1918.] The N.Z. Journal of Science and Technology. 
205 
year 1914-15, it is once more asserted that to produce 720 million superficial feet 
annually, the quantity required after thirty-five years, an area of about 700,000 acres 
must be planted. This assertion is again made on the assumption that the average 
annual production or increment is taken at 1,000 superficial feet per acre (equal to 
100 cubic feet, equal to 2 tons). If the planting is spread over fifty years an area of 
14,000 acres will have to be planted every year, involving an annual expenditure of 
£112,000. It is stated that up to 1915 an area of 24,563 acres had been planted by 
the State and about 44,000 acres by private proprietors. The full scheme will only 
be gradually worked up to. \ 
Planting in the Past. —The Commissioners regret that the experience gained in the 
private plantations was not made available and utilized before the State operations 
were commenced in 1896. As a result of this neglect various mistakes are said to 
have been made which might have been avoided. Of the numerous species planted 
by the Forest Branch after 1896, the Commissioners mention the following, arranged 
according to their frequency in the existing plantations : Larch, Austrian pine, 
Corsican pine, Australian gums, Catalpa speciosa, English oak, Norway spruce, ash, 
totara, sycamore, Sitka spruce, redwood, Robinia, American white-pine, Australian 
blackwood, Monterey pine, alder, and others. 
The Commissioners doubt whether larch, which seems to occupy one-third of all 
plantations, will eventually form a timber-tree of much value ; though it grows well 
at first, its growth slackens afterwards, and they fear the danger of the larch-disease 
appearing. Other trees which the Commissioners consider useless for New Zealand 
afforestation are Catalpa speciosa, totara, Norway spruce, English oak, sycamore, and 
alder. Oak and totara are said to grow too slowly ; sycamore and alder are declared 
worthless. Instead of Norway spruce, Oregon pine is recommended. In some cases 
the trees have been planted in wrong positions. The Commissioners regret that very 
little attention has been paid to the fact that the planting of trees which supply timber 
at an early age is essential, such as Monterey pine and eucalypts. 
The Financial Aspect of Planting .—The Commissioners have considered this, but 
the available data are hardly sufficient to form a definite estimate of the results. By 
way of illustration they give two examples, assuming that in each case an area of 
10,000 acres is planted. The author has reduced their figures to 1 acre in each case, 
as it gives a clearer idea than dealing with a large area. 
|i§Data of the first case : Value of the land per acre, £2. Cost of planting with 
Monterey pine per acre, £8. Annual maintenance per acre, 6s. Thinnings considered 
of no value ; yield at the age of thirty-five years, 150,000 superficial feet, valued at 
2s. per 100 superficial feet, £150. Interest to be allowed on all outgoings at the rate 
of 4^ per cent. 
The author finds that the investment would give 54 per cent, on the outlay. He 
doubts, however, whether the Monterey pine will give as much as 150,000 superficial 
feet at the age of thirty-five years. 
Data of the second example : Value of the land per acre. £10. Cost of planting 
per acre, £8. Annual maintenance per acre, 6s. Yield at the age of eighty years, 
70,000 superficial feet at 2s. per 100 superficial feet, £70. Interest allowed on out¬ 
goings at the rate of 4J per cent. 
In this case there would be no return on the outlay, and a heavy loss as well. 
In further illustration the author adds the following case : Taking the Commissioners’ 
figures of the average yield at 50,000 superficial feet per acre at the age of fifty years 
of the three classes of timber, the value of the land at £2, the annual cost of main¬ 
tenance at 6s., and the cost of planting at £8, then the timber must be sold at 5s. 8d. 
per 100 superficial feet so as to give 4^ per cent, interest on all outgoings. According 
to the Statistical Abstract laid before the British Parliament, New Zealand imported 
in 1913 331 million superficial feet of timber, for which it paid at the rate of 18s. per 
100 superficial feet, or about three times the amount at which it can produce it in the 
country. Under these circumstances the financial aspect of the New Zealand plantations 
seems quite satisfactory. The people of New Zealand cannot expect to get their 
timber at the rate of 2s. per 100 superficial feet when once they have exhausted the 
stock of timber with which nature provided them. The price of timber is sure to rise 
generally, as it has done in Europe ever since 1895. The author has shown elsewhere 
that the rise between 1896 and 1913 is equal to 33 per cent, in the case of all coniferous 
timber imported into the United Kingdom. New Zealand may produce soft timber 
for butter-boxes and suchlike articles at a low price, but she will have to pay higher 
rates for timber fit for building and construction generally, such as will have to be 
imported for a number of years to come—in fact, until they can be produced in the 
country. 
