Firewood, forests and farming over the years

Firewood, forests and farming over the years

Friday 28 Mar 2025

Planting pine trees was seen as a valuable option for farmers back in the day. In 1925, this was “strikingly proved” by a farmer who made £55 off one Pinus insignus tree, as reported in Napier’s Daily Telegraph.

According to a Nothern Advocate article in 1935, the State Forestry Service was busy planting eucalyptus, pitch pine and slash pine in Waipoua and Waitangi. They were also trialling other varieties such as gum, western red cedar and Lawsoniana.

It had become a learning curve for those who had cleared the bush in the 1930s. The Gisborne Herald reported in 1945, on “denuded hillsides” and road damage caused by slips coming down, especially in the winter. As a result, replanting had started on a big scale to try and repair the damage done by the clearing of the bush from the hillsides.

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Source: The Country

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