NOTES AND COMMENT 



We are in receipt of several recent numbers of the New Zealand 

 Journal of Agriculture, a publication which betokens on every page 

 the energy and sagacity that have given the antipodean Dominion a 

 position such that its products must now be reckoned with in every 

 other agricultural country. The importance of the grazing interests 

 of the Dominion is underlaid by the suitability of the climate through- 

 out the year for native and introduced forage plants. Much work is 

 being done, chiefly at the Moumahaki Experimental Farm, for the fur- 

 ther improvement of the grazing lands: proper seed mixtures are being 

 worked out for the establishment of permanent forage in burned areas 

 of forest and bush; breeding experiments are being made for the im- 

 provement of some of the best native grasses; rust inoculation has been 

 successfully used in combating one of the troublesome pasture weeds; 

 and experiments in the cultivation of alfalfa and lupines have been under 

 way for several years. 



It would appear that much of the future activity of foresters in New 

 Zealand will centre about the management of the Monterey pine (Pinus 

 radiata), which has proved to be extremely well suited to conditions 

 there according to Mr. A. H. Cockayne. Trees 27 years old have been 

 cut with a trunk diameter of 30 inches, and trees 40 years old have 

 attained a height of 127 ft. It is estimated that plantations 30 years 

 old will yield 100,000 superficial feet per acre, and cuttings have been 

 made which are in excess of this yield. Although the wood is not of 

 the best it is nevertheless capable of very general use, and is more dur- 

 able than generally supposed. 



There is no small interest attaching to the success of the Monterey 

 pine in New Zealand. The nature of its distribution in its native home 

 on the California coast is such as to suggest that it is a relict species, 

 formerly of wider distribution, and perhaps a member of a vegetation 

 most of the components of which are now extinct. The rate of growth 

 is more rapid in New Zealand than in California, where diameters of , 

 16 to 18 inches are attained in 28 to 35 years, according to Sudworth. 

 The prolific seed production of California trees is maintained in New 

 Zealand. The size of the New Zealand seeds is slightly greater and 



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