Plus Tree

Wood density and wood quality are not identical: after the wood quality debacle of the 1990s, the reaction of New Zealand companies has been mostly to extend rotation, aiming to increase the proportion of outerwood in the final crop. But breeders could so improve the trees as to permit growers to follow more tolerable shorter [...]

Will this be a good investment? This is a common question asked by buyers of ’superior’ genetic material. Why the quotation marks? Because the statement brings to mind the question ‘Superior for what?’ Before dealing with the initial question, we have to recognise a few things about tree improvement that have an effect on the [...]