162 Transactions. 



following figures are instructive (all the low tussock grassland of this 

 area can be classed as montane) : — 



Total Sheep m Mackenzie County. 



1881 

 1887 

 1893 

 1899 

 1904 

 1909 

 1914 



422,000 

 440,000 

 442,000 

 394,000 

 399,000 

 471,000 

 495,000 



Here again it is seen that thirty years'' continuous grazing has not 

 lessened the carrying-capacity of the ichole area. Nevertheless there is 

 a very large extent of country in this sheep district where the majority 

 of the tussocks have died out, and considerable stretches of land that 

 w^ere formerly typical montane tussock-land are now virtual desert, with 

 patches or circular low flat cushions of Raoulia lutescens as the dominant 

 physiognomic plant. From this it would certainlj- appear as if the 

 montane tussock-land was not the important grazing association of the 

 area. It is commonly asserted that if only the country could be restored 

 to the condition it Avas in forty years ago the amount of stock carried 

 would be vastly increased. Yet in the Mackenzie sheep district the 

 destruction of much of the montane tussock has not resulted in diminu- 

 tion in the aggregate numbers of sheep carried. In fact, thirty years 

 ago in that district there were 70,000 fewer sheep than there are to-day. 

 '\^nien the figures for Vincent County (Central Otago) ai'e examined it 

 will be seen that serious deterioration in carrying-capacity has occurred. 

 In 1879 this county pastured over 490.000 sheep, w^hile in 1914 the flocks 

 numbered only 330,000, showing a deci'ease of over 160,000 sheep. In 

 Vincent County almost the whole of the montane tussock grassland 

 association has been destroyed, and its place taken by an almost desert 

 vegetation. To show how seriously the carrying-capacity has been in- 

 fluenced in parts of the Vincent County the case of Galloway Station may 

 be mentioned. In 1879 the number of stock pastured was approxi- 

 matelv 70,000, but to-day the number carried on the same area is a 

 trifle 'over 20,000. 



With regard to Vincent County in general, two factors which have 

 not been in operation in the upj^er Waimakariri river-basin must be 

 recognized. These are a very Ioav rainfall and a superabundance of 

 rabbits from the early " eighties " onwards. The system of sheep-farming 

 in Vincent County and in the upper Waimakariri has been exactly 

 similar, and extensive burning of the tussock grassland a noticeable 

 feature of the management in both localities. In Vincent County exten- 

 sive and repeated burning of the tussock, coupled with the low rainfall 

 (less than 15 in. ])qv annum at Galloway) and the continued presence 

 of rabbits in large numbers, has virtually destroyed the montane tussock 

 grassland vegetation. On the other hand, the same system of manage- 

 ment in the upper Waimakariri has in the presence of a fair rainfall 

 (over 30 in. per annum, and higher in the west) and in the absence of 

 rabbits resulted in comparatively no deterioration in carrying-capacity 

 until after 1909. Since that date the number carried has fallen con- 

 siderably, but this is due to excessive winter losses, and not to the 

 deterioration of the vegetation. When it is considered that the Wai- 



