NATIVE FOREST AND PLANTATIONS OF INTRODUCED TREES. 163 
Even the sparsely planted trees of roadsides and house-grounds in 
New Zealand often show signs of disease. A proportion of the trees at 
Wellington lose a good deal of their foliage each spring with the arrival 
of warm wet weather, It is worse in the north, killing the trees in some 
places. And, according to some American opinion, over all the Insignis- 
pines in New Zealand haugs the spectre of the terrible ‘‘ White-pine 
blister-rust ’’ getting in. . 
Soi!.—Insignis-pine does not usually prosper on very poor or shallow 
soil. Over a large part of Australia it is held to be a tree that will only 
grow well on good soil. At Cape Town it fails decidedly on poor sandy 
sotl, but it succeeds on good sandy soils such as those of New Zealand and 
California. It takes a stunted form on shallow rocky soil or over clay on 
the hills round Wellington, where the native bush once grew so well. 
The mountainous ground near Wellington once carried good native 
forest; the remains of the native trees show that to a certainty. The 
forest was destroyed in pre-demarcation days; with the forest went also 
the rich forest soil, the accumulated riches of centuries; and now the 
Insignis-pine seems not the best tree for reforesting the Wellington hills. 
With certain exceptions, it only grows well where the soil may be too 
yaluable for planting it economically. 
Says the Western Australian Yearly Forest Report for 1916 (the first 
from a trained forester),— 
Insignis-pine, which has been planted for the past seven years here, and 
which now covers 594 acres, has not done as well as was expected. The soil is of 
rer poor and sandy a nature for a species like Monterey-pine, which requires good 
BOL, 
Insignis-pine in the Devonshire-like climate of the Government plan- 
tations at Tapanui shows signs of declining vigour. Much of it is rat- 
tailed, some diseased. KR. G, Robinson when in charge there gave me 
as his opinion that forty years was about its limit of usefulness. That 
is the common Australian verdict, 
Natural Regeneration.—The natural regeneration of Insignis-pine is 
good sometimes in New Zealand, but generally inferior to that in drier 
climates. (‘Australian Forestry ’’). In the absence of dry heat, the 
cones will remain on the trees tightly closed for many years. It is 
generally easy to find such cones in New Zealand, the seed perished 
without the cone opening. 
In the temperate climate of Wellington Insignis-pine seedlings are 
very rarely seen, In the warmer dry climate of Rotorua they are 
common; and about Lake Taupo, where it is warmer and drier still, 
the natural regeneration of Insignis-pine is one of the sights of the 
country-side. Insignis natural regeneration is seen onthe Canterbury 
Plains; it is believed to be quite absent on the yery wet West Coast. 
DiIvEeRSE OPpiINIONS ON INSIGNIS. 
In the comparatively dry climate of the Canterbury Plains Insignis- 
pine grows as well as anywhere in New Zealand. In the official text-book 
of New Zealand forestry (Lands Department Forestry Report, 1909), 
Mr. T. W. Adams, of Greendale, gives his opinion of the timber produc- 
tion of Insignis-pine in these words: ‘‘ All these different (softwood 
producing) trees from Europe and America have been introduced into 
New Zealand; but I venture to say that Pinus insignis will produce twice 
as much timber per annum as any one of them.’’ He might have added 
in half the time.’’ Indeed, the remarkably rapid growth of Insignis- 
