The Evening Star MONDAY, MAY 22, 1876.

Evening Star, Issue 4129, 22 May 1876, Page 2

The Evening Star MONDAY, MAY 22, 1876.

We have in Otago agricultural associations and annual shows, at which sheep, cattle, horses, cheese, butter, and bacon are exhibited. They are very good things in thenway, and, so far as stock is Concerned, they have done much to improve it, but unfortunately they have stopped at that point It is fair to conclude, therefore, that the summit of iho ambition of an Otagan farmer or landholder is reached when he sees “first prize ” on the front of a pet animal. T hey go beyond this in Canterbury. The farUiers there appear to have learnt that thb eixrth produces other things beside food for flesh and wool. This is a truth that dawns occasionally upon the national mind in all colonics, hut the conviction soon wears oft'; t'-e public do not feel very deeply interested in tbe manner in which the national estate is managed. They know that when a man lias obtained a Crown grail he has acquired power to do as he will with his own, and so long as his neighbor is not annoyed his land may he left barren and idle. The general nnj.russi.iu is that the owner only i-Tinter- ■ ynnh Yet ibis is mtrio. Legally helm to do as lie " i!). «d so much igno- . cx ' a to i : n. moral obligation to improve property that to discuss that view would bo waste of time at pre■oat, I£ any course pf improveaieat is

likely to be followed it Will hot b§ through mom flttasibti, hut because the landowner can see a profit to be made by it. The plain truth is, however, that no country can prosper unless the vast majority of its people are producers } and he is one of his country’s l-.est friends who puts every acre of his property to the profitable use that nature ill* tended it for. At an ordinary monthly meeting of the Kaiapoi Farmers’ Club Mr Andrew Duncan read a paper on “Forest Tree Planting”—a subject which, though systematically neglected by the majority of farmers, he truly characterised as a most important one to all engaged in agriculture. The paper was ably written, and the reasons given why forests should be planted and conserved should rouse even farmers from apathy, and induce them to learn something more than ploughing and sowing, grubbing and hoeing. There was nothing new in the lecture ; there seldom is in anything very useful. Mr Duncan only said what hundreds know as well as he, and which, all but a small percentage of them neglect. He told how' important the conservation and reproduction of forest trees was considered in the leaning countries of Kurope, how forests of trees affect climate, and how land utterly worthless for other purposes may be made to yield a very handsome profit at a comparatively small expense. Now, I have no objection to a careful preparation for anything, whether oaks or firs, corn or cabbages; but in many situations such preparation is impracticable : in fact, the bulk of plantations of forest trees of any extent is usually confined to situations that cannot bo utilised, except at a large coat, for any other purpose. In a great many instances, on farms in this Province, there are smaller or larger patches of inferior ground that are often left in them nat ive state, because tbe cost of reducing or m-king them into productive paddocks would entail a larger expenditure than the reclamation would be worth, and it is just those particular portions of farms that are peculiarly adapted for plantation of forest trees. Many of you, I have no doubt will .from recollection, be able to call to mind plantations of greater or lesser extent in the old country, where no preparations were given in planting the trees; in fact, some of the largest and finest forests in Britain were planted in situations where it was impossible to have prepared the soil. I may instance the very extensive forests of the Duke of Athol, around|Dunkeld, Perthshire, and ethers in Cumberland, where, in many instances, the soil had to be scraped together to cover the roots of the gma.li trees, or the trees had to be let into rifts and fissures of the rocks. In many other cases where the ground was covered with heath, the only preparation that was given was by having open drains cut at convenient distances to relieve the soil from superabundant moisture, and by burning the heath to allow of the trees being planted. This course I understand was employed to a large extent in the large plantations at Nercpiis, where the late Dr. Thaokery carried out ideas conceived by him as to the proper course to be followed out in forest culture. This estate of Nerquis is partly in the County of Flint and partly in Denbighshire, and was of such a poor character that he bought it for £1 per acre. So well, however, did the planting succeed that many articles were written giving expression to the fact that it was a model forest, and was besides a source of great profit to its enterprising proprietor. 1 could give many other instances, if it were necessary, to prove the fact that it is not required, where planting is carried on to a large extent, to have the soil prepared; and I would go even further, and say that only ii exceptional cases, where specific objects are in view, such as planting shrubberies or small plantations, where cost is no object, that preparation is made for planting.

If experience be a guide to probability, notwithstanding the prospect of profit held out in this comparatively costless character of cultivation, in all probability Mr Duncan wasted his words. A short discussion followed, a few questions were asked, a few answers were given, thanks were voted, and then the Club clattered about cheese factories on the American principle. It will be an exception if a single acre of forest is made to flourish through the excitement cf Mr Duncan’s lecture.

A week before Mr Duncan so eloquently addressed the Kaiapoi Farmers’ Club, the Melbourne ‘Argus,’ in a very forcible article, showed how thoroughly the views he enunciated are borne out by Victorian experience. From time to time different Ministries have made fitful efforts to prevent the wholesale destruction of timber in that Colony ; but the Melbourne ‘ Argus ’ pronounces their attempts at conservation “ a perfect sham.” They appointed a num her of “ Crown lands bailiffs,” who are said to have displayed “ a masterly inactivity,” and young trees are just as recklessly cut down as before. The Government have tried “the local principle,” and appointed “forest boards” ; but as all the reward the members were to reap was to be honor, and as honor puts no pay into the pocket, as a rule the honor has been declined.

As a matter of fact, even the owners of saw-mills cannot he kept under effectual control. Some years ago, one saw mill proprietor sent out s number of men, who proceeded to cut down the beat trees within a wide area, presumably for the use of the mill; hut the trees were never used. They lay upon the ground until they became rotten, and thus a large quantity of very valuable timber was wasted. In various ways, destruction of a similar character is going on still, and it is not too much to say that the Government is absolutely powerless to prevent it, Tho ‘ Argus ’ very truly says :

Tho question for the public is, however, a very serious one. The destruction of trees is in this Colony a very important matter, for there is now no doubt that uu equality of rainfall depends greatly upon the preservation of timber. In Canada and the United States very serious consequences have already been produced by the felling of the forests, and the effects are seen in the diminution of the volume of water in some of the rivers. In this Colony the matter Is still more important. Our very existence may be said to depend upon onr forests, for if they are once cleared away the country will be subject to drought, and many fertile districts will become barren. The business is therefore one which ought to attract the most earnest attention, and it appears to be simply disgraceful that we have to record, year and year, the utter absence of all practical control.

Equally important ia it that Now Zealand should endeavor to Correct those inequalities of rainfall that create such wide differences between not widely distant districts. While in all probability Dunedin might be the better for lees forest and less rain, there are districts within one hundred miles of it where scarcely a shower has fallen for months, and where, in consequence, farming operations have been carried on with difficulty. Conservation of forests does Hot mean that timber shall not be used; it means it shall not be waited, and that when one growth has gone into consumption another shall be ready to supply its place. New Zealand is an exceptionally fine field for acclimatisation. It was a land of fishless streams, of tsnantless fields and forests, and treeless plains and mountains. It will be therefore what man makes it, He has eohlC to it from a Store-hdUSe Of science With a knowledge of means and a command of appliances for stocking the country with all that is Useful and. suitable. In this South Island be has iio foes to Contend with, and lias already done much for the rivers and plains. He has brought fruit and vegetables, corn, flocks and herds ; he can now plant forests of earth’s finest timber; and we hope that the steps contemplated by the Government will be carried out with energy and Success. Mr Andrew Duncan's lecture is published in the * Lyttelton Times ’ of the 13tb inst., audit will well repay attentive reading.