REPORT OF THE HORTICULTURIST 

 SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



127 



Larger areas were planted with six varieties and the results are given in the 

 following table : — 



Name of Variety. 



Connecticut Seed Leaf . , 



Zimmers Spanish , 



Improved White Burley, 

 Pennsylvania Seed Leaf, 



Small Havana 



Little Oronoka 



Number 



of 

 Plants . 



Lbs. 



550 

 555 

 477 

 551 

 541 

 613 



Total 

 Yield per 



acre, 

 dry leaves. 



Lbs. 



2,192 

 1,557 

 1,546 

 1,447 

 1,363 

 L188 



Condition when cut 



Ripo. 



FOREST BELTS. 



The forest belts at the Central Experimental Farm extend along its northern and 

 western boundaries ; the belt on the western boundary is 1G5 feet wide, and that on 

 the northern boundary 65 feet ; their total length being nearly If miles. The num- 

 ber of trees growing in these belts, including those in an evergreen clump, is about 

 23,300. 



The forest belts were planted for several objects, one of the principal being to 

 gain information regarding the growth of the best timber trees, when grown on differ- 

 ent kinds of soil and at different distances apart. The distances chosen at first* were 

 5 by 5 feet, 5 by 10 feet, and 10 by 10 feet apart. The planting was also done to 

 learn how the growth of trees planted in blocks of single species compared with that 

 of trees grown in mixed plantations. Another object was to learn what influence the 

 forest belts would have on the crops in the adjoining fields as regards the shelter 

 afforded by them. The planting was also done with a view to the improvement of the 

 landscape, and the various species were arranged so that a good effect would be pro- 

 duced. In addition to all this, it was intended that as much other data as possible 

 should be gathered and that the forest belts would prove object lessons to those who 

 were interested in tree growth. 



It is now thirteen years since the first trees were planted in the belts referrd to, 

 and the growth already made is a useful object lesson and should encourage the more- 

 extensive planting of timber trees. The soil in which the trees were planted was in 

 many instances poor, and while a number of species appear to succeed almost as well 

 on poor as on good land, yet some kinds require good soil in order to grow success- 

 fully. As to the distance apart at which it is desirable that trees should be planted, 

 those which were put 5 by 5 feet apart are making, in most cases, the best trees for 

 timber purposes, as the lower limbs are dying, leaving the trunks clean, which will 

 make the wood freer from knots than where planted 10 by 10, or 10 by 5 feet apart, 

 as at those distances there are, as yet, few instances where the lower limbs have died. 

 The trees planted 5 by 5 feet apart, also, are a little taller as a rule than where wider 

 planting was adopted, but the diameter of the trunk is not so great. The closely 

 planted trees are more protected from storms and there are fewer broken tops and 

 crooked stems. The desirability of close planting was also very apparent until quite 

 recently in the condition of the surface of the ground where the trees are ten feet 

 apart, which, in a number of cases, still required cultivation ; as it was necessary, 



