19231 WILSON, NORTHERN TREES IN SOUTHERN LANDS 73 



quantity and in some places is very promising. In the Selwyn plantations 

 on the Canterbury Plain not far from Christchurch there are large trees 

 over 60 feet tall- The trees have grown rapidly but were placed too wide 

 apart and are therefore much-branched. The wood is very brittle I was 

 told. In the Government plantation at Hanmer Springs also near Christ 

 church, and in those round Rotorua in the North Island there are promising 

 young stands of this conifer and the intention is to yearly increase its 



planting. The neighborhood of Nelson seemed to me a promising place 

 for this tree. In fact I believe that Douglas Spruce will be found to grow 

 well in many parts of New Zealand but whether its wood will equal that 

 from Puget Sound time alone can prove 



In South Africa the story is different. There is little hope of Douglas 

 Spruce ever being a useful tree there for forest planting. Here and there on 

 mountains in the southwest corner and perhaps as far east as Knysna 

 spots may be found where this tree will grow well but the possible areas 

 appear to be small. The more southern PseudoLsuga macrocarpa Mayr 

 might prove a more adaptable tree in South Africa. On the whole Victoria 

 and certain parts of New Zealand seem to promise best for the growing 

 of the Douglas Spruce. 



In New Zealand the Forestry Department has devoted much energy 

 to the planting of Larch and in certain districts success seems tolerably 

 certain. The Rotorua conservancy has more than seven thousand acres 

 of pure stands of European Larix decidua Mill. In the valleys and plains 

 it is injured by frosts but on the mountain slopes it grows splendidly 

 and these Larch-plantations are one of the most encouraging sights an 

 advocate of tree planting sees in New Zealand. The thinnings are used 

 for mine props and fuel and no difficulty is found in disposing of them. 

 In the South Island there are some three thousand acres of Government 

 plantations and pure Larch mostly the European species. On the plains 

 itis again not a success but succeeds on the mountain slopes. At Hanmer 

 Springs, Canterbury, I saw over a thousand acres of pure Larch and no 

 one could wish for better growth than this plantation showed. New 

 Zealand is a mountainous country and it would appear that there is very 

 much land suitable for growing Larch. The Japanese Larch (Z. Kaempferi 

 Sarg.) has been planted on a more limited scale. It grows more slowly 

 than the European but it seems more drought-resistant and so far has 

 proved immune to a disease which in places causes premature needle- 

 shedding in Larix decidua Mill. Now that its requirements are understood 

 and if full discretion is displayed it is probable that in New Zealand 

 Larch is destined to rank with Pinus radiata D. Don and P. nigra var. 

 Poiretiana Schneid. (P. laricio Poir.) as the most useful of exotic trees for 

 forest planting. 



Nowhere else in my travels through the southern hemisphere did I see 

 any serious attempt to grow Larch. On the sub-alpine mountain slopes 

 of eastern Victoria and on those in southeastern New South Wales I 



