Auckland Institute. 453 



have had kauri pines grow six or eight inches the first season. New Zealand 

 trees are invariably very difficult to acclimatize in other countries. 



Timber is cut here for commercial purposes without any regard to the 

 season of the year. The proper season is from April to September. There is 

 also another consideration in felling timber, that is, never to cut it except in 

 the first or last quarters of the moon. This may appear to be a very trivial 

 matter in the estimation of most people, but if we bring science to bear on 

 this perplexing question it will soon solve the problem. I have no doubt 

 most of you are aware that the sap of an evergreen tree bordering on the 

 tropics is continually in motion, excited more or less every lunar month in the 

 year. The moon when near the full has a very great power of attraction. 

 For instance, springs always run faster at full moon than at the change ; it 

 has also the same influence on the vegetable kingdom, for it is a well known 

 truth that nature's laws are governed by one common whole applicable to all. 

 If a tree be cut down either a week before or after full moon the timber 

 will not be so durable or lasting as that which was cut near the change. 

 This is a question which requires investigation because it affects the com- 

 munity at large. Timber if cut while the sap is in motion will not 

 endure nearly as long as that cut when the sap is not so much excited, 

 therefore I think it would be a matter of great importance to restrict the 

 cutting of timber to certain periods of the year. 



As the destruction of our forests is going on at a rapid rate, and no means 

 are being taken to prevent it, if such destruction continues to increase for the 

 next half century our forests will be well nigh exhausted. No landed pro- 

 prietor who wants to leave a lasting inheritance to his children's children, and 

 has the means at his command, ought to be without a plantation of New 

 Zealand trees. Then any soil which is unsuitable for agricultural purposes 

 might be turned to good account. The formation of plantations includes the 

 inclosing, the preparation of the soil, and the mode of planting. First inclose 

 the ground of the intended plantation with a strong fence, so as to exclude 

 cattle ; unless this precaution be taken it would be a waste of labour and 

 property. Next in the preparation of the soil I would advise summer fallow- 

 ing, so as to destroy all weeds and roots and leave the ground in a well pul- 

 verized state for the reception of the plants in the following winter. The most 

 common mode is to plant promiscuously, not more than from seven to eight 

 feet from plant to plant ; but first plant a double row of rapid growing and 

 hardy trees round the edge, the Coniferce being the most suitable, as a means of 

 protection against the wind. Within this boundary plant the following native 

 trees : Dammara australis (kauri), Podocarpus totara, Dacrydiujn cwpressinutn 

 (rimu), Podocarpus dacrydioides, Phyllocladus trichomanoides (tanekaha), 

 FaguSf sp., (commonly called birch), Vitex littoralis (puriri), Alectryon excelsuw, 



