Agathis rohusta was preferred to Hoop Pine (Araucaria cunninghamii) as a plantation tree in Queensland because it naturally sheds its lower branches while still at fairly small girth thus producing knot-free timber good for veneer manufacture (Plate 11b). South Queensland provenance is better than north Queensland in this respect. The rate of natural pruning is illustrated by a 19 year old stand which had 960 trees/ha, of predominant height 18.6 m, and self-pruned to a mean height of 8.4 m and maximum of 13.3 m.