DEW PONDS.
AGRICULTURAL ENGLAND IN THE PAST. A correspondent suggests that it may be of interest to settlers in Central Otago to have the curious glimpse at agricultural England in the dim past which is given in the excellent preface by Mr Arthur John Hubbard and Mr George Hubbard to their , new edition of their book, " Neolithic Dewponds and Cattle-ways." They ha\e come . to the conclusion that the defences on the downland were made against wolves. In , their own words: "This foe was the wolf. | The wolf, seeking his prey ip the neolithic ' herds, was the compelling influence which ' drove man into the uplands, and led him | to expend such an infinitude of labour on. i the ' shepherd's steps ' which mark off the bases of the hills wherever we find the traces of our neolithic forefathers. " The i connection with dew-ponds is easily established — necessity was the planning force that made the inhabitants of the rainless downs woik out an efficient system of water supply. How they did it i* explained in the text, and may be repeated here for the ' sake of lucidity : " There is still in this i country at lea6t one wandering gang of men (analogous to the mediaeval bands of bell-founders, ma«on*. etc.) who will construct for the modern farmer a pond which, in any suitable situation in a sufficiently ' div sol, will always contain water This i water i» not derived from springe or rainfall, and is speedily lost if even the smallest lhulct is allowed to flow into the pond. The gang of dew-pond makers commence operations by hollowing out the earth for a space far in excess of the apparent requirements of the proposed pond. They ■ then quickly cover the whole of the hollow with a coating of dry straw. The straw { in its turn is coieicd by a iaTCr of well- j chosen, finely-puddled clay, and the upper surface of the clay is then closely strewn with stones. Care has to be taken that the margin of the straw is effectively protected by clay. The pond will gradually become filled "with water, the more rapidlj the larger it is. even though no rain may fall. If such a structure >• situated pn the sum- ,
mit of a down, during the warmth of a summer's day the earth will have stored a considerable amount of heat, while the pond, protected from this heat by the nonj conducti\itv of the straw, is at the same time chilled by the process of evaporation | fiom the puddled clay. The consequence i~ that during the night the moisture of the rovnparatnely waim air is condt n^cd on the suiface of the cold cla\. As the condensation during the night ii in e\co««> of the evaporation durinsr the day, the pond becomes, night by night, gradually , filled. In practice it is found that the ! pond will constantly yield a supply ot the | purest water." O\er 1000 sheep may be | watered daily af one dew-pond, when it is . in workinsr order, and every morning finds !it replenished. Such ponds thus enabled ' those eailv inhabitants to attend to the ' wants of their f\>cks and herds, while, at the same time, their connection with the camps permitted a free passage to and fio. How the story came to be prescr\ed through the asres is thus explained : "On the uplands of the downs, man's work is practically e\erla*ting. There, the e\errenewed mantle of short, dense turf spreads itself over the surface, moulds itself to every detail, and reproduces in its green outlines the forms which were graven in the while chalk below. Egyptian sand has not been more faithful in its trust ; and the English turf has preserved for us the record of a forgotten civilisation, whose works are to be seen, league after league, upon the downs."
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Otago Witness, Issue 2814, 19 February 1908, Page 9
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635DEW PONDS. Otago Witness, Issue 2814, 19 February 1908, Page 9
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