OUR FORESTS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 878, 26 July 1910, Page 6

OUR FORESTS.

CONSEQUENCES OF RECKLESS DESTRUCTION. Wholesale denudation of our forests is strongly deprecated by the Inspector of Reserves (Mr. Turner) in his annual return to tho House. If possible,' lessons should (he says) bo given in 'the schools explaining the value of bush as a reservoir for the supply of water for streams, its action in preventing or lessening floods, its climatio influence, etc._ Mr. Turner proceeds to say. that engineers are experiencing the utmost difficulty in railway-making in China, owing Ui Hit liability to floods of ilie low country, which' liability has been caused by tho reckless destruction of the forests at the sources of the,rivers. In Hawke's Bay and the Man'awatu districts it is found even now that tho raising of the river beds by detritus brought from the deforested mountains by floods is causing very serious trouble. v The- observant traveller may see in niost districts in New Zealand steep hillsides (which' have been.-defor-ested), after having lost their surface' soil through landslips, fast becoming covered with ti-t'reo and fern, and often noxious weeds, which, in such situations, aro almost impossible to eradicate. In other localities where there were rills flowing all the year from steep hillsides there are now in . wet weather rapid torrents, and in dry weather waterless ditches. Our pioneers (who now, of course, are doing the most damage by destroying forests) are. difficult to convert; in fact, often they do not wish to be converted, as many havo not taken up the land with the idea of making a permanent home on it, but for tho purpose of selling out at a profit, after doing the improvements required by the Act. It can be .understood that such ones would not trouble about the -evils resulting from wholesale denudation. The present.Land Act encourages a settler to clear all Jiis holding. It would be well (adds Mr. Tumor) if it were amended so .that every future selector of /second and third-class rural lands bo compelled to leave in forest 10 per cent, of his holding. Ho should not be charged any rental for the percentage left, but should be called upon to fence it with a cattle-proof fence. He could, get his firewood and some fencing- material from the preserved part.