436 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



grown up subject to the presence of ruminants of various hinds 

 — that is to say, the several species of trees and shrubs com- 

 posing it have overcome (perhaps with artificial assistance) 

 any struggle they may have had when young and weak, and 

 the whole is now able to take care of itself. Again, the under- 

 stuff in a great part consists of seedlings from the older trees, 

 of which, though many may have been cropped or broken, a 

 sufficient number have survived to replace the older growth. 

 And, besides this, the floor of the forest is generally covered 

 with a quantity of grasses, fern, and brambles, which spring 

 up every year, and which amply supply the wants of the 

 animals. 



But in the New Zealand bush the case is quite opposite to 

 all this. The forest has grown up through the course of ages 

 undisturbed by any four-footed enemy whatever. In its virgin 

 state there is no grass, properly speaking, at all, while the 

 undergrowth of ferns, shrubs, and seedling plants, once de- 

 stroyed, can never be restored. And, moreover, the constituent 

 portions are so dependent on each other for nourishment and 

 protection that, once the balance has been disturbed, the entire 

 growth rapidly suffers. 



It may seem incredible that the towering kauri or the giant 

 rata, whose twisted limbs, loaded with a fairy garden of 

 epiphytes and climbing-plants, have weathered a thousand 

 storms, should be in any way affected by the removal of a 

 few insignificant plants from about their base. But so it is. 

 They, and all, or nearly all, of the larger trees in our bush, are 

 dependent for their very life upon the growth which is so 

 thoughtlessly allowed to be destroyed. As may be easily seen 

 after a bush-burn, or where a tree has been overturned by the 

 wind, the principal roots scarcely penetrate the ground. Bun- 

 ning like a network of tangled snakes along the surface, they 

 are protected by a sort of humus composed of decaying vege- 

 table matter, which is kept in a moist condition by the multi- 

 tude of ferns, mosses, and small plants of every kind which 

 occupy every inch of space wherever the forest is undisturbed. 

 Once this growth has been destroyed, which very soon happens 

 w 7 hen a browsing animal is admitted, a change begins to pass 

 over the scene. The larger trees, deprived of the shelter at 

 their feet, gradually grow thin and open at the top. The 

 cathedral gloom and the damp solitude in which flourished the 

 palm-like nikau and the stately fern-tree are penetrated by the 

 burning sun, and invaded by fierce and parching winds. All 

 the magic profusion of grace and beauty begins to shrivel 

 and die ; and as further desiccation takes place the unprotected 

 roots can no longer support the strain they have to bear, and 

 every here and there some hoary patriarch falls crashing amid 

 an acre of ruin. And thus the game goes on : each step in 



