Papers and Abstracts. 06 



whicli has been purposely run lluuugh il." " Tlie leyiun in tjuesliun, like the 

 greatei portion of the JNlorth Island, is of a soapstone or ' pappa ' formation, 

 which weathers into a clammy clay." " Cleared in the usual wasteful fashion, 

 not only are the uninteresting contours of the country exposed to view, 

 but the forest is replaced l)y a weedy upgrowth of Fuc/i-sia exiortirata and Aris- 

 totdia raceiiiodci, mixed with any and every species of the heterogeneous mass 

 oi herbaceous and shrubby aliens, which are ever ready to invade fresh areas, 

 turning a natural garden into a vegetative slum."" "The disreputable Maori who 

 idled our canoe up-streain voiced, parrot-like, the cry of the country, ' Too much 

 bush; too few children." 'Bush is there to be burnt, and the sooner the better. 

 It is a most contemptuous and unfortunate term.'" 



Speaking of the South Island, after explaining the effect of the Dividing 

 Uange on the rainfall and distril)ution of foi'est, the authoress writes, " The mixed 

 forest of the West Coast is too soaked with moisture to Imrn easily .... 

 but all the best trees are being rapidly cut out by sawmills.'' " riie natural 

 forest-growth, if worked on scientific principles, would form a magnificent asset 

 to the resources of any country. As it is, in such mixed forest, each kind of 

 tree is limited in numbers, and, when cut without regard to age, only the old 

 and aborted specimens are left standing, and the forest is, in lonsecjuence, unable 

 to regenerate itself. The resulting thinning alters the prevailing conditions as 

 to light, moisture, and wind, and allows the ingress of rabbits, which devour 

 all young vegetation, and so prepare the way for an army of alitm herbaceous 

 plants and shrubs, including blackberries, sweetbriar, gorse, and broom, which 

 luxuriate in the vii'gin soil. Fungal diseases attack the weakened indigenous 

 trees, which will have no further chance to re-establish themselves; so that all 

 commercial value in wood, which forms one of New Zealand's exports and its 

 chief scenic charm, goes into the pocket of the first man who comes to enjoy 

 the unrestricted exploitation of the virgin forest.'" " Once through the [Otiraj 

 Gorge, we enter the country of dry rainless winds and tussock plains beyond, 

 between bare tussock hills, yellow even in the beginning of December : all sheep- 

 runs, the grass burnt off every year, and rabbits ubiquitous. Here one shrub, 

 Uiscaria toumatou, or ' wild Irishman," holds its own. It is a veritable mass of 

 thorns (arrested branches), with inconspicuous green leaves and white flowers. It 

 grows singly in the wide river-beds, on sheltered mountain-slopes, and in the 

 plains. Otherw'ise not a tree is visible — that would mean fewer sheep to the acre ; 

 and the unfortunate animals in the blaze of the sun find such shelter as they may 

 under the Dl^raria. It is a familiar sight to see them crowding under what can 

 be only shade in their imagination, and it makes one question whether it is really 

 advantageous, or is merely an atavistic idea inherited from ancestors accustomed 

 t3 more luxuriant conditions. These places must all have been wooded at some 

 time not far distant. . Nothing else could account for the extraordinary paucity 

 of herbaceous plants, of which Ch-aspedia uniflora is one of the few which occurs 

 in any quantity on the plains." 



Speaking of the Mackenzie country, it is stated, " These plains, thanks to the 

 agency of man, run up to the foot of .Mount Cook, and, as far as I could make 

 out, they constitute the subalpine meadows of New Zealand ecologists." "It is 

 a three-days drive from Mount Cook to Lake Wanaka, and for the whole way there 

 is no native tree to be seen. I was told there was ' bush ' in the back country, 

 so that it must once have existed in the front ; but this country of huge sheep- 

 runs, where every station has to keep a gang of rabbiters, tells its own tale. 

 Deer have been also introduced, and are increasing to a large extent, much to 

 the disgust of the runholders."' " At Lake Wanaka .... there was the 

 same baneful deforestation, sheep-run bareness, and poverty of soil. The moun- 

 tains in the background show up green, for the runs have not ^ot so far back yet." 



A brief description is given of the Clinton and Arthur Valleys, and of their 

 suitability as a sanctuary for the indigenous flora and fauna. The articles con- 

 clude as follows : — 



" Isolated reserves here and there are of no value from a physiographical, 

 economic, or rainfall point of vieAv. In a naturally wooded country like New- 

 Zealand the question should be treated as a whole on some recognized plan drawn 

 up by competent forest officials who have been trained not only in the great schools 

 of Nancy, Munich, and the magnificent economic forests of France and Germany, 

 but also in the management of virgin forest, which under scientific guidance has 

 achieved such a success in India." " India is in the happy position of being 

 able to treat questions from a scientific rather than a party standpoint. In New 

 Zealand the Government alone can act in the matter, as for economic reasons the 

 private owner is helpless and the mere occupier indifferent. Labour costs 10s. 

 a day, and is difficult to obtain at that: therefore private enterprise is discouraged." 



L. C. 



