund on which the board might draw for many months to come. In the plantations men were engaged

in clearing, planting, repairing fences and ploughing fence lines. Firewood and timber for milling at the Hororata mill were being cut on a royalty basis. It is from these two last sources and the leasing of grazing lands that the board derives the income which pays for its planting. The programme for this year, as outlined by Mr Robinson, shows the amount of work that is undertaken. Routine work entails ploughing more than fifty miles of firebreaks, grubbing gorse, putting up new fences, thinning and a host of small jobs. A feature of the programme is the work at Southbridge, where, on a newly acquired

property of 500 acres, clearing and planting are being carried out by unemployed labour. Several camps are being established by the board in different parts of its extensive territory during the winter and employment is being given to a considerable number of men—both men from Christchurch and local unemployed. The board’s work is a complete cycle —from the selection, preparation and planting of seeds to the milling of the timber. Its value to the province is inestimable, and the board, by sound finance and careful organisation, has built a worthy structure on foundations laid down by the pioneers when they planned shelter for earlier homesteads on the plains.