440 Transactions. 



(5.) (Jold Winds and Droughts. 



During late years the dairy industry has been one of the most popular 

 and profitable industries of the bush settler. Every acre or two of grass 

 represents a cow, whose yield of milk helps to swell the monthly cheque 

 from the factory ; and so, regardless of everything beyond the immediate 

 return, the bush is cleared away as fast as possible, and the land laid down 

 to pasture. If it were only a question of a dairy farm here and there amid 

 the surrounding bush the results might, perhaps, justify the policy ; but 

 when a large area is wholly occupied by dairy farms unlooked-for conse- 

 quences are sure to follow. To take one instance where the whole thing 

 has been worked out to its logical conclusion : Some forty years ago the 

 Settlement of Okaihau was formed on a piece of land between the Bay 

 of Islands and Hokianga, covered for the most part by a dense forest, then 

 known as the Nine-mile Bush. Through the centre ran a broad level 

 ridge — almost a tableland — 800 ft. above sea-level, which fell away on both 

 sides in sharp ranges and deep gullies to two tributaries of the Hokianga 

 River. When the first clearings were made the soil seemed to be of quite 

 unusual richness ; droughts were unknown, and every variety of crops 

 grew with the greatest luxuriance. Attracted by the fertility of the soil 

 and the advantages of the situation new settlers flocked in, and before long 

 practically the whole of the land was cleared. Then, when it was too late, 

 the evil of this wholesale denundation began to be apparent. The wind 

 ■drew up the bared gullies and swept unchecked across the tableland- — 

 in bitter squalls in winter, and in scorching gales in summer. Droughts 

 became common, and the smaller streams dried up for want of protection 

 at their sources. The very character of the soil seemed to change from a 

 rich, deep loam to poor, light stuff ; cropping was almost abandoned, the 

 grass grew scantier every year, and the whole settlement now carries less 

 stock than it would do if a reasonable proportion of the bush had been 

 left standing. 



Topographical. 



But serious as are the effects on the climate caused by the removal of 

 the bush, they are nothing to those which are produced on the topography 

 of the country. Of these some of the most disastrous are those which 

 result from floods. 



(1.) Floods. 



Floods have doubtless been always prevalent in New Zealand ; with 

 its peculiar geological formation and its abundant rainfall it could not be 

 otherwise. But with the removal of the bush they have assumed a form 

 unknown before, both in regard to their magnitude and their power of 

 destruction. 



In its virgin state — before it is invaded by cattle — the New Zealand 

 bush forms a natural storage for rain-water, and supplies an efi'ective safe- 

 guard against excessive floods. Even in the most toM'ential downpour a 

 large proportion of the rain never reaches the ground. The dense canopy 

 formed by the tops of the trees breaks up the heavy drops into a fine dew, 

 part of which is at once absorbed by the foliage. Of the rest, some is 

 caught by the epiphytes and parasitic plants that clothe the limbs and 

 trunks, or by the ferns and mosses and seedling plants, and the thick coat- 

 ing of humus, the decayed logs, and fallen leaves that cover the floor, where 

 it is held in suspension till evaporation takes place. And here it may be 



