1909.] Afforestation of Catchment Areas. 



273 



trees on the land owned by the Corporation surrounding the 

 reservoir. These attempts, however, were only partially suc- 

 cessful, failures being due to several reasons : — (1) Rabbits, 

 which played havoc with the young Larch ; (2) neglect- 

 ing to cut down the undergrowth, which tends to choke the 

 plants ; (3) shallowness of the soil in places immediately over- 

 lying the rock; and (4) fires from passing locomotives. 

 Where the trees were well planted and survived for two or 

 three seasons they have grown well, but in one case 50,000 

 Larch were planted of too small a size, and more than half 

 of these have disappeared. 



Torquay. — The catchment area of the Torquay Corpora- 

 tion Waterworks is 2,241 acres, of which 105 acres were wood- 

 land in 1904. The Torquay Water Engineer, Mr. S. C. 

 Chapman, states that since that date the afforestation work 

 has consisted principally in rearing young trees for future 

 use. The total area planted has been 24! acres, consisting of 

 4J acres of Oak and Ash mixed, and 20J acres of Larch and 

 Scotch Pine. With the exception of the Oak and Ash, which 

 were purchased at 275. 6d. per 1,000, the trees have been taken 

 from the Corporation's own nurseries. 



The establishment of the nurseries has proved of great 

 advantage, as there is not only a saving in, cost, but the trees 

 do better, as at planting only a few hours elapse between 

 the time the trees are removed from the nurseries and the time 

 they are placed in the ground in their permanent positions. 

 The seedlings are purchased at 2s. 6d. to 3s. per thousand, 

 and planted close together in rows 2 ft. apart. The total 

 outlay till they are ready for planting out is estimated at 15s. 

 per thousand, made up as follows : — Seedling Larch or Scotch 

 Pine, 35.; cartage, 6d. ; planting, 3s.; weeding (three years), 

 6s. 6d. ; fencing, is.; supervision, is.; total, 155. 



The cost of planting in 10-acre lots with trees set 5 ft. 

 apart is £5 13s. 3d. per acre — viz., cost of trees, £1 6s. 3d.; 

 labour, £1 15s. 3d.; wire fencing, £2 lis. gd.; total, 

 £5 135. 3d. Ordinary estate labourers are employed at 4|d. 

 per hour. 



The fencing of the plantations with a rabbit-proof netting 

 is found to be an absolute necessity. The fence now used 

 consists of 42-inch galvanised wire-netting, ij-inch mesh, 



