140 EXOTIC TREES FOR NORTHERN FORESTS. 
up by the making of the Parana Railway, American sawmills and lumber- 
men are now at work. That this tree can form pure forest in that 
latitude shows its self-spreading power and strength against other vegeta- 
tion. It promises to be a valuable addition to the forests of northern 
New Zealand. As a planted tree it grows well at Lower Hutt and as 
far south as Canterbury. There is a fine large tree 1m Mason’s Gardens, 
in the Hutt Valley. . 
It grows well in southern France and northern Italy and Portugal, 
but as a forest-tree should be more at home in the wetter climate of New 
Zealand. In South Africa it stands the severe frosts of Johannesburg 
(6,000 ft. elevation), and grows there at the rate of 2 ft. or 3 ft. per year. 
The timber 1s ood: it is claimed to be the best of all the Araucarias, 
as Kauri is the best of all trees of the genus Agathis. ‘These are closely 
allied genera. It would be a striking sight to see the best trees in eachi 
of these two genera of fine timber-trees growing side by side in the future 
Kauri forests of New Zealand! 
The nuts are borne abundantly in huge cones the size of a child’s 
head, Not being so large as the nuts of the Bunya-pine they are better 
adapted to distribution by rats, mice, and birds; but they are large 
enough, when produced abundautly in the forest, to help the languishing 
pig industry of New Zealand. . 
It should be noted that the Arancarias, though producing timber 
equal to the best and straightest pine and fir timbers, are freer from 
fungoid disease. On the eastern semi-tropical coast of Africa, where 
in the heat and summer rains most pines fail, Araucarias grow without 
blemish. 
Araucaria bidwilli (Bunya-bunya), of mountains of south Queens- 
land, is possibly not hardy enough as a forest-tree even in the warmest 
Kauri forests; but as a planted tree it grows alongside the Rimu in 
South Africa; and at 2,000 ft. elevation in Natal grows as strongly 
and produces pig-feed as abundantly as the English Oak at Cape Town. 
The seeds are one of the largest and most nutritious of tree-nuts. Tribes 
of savages fattened on them in the old days in Australia. 
This valuable tree is being propagated by the Queensland Forest De- 
partment, as much as 14 tons of seed being reported sown during the 
vear 1917. 
Araucaria excelsa (Norfolk Island Pine).—As a planted tree this is 
perfectly hardy everywhere in the Kauri country, growing rapidly to a 
lofty tree and showing yearly shoots up to 6ft. in length. In the Canary 
Islands I have seen yearly shoots up to 9ft. in length. There is good 
evidence that (unlike the ‘‘ Monkey-puzzle’’ tree) these shoots are vearly. 
Norfolk Island Pine is well known for its ability to stand sea-wind, and 
is a favourite ornamental tree in northern New Zealand, Australia, and 
South Africa. It is a good timber-tree, but is subject to black smut and 
scale (Mrrococeus araucarie) hoth in South Africa and New Zealand. 
Its usefulness as a forest-tree has not yet been tested. 
Tulip Tree (Liriodendron tulipifera).—This is a very valuable quick- 
growing softwood that may be of first-rate importance in the Kauri 
forests, replacing useless undergrowth; but as a young tree in the Auck- 
land Domain I could find no signs of natural regeneration. It is easily 
recognized from its large tulip-like flowers and its dense foliage, with 
broad leaves like a Plane tree, the top of the leaf flat as if snipped off 
with a pair of scissors. As an ornamental tree it is almost without rival. 
i is free from the diseases troubling the Plane tree, and nearly all other 
