THE WILLOWS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume I, Issue 18, 22 February 1907, Page 3

THE WILLOWS.

[By " Kairuri."]

" Resident," in your issue of 18th January, opens up a subject of vital importance when he draws attention to the damage caused by the growth of willows in the streams. The trouble their growth is sure to cause the settlers, roads, railways, timber and other industries is certainly not properly realised, or measures would have been taken to destroy them before the evil became so extensive. One thing has been proved beyond a doubt by the flood of November, 1905, and the last flood, and that is that the growth of willows in the streams is affecting the utility of the South Auckland railway. The question of the extermination of the willows therefore becomes a public one. The North Island is interested, and the colony as a whole to a certain extent. If you look at a map showing the portion of

the South Auckland railway, you will see that after the line leaves Otorohanga it goes up the east bank of the Mangapu river, to the junction of that river with the Mangaokewa stream and continues up the bank of that stream to near Te Kuiti, where the line crosses and starts to ascend the dividing range. The Mangapu and its tributaries drain an area of over 100,000 acres, and besides the Mangaokewa there are streams of all sizes draining into" it, notably the Mangawhitikau, Mahihinui, Mangarapa, Managtea and many others. There are large manuka, kahikatea and matai fiats on the banks of these streams, also big swamps, alluvial flats and country ranging from undulating to very broken. This large watershed is all drained into the portion of the Mangapu which the railway 1 traverses between Otorohanga and Hangatiki, and the valley gradually narrows. The ranges draw in closer together until near its mouth, where it joins the Waipa ; it is only about three chains wide across on the flat, from the foot of one range to that of the other. All this with the miles of willows filling up the river bed causes the flood water to back up for miles, and form an inland sea, which covers the railway, and roads, and stops traffic effectually, as was seen, by the last flood. In the year 1859, the geologist and explorer, Dr Hochstetter, travelled up the Mangapu in canoes, with a large party of retainers and guides, from the Waipa to the Mangawhitikau. Taking into consideration the windings and turnings in the river it must have been a distance of about thirty mile's, and later, during the construction of the Poro-o-tarau tunuel, the Public Works Department punted all their stores and material from Ngaruawahia up the Waipa, Mangapu and Mangaokewa to Te Kumi. It is reported that the boatmen so employed used to get willow poles in the Waikato river and pole their punts, every now and again losing or leaving one sticking in the banks, thus unintentionally introducing the willow. Be that as it may, the willows have taken possession to such an alarming extent that a canoe could hardly go a hundred yards now, without coming to grief. Formerly the Natives lived along the banks of the Mangapu, and cultivated the flats ; now the whole thing has changed, and where floods were only a -rare occurence at one time a very moderate rainfall causes all the flats to be inundated.

In Parliament, the session before last, the then member for Waikato (Mr Lang) told the House of Representatives about the willows in the Mangapu, and said that he had to wade about two miles up to his horse's saddle flaps across the Hangatiki flats, going from the railway station to the Waitomo Caves. Waitomo as a tourist resort will not be popular under the conditions which Mr Lang travelled, and that was only an ordi-_ nary little flood. The willows are a growing evil; everything up to the present time has been 'unwittingly done to facilitate their growth. The railway and board men chop thenl down from about their bridges and culverts to let in the sun and air, the branches float down the stream and take root. The Native, when he goes to make a temporary fence, cuts willow posts, and the treetops left behind take root somewhere along the river bank. Cattle break the branches off, and the wind, and the floods all help the willow to propagate. So the ordinary flood level is getting higher every year. The Natives say it is about six feet higher now than it was twelve years ago, a rise of six inches a year. But the height of the flood level is necessarily increasing with an increasing ratio, and it would be a hard matter to foretell what it would be in another twelve years, if allowed to go on. The above is the question which " Resident " has drawn public attention to in your columns. The question of destroying the willow, and the best method to adopt, has already been largely experimented upon by our neighbours of Te Awamutu. The problem has been threshed out, and to a most successful issue, by the residents of that place. Mr North has waged a great war against willows, and has won. He, with the cooperation of his fellow settlers, has saved a large tract of valuable country from ruin, and as he makes no secret of his mode of operation, or claims no patent right,, it is only for others to go in, and do as he and his neighbours have so successfully done. The gist of the idea is to ring-bark the willow when the sap is up in the tree, and the streams are low. Then paint the place where rung with a solution of arcnite of soda. This poisons the willow and it dies out. Of course this will cost money to do, but it will never take less money than now, because the willows are always increasing, and the weeping willow especially, when it gets big, falls down into the river bed, and takes root whenever it touches the ground. These are the worst to eradicate, but fortunately most of the willows in the rivers here are of the straight variety. The Te Awamutu settlers formed themselves into a Drainage Board, and borrowed money to deal with the willows. The land in the Mangapu watershed is* nearly all owned by Natives, so that it is impossible to do that there, for their land, as you know, can be neither sold nor successfully leased, nor can they borrow money to improve (it themselves. It would therefore be unreasonable to expect them to form a drainage board. The Maoris have retired in favour of the willows, so far as they are concerned, i the land is of no value to them. The only way out of the difficulty is for the Government to take the matter in hand. With this object in view, the matter has been brought before the Minister for Lands. He has had the question reported upon, and has also made enquiries as to how the willows were destroyed at Te Awamutu, with the object of following up the same method here, The last flood has proved beyond all doubt, that measures must be taken to deal with willows, or what will tourists think of the Wanganui river trip, with a prospectof being detained at Te Kuiti until the flood subsides ? What will be the use of an establishment and beautiful caves at Waitomo, if visitors will be afraid to go there on account of floods, to say nothing of the annoyance caused to the ordinary traveller and the resident in the King Country.