Art. XXXIII.—Notes on the Growth of some Indigenous and other Trees in New Zealand.

Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Volume 34, 1901, Page 386

Art. XXXIII.—Notes on the Growth of some Indigenous and other Trees in New Zealand. By H. D. M. Haszard. [Read before the Auckland Institute, 7th October, 1901.] Through the courtesy of Mr. J. W. Hall, of the Thames, who for the last thirty years has made a hobby of arboriculture, I have been enabled to take the measurements of a number of trees growing on his estate at Parawai, Thames, which may possibly be worth placing on record. The situation of Mr. Hall's plantation is on the rising ground at Parawai, the lower portion dipping into a gully and being fairly well sheltered, the upper part rather exposed to the southerly winds, the whole having a south-westerly aspect,

with high hills at the back cutting off the morning sun. The soil is a stiff clay of rather poor quality. Mr. Hall informs me that the plants when set out were seedlings that would average about 6 in. in height; but, as Mr. Hall is himself sending a paper describing his method of operations, it is not necessary for me to do more than give the measurements as taken, except that I would like to emphasize his remarks on the advantage of more being done in the way of planting native trees, and making it generally known that a great many of them may be propagated from cuttings. The girths given by me have in all cases been taken at 1 ft. from the ground, with the exception of the last on the list, which is a magnificent specimen of macrocarpa, growing on my place at Mount Pleasant, and whose gnarled roots necessitated the measurements being taken at 3 ft. above the surface. It is a beautiful symmetrical tree, 62 ft. in height, and its branches cover a circle 216 ft. in circumference. From what I can gather it was planted about 1872. All heights have been taken approximately with an Abney level. No of Specimen. Name. Girth. Height. When planted. Ft. in. Ft. in. 1 Kauri (Agathis australis)* Cone-bearing for three years. 1 10 36 0 1877 2 " 1 11 34 0 1878 2A " (A. mooreii)† From New Caledonia. 1 7 22 0 1878 3 Puriri (Vitex littoralis)‡ Branches at 3 ft. from the ground. 4 4 39 0 1872 4 " 2 10½ 36 0 1877 5 Matai (Podocarpus spicata) 0 7½ 14 0 1877 6 Totara (Podocarpus totara) 2 9 42 0 1873 7 " 2 4 39 0 1873 9 Miro (Podocarpus ferruginea) 1 1 16 0 1876 11 Kahikatea (Podocaipus dacrydioides) 1 6 35 0 1876 12 Rimu (Dacrydium cupressinum) 1 10 33 0 1873 13 " § Well sheltered. 1 11 35 0 1874 14 " 1 6 22 0 1878 15 Kawaka (Libocedrus doniana) 1 11 24 0 1875 16 Tanekaha (Phyllocladus trichomanoides) 1 7 32 0 1876 17 " 1 9 30 0 1878 18 Mammoth of California (Wellingtonia sequoia) 5 3 56 0 1873 19 Blue-gum (Eucalyptus globulus) 8 7 74 0 1872 20 Peppermint gum (Eucalyptus amygdalina) 6 5 48 0 1875 21 Stringy-bark gum (Eucalyptus obliqua) 7 4 70 0 1875 22 " 7 0 67 0 1875 23 Cupressus macrocarpa 14 9 62 0 1872