344 The N.Z. Journal of Science and Technology. ]July 
Going into further details with regard to this spontaneous spread of 
trees, there is (a) the “ mother tree ,” fully matured in timber-production 
and seed, 80 ft. or more in height; ( b) the offspring, also a “ mother tree,” 
seeding profusely, 20 ft. to 30 ft. in height, large enough to furnish fencing- 
timber, and producing seedlings in abundance ; (c) the seedling offspring 
of (b), from a few inches to a foot or more in height, which will come into 
profitable size in the course of a comparatively few years. 
The following is a list of the trees which are reproducing themselves 
from seed at the present time, with statistics showing approximately the 
rate at which seedlings are being produced per acre in this manner :— 
Pinus radiata (Monterey pine) : Approximately forty years old ; pro¬ 
ducing seedlings at rate of about one thousand per acre ; seedlings from 
10 ft. to 15 ft. in height; reproduction going on from foot of “ mother 
tree ” to 200 yards distant on grass and tussock sidelings, bare clay, and 
rocky faces. 
Pinus Pinaster (Cluster pine) : Twenty years old, 30 ft. high ; repro¬ 
duction going on at approximate rate of three thousand seedlings per acre, 
from under “ mother tree ” to 200 yards distant. Seedlings from 6 in. to 
8 ft. high ; many growing on roadway used for stock-grazing and general 
traffic. 
Pinus Pinaster: Forty- to fifty-year-old trees from 60ft. to 80ft. 
high; producing seedlings at above rate. Seedlings from a few inches to 
approximately 30 ft. high. Many trees now growing at a distance of two 
miles from the parent trees, on country heavily grazed, and infested with 
rabbits and hares. 
Betula alba (Silver-birch) : Seeding freely at fifteen years old. Seedlings 
at the rate of several hundreds per acre in the open, from the parent tree 
to 50 yards distant, from a few inches to 3 ft. in height. 
Quercus pedunculata (English oak) : Approximately forty years old; 
30 ft. .to 50 ft. high or more ; reproducing seedlings in tens of thousands 
per acre under parent tree to a chain or more distant; young trees from a 
few inches to 8 ft. in height. 
Larix europaea (European larch) : Approximately forty years old ; 50 ft. 
or more high ; young plants at the rate of several hundred per acre ; from 
the parent tree to a chain or more distant; seedlings from a few inches 
to 3 ft. high. 
Pinus sylvestris (Scots pine) : The spread of this species by natural 
means in this district is well worthy of special mention. From some 
half-dozen trees in a shelter plantation which includes several species of 
conifer the seedlings have densely clothed an area of some acres in extent 
to the entire exclusion of other species (see figs. 1, 2, and 3). The regenera¬ 
tion has taken place almost exclusively to the south-east of the “ mother 
trees,” and the young forest is of such density in parts as tp be almost 
impenetrable, the average distance between the trunks being not more 
than 2 ft. Useful fencing-material is now being cut from this incipient 
forest, the average height of the young trees being from 20 ft. to 30 ft., 
with a diameter at the butt of 6 in. or more ; and last, but not least, 
the cost of production has been practically nil. 
It is perfectly obvious that when such spontaneous regeneration as 
has been described takes place under conditions so unfavourable, then 
under the most favourable natural conditions the possibilities for similar 
regeneration are far from small. 
Ecological Conditions of the Area. 
So far as economic pastoral considerations are concerned, the land in 
the area suggested for afforestation can in general be described as incapable 
