156 NATIVE FOREST AND PLANTATIONS OF INTRODUCED TREES, 
PLANTED STRIPS. 
In New Zealand, with its superb forest climate, a climate which is 
nearly the same as the Pacific slopes of north-west America, where grow 
actually the finest Conifers in the world, there seems no limit to the 
natural regeneration and self-spreading of valuable exotic timber-trees 
when once introduced. When one thinks of the facility with which: 
other introduced vegetation spreads in New Zealand, it 1s evident that 
here, in the future, lies a golden forestry harvest for the Dominion. 
However long it may be necessary to postpone intensive working in 
many forests in New Zealand, it is evident that in every forest the 
seed for this golden harvest should be sown without delay—viz., the 
introduction of planted strips of self-spreading valuable exotics. 
In forests worked extensively this is the measure which corresponds 
to the buildings, roadmaking, and other organization in forests worked 
intensively, Imagine the potential wealth to New Zealand if only one- 
tenth of the money sunk in doubtful plantations of exotics had been 
expended in planting strips of valuable trees in the ‘‘ unoccupied third ”’ 
of the Dominion ! 
Low Popunar Estimate or NATIVE Forests. 
It is only natural that a thing which costs nothing and which is often 
best out of the way (to the farmer almost always so) should popularly 
be lable to be rated at a low value. But the understatement of the size 
of the trees by all writers on the New Zealand ‘‘ bush,’’ from Kirk down- 
ward, 1s not so easy to account for. Instances of this are given in the 
Inaugural Address of the Forest League, which has since been published 
and circulated by the league. Bushmen’s and millers’ figures refer to bole 
only, and apparently the literary people added something on to these 
for the total height of the trees and were satisfied. Actually New Zea- 
land trees are among the finest in the world. As has been seen, Kauri 
holds the record for producing the greatest quantity of timber of any 
tree on the globe. | . 
The maximum height of the White-pine has been persistently stated 
at 150it.; the actual figure is something over 210 ft, — probably 
near 250ft. There is no gainsaying my measurements, confirmed bv 
Mr. Phillips Turner’s measurement taken with a theodolite and chain. 
_ When a forester compares the value of New Zealand native forests 
with those of other countries it becomes clear that the New Zealand forest 
has been much underrated, Its capabilities of improvement have been 
lost sight of. Though the New Zealand trees grow faster than European 
and most American forest-trees—in fact. just as fast as one would expect 
in the favourable tree-growing climate of New Zealand—it has beer 
thought that they should be discarded in favour of certain quick-growing 
exotics. Exactly What has been the underestimate of the value of the 
native forest in New Zealand can be seen by looking again at the table 
of average timber ‘‘ stands,’’ showing how well the timber “stand ”’ 
of the millable forest of New Zealand compares with the best part of 
the Appalachian forests of America, This table shows the value of the 
New Zealand forest even in its unimproved state compared to highly 
valued forests in other parts of the world. : 
American forests vary more than those of New Zealand. They vary 
mw oie ae ee i at Douglas-fir and Californian Redwood 
I S grades, neral figures for the whole of each country 
