SAVE THE TREES.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1694, 10 March 1913, Page 6

SAVE THE TREES.

SIR RIDER HAGGARD'S ADVICE. DANGERS OF EROSION. EXAMPLES APPARENT IN PLENTY. "You have some trees left; for heaven's sake save them," is the advice Sir Eider Haggard offers to the people of New Zealand. Ho has made a special study of tho evils of rash destruction of forests, and tho possibilities of conserving and restoring forests in many countries, and his advice should be that of 0110 knowing something of the subject. He 'was a member of a Koyal Commission on Afforestation in Great Britain in I'JIO, which presented a report which was then, and is iiow,_esteemed most valuable. Now ho is iu Wellington, a member of another commission wiiicb is investigating the industries and the productivity of tho component parts of the Umpire, with a view to making recommendations for tho improvement of trade relations. lie gave a short interview to 11 Dominion representative 011 the subject of afforestation.

"Everywhere," he said, "1 have seen examples of the evil wrought by ruthless destruction of forests. I have seen rivers, small streams, running shallow in a wide shingle bed, where, 1 am informed, the river was formerly confined within a .much narrower lied. In some cases I believe rivers which were once navigable arc not so now, owing to this erosion of the banks and the spreading of tho lied, I have seen hillsides scarred, where tho soil, denuded of tho protecting trees, has not held. Already (itnd lie has seen scarcely any of the worst examples in the North Island) I hav© seen rough patches of ground which apparently cannot bo cultivated stripped of trees, or left with the fired trees rotting on the ground. 1 appreciate tho necessity for getting rid of trees in order, to get land into production, but why not save the rough patches? I have been told that small pieces of bush will not withstand your winds, but they will if you leave the patches big enough.

"If you do not save jour trees now, you will'rue it in fifty years or less. For it is not only in tho loss of timber that the country will suffer, but in fertility of tho soil. Trees do not attract rain, as is commonly supposed, but they hold moisture in suspense until it finds a natural outlet slowly. Forests also act as a sliado to prevent too rapid evaporation of moisture required by tho soil. On the other hand, rain failing on treeless hillsides courses down the slopes as off a roof, and there is erosion. The water reaches the rivor valleys too rapidly for the stream to carry the flow within its banks, and the banks are torn away, and the stream bed filled up.

"Yes, I have seen a little of your attempts ( at reafforestation. The are all right, f believe, so far as they go. But look at the trees you are planting! You are planting sappy conifers, to take the place of tho splendid trees you are destroying. Some of those magnificent trees (and ho pointed to a stout telegraph pole, which, looked like totara) must be a thousand years old. lam given to understand that a totara tree lives for two thousand years. It is out of the question to attempt to grow such trees again, but try to save those you have. A fire in a few hours will undo the work of hundreds ot years, but it should bo possible to reserve areas, and to restrict tho chances of fires within them'. Why not make it an offence to drop lighted matches or to light fires within the reserved spaces. They aro doing it elsewhere, usually protecting the reserves with belts. They are doing it in India to-day, and in other countries, too.

"They aro feeling tho effects of denudation in Cyprus very sorely. Tho Turk wrought irreparable damage in Cyprus; every available tree was cut down, and now they aro working labouriously to repair the damage and restore tho spoiled forests. They have protected certain districts .and I believe that tho young trees are now growing. In Borneo, too, they awoke some forty years ago to the fact that the tenk forests were disappearing, and they have been so successful in preserving and renewing them that I undetstand now the supply of teak will never vary. With the example of other countries to follow, you can still do a great deal here."

Sir Eider Haggard added as his last word that he did not wish even to seem to be preaching to New Zealand as to their business, but he did claim to have had some experience in this particular subject, and to know something about it.