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ARBORETUM [vol. iv 



fine specimen of P. palustris Mill, fully 60 feet tall at 40 years of age. 

 Not far from Maritzburg I saw stands of P. patula Schlecht. & Cham, 

 doing remarkably well. The Forestry Department of South Africa has 

 shown great enterprise in securing seeds of exotic trees likely to be of 

 value for forest planting. By an expedition to Mexico numerous species 

 of Pines indigenous there were introduced. The expedition was en- 

 tirely successful and there are growing in South Africa today nearly 

 every known Mexican Pino. The work was commenced some fifteen years 

 ago and the experimental plantations are now yielding important data. 

 It has been found that these do best on the highlands of the northern 

 Transvaal and inland in Natal and the Eastern Province where summer 

 rainfall obtains. In the northern Transvaal P. leiqphylla Schlecht. & 

 Cham., P. Montezumae Lamb, and P. patula Schlecht. & Cham, are 

 growing best, putting on an average of 3 feet of growth annually, and 

 with the varieties arizonica and macrophylla of P. ponderosa Dough, 

 promise to be the Pines best suited for that region. Similar results I was 

 told have been obtained in the Transkei. Other species doing well in these 

 same places are P. teocote Schlecht. & Cham., P. Lumholtzii Rob. & Fern., 

 P.Lawsonii Roezl, P. oocarpa Schiede, P. psevdostrobus Lindl. and its var. 

 tenuifolia Shaw, the variety chihuahuana Shaw of P. leiophylla and such 

 varieties of P. Montezumae Lamb, as Hartwegii Engelm. and Lindleyana 

 Loud. On the slopes of the Cedarbergen range, in the Clanwilliam division, 

 I saw plantations of these Mexican Pines. Some like P. Lawsonii, P. patula 

 and P. Montezumae were growing well but in this region of winter rainfall 

 none promise to be of so much value as P. radiata and P. canariensis. In 

 the northern and eastern parts of South Africa the story is different — some 

 of these Mexican Pines are likely to prove to be the most valuable species. 

 The experiment is one of great value and the results of much importance 

 to all interested in these little-known species. 



Douglas Spruce or Oregon Pine is one of the chief timbers imported into 

 both Australia and South Africa so it is quite natural that in these countries 

 there should be a strong desire to grow this tree (Pseudotsuga taxifolia 

 Britt.) . How far this will be found practicable has yet to be demonstrated. 

 At Macedon, near Melbourne, and near Ballarat, also in Victoria, I saw 

 many fine specimens of Douglas Spruce 70 feet and more tall, with plenty 

 of seedling plants growing near them. In these districts this 

 certainly succeed. On other low mountains in the southeast of Victoria I 

 think it probable that this tree will grow and also on the middle slopes of 

 the higher mountains in the southeastern corner of New South Wales. 

 On Mt. Lofty, near Adelaide, I saw young plants and it is possible that it 

 may thrive in parts of South Australia. In Western Australia, Queensland 

 and northern New South Wales there is little liklihood of this tree thriving. 

 In Tasmania I saw no plantation of Douglas Spruce but I believe there is a 

 probability of it succeeding in a few districts where the rainfall is moderately 

 good. In New Zealand it has been experimentally planted in considerable 



tree 



