80 THE SILVICULTURAL SYSTEM. 
Kauri BEST IN MIXTURE. 
Silviculturally, Kauri in New Zealand forests resembles Oak in 
European forests. Just as the European Oak does not flourish for any 
length of time as pure forest, but requires to be associated with some 
soil-improving species—almost always Beech—so Kauri, within my ex- 
perience, is not seen at its best in pure forest. Kauri in pure (or 
practically pure) forest is short in the barrel and of slower growth than 
when mixed with Tawa and Taraire. These species are the Beech of 
Kauri. Both Tawa and Taraire are commonly associated with Kauri 
in the lower warmer parts of the Waipoua Forest: Tawa alone in the 
colder parts of Kauri’s habitat. Tawa, I understand, was mixed with 
Kauri in the fine Kauri forests that formerly clothed the Waitakerei 
Hills, westward of Auckland City (where I first saw the Kauri forest), 
also at Thames. | 
Happily, Tawa and Taraire are strong seeders. Their dark-purple 
fruits strew the ground in autumn, scarcely to be distinguished from 
the familiar Olive fruits of southern Europe; so that the forester with 
his cultural operations has apparently an easy task before him—he has 
only to lighten the covert, and break up the often too-thick layer of 
humus on the forest-floor. The natural regeneration of Tawa and 
Taraire should be easier than that of Kauri, on account of the greater 
abundance of the seed and their less light-demanding temperament; and, 
as a fact, in the Waipoua Forest one sees ten or twenty seedlings and 
saplings of Tawa and Taraire to one of Kauri. 
DEFICIENCY or YounGc TREES. 
It is an accepted fact that in both the Kauri forest and ‘‘ mixed ”’ 
forest the proportion of young timber and saplings is deficient. This was 
true in the original Kauri forest. It is truer still after so many Kauri 
spars have been picked out, as was the case with the old working in the 
Kauri forest. Colenso remarks (Trans. N.Z. Inst., 1868), ‘‘ In a Kauri 
forest the proportion of spar trees to sawing trees is as 1 to 4 or 5.” 
It is unfortunate that this should be so: it is one of the first faults that 
foresters will have to remedy in the cultivated forest. The reason for 
this fault is principally that the dense covert of the under-forest holds 
back the vegetation of timber-tree seedlings till an old timber-tree falls 
down and lets in enough light. With long-lived trees such as Kauri and 
many other New Zealand timbers, it is only at long intervals that these 
light-admissions to a seeded area occur in the wild forest. In the culti- 
vated forest, with trees cut at intervals of 100 years, these light- 
admissions will be more frequent and young trees more abundant. 
On the other hand, Celery-top (Tanekaha), a valuable quick-growing 
but not long-lived tree, often shows such a profusion of young regrowth 
that Kirk seriously proposed cutting saplings for walking-sticks as an 
export forest industry. (‘‘ Forest Flora.’’) 
FELLING IN SRASON. 
Practical timber-men lay great stress on felling in season. The right 
felling season for Kauri is discussed by J. C. Firth in a paper read 
hefore the Auckland Institute. He refers to the well-known shrinking 
of Kauri—a shrinking not only sideways, like most timber, but in length 
as well—and the brittleness and the decay of some of the Kauri timber. 
He says,— 
From long observation I am satisfied that there are only two months of the 
year in which Kauri, or indeed any trees in the North Island of New Zealand, can 
be cut down to prevent contraction and secure durability. These months are 
July and August, and of these months August is the best. (Trans. N.Z. Inst., 1874.) 
