492 Transactions. — Botany. 



gutted in all diiectionsby timber-workings and road- and tele- 

 graph lines. Over these the fires find their way in successive 

 dry seasons, ever penetrating more deeply into the standing 

 forest, until sooner or later in many places the whole country- 

 side is swept, and only a few isolated patches in some of the 

 damper situations remain amid the general desolation. 



Jt used to be said that the New Zealand bush, unlike that 

 of Australia, would not burn standing. This was true to a 

 ■certain extent, but the comparison no longer holds good under 

 the present altered conditions, and the chief difference now is 

 that while the Australian bush recovers more or less from the 

 burn that of New Zealand perishes, never to be restored. 



In its virgin state the New Zealand bush, with the excep- 

 tion perhaps of the kauri forest, was comparatively impervious 

 to fire. The general bush was dense and dark. The tops of 

 the trees formed a close canopy overhead, and the ground was 

 covered with a succulent growth of ferns, mosses, and seed- 

 ling plants, which protected the roots, and maintained every- 

 thing in a moist condition ; so that, with the exception of a 

 small portion along the margin, killed by former fires and ex- 

 posed to the action of the sun and wind, the whole bush was 

 practically safe. But all this is now changed. As the cattle 

 find their way in, the thick undergrowth is eaten or trodden 

 down never to reappear. The network of superficial roots 

 is barked and torn, and the soil, poached by the constant 

 trampling of hoofs, is hardened in summer to the consistency 

 of concrete. The consequence is that the larger trees, de- 

 prived of their natural protection, and unable to obtain a pro- 

 per supply of sap, soon grow thin and open at the top, and 

 many of the more delicate species die out altogether. The 

 sun and wind find entrance, and the fronds of the nikau and 

 the fern-tree, which flourished in the crypt-like shade, shorten 

 and shrivel up. The ground is covered with fallen leaves. 

 The old rotten logs, which represent the natural decay of 

 centuries, are dried to powder, and before many years are 

 past the whole bush, which originally i-etained its moisture 

 like a sponge through the driest season, is ready to burn to 

 extermination. 



It is not to be supposed that the influence of the cattle is 

 confined to the vicinity of the settlements, though it is felt 

 here in a greatly intensified degree. At the present time there 

 is practically no part of the bush — in the North Island at least 

 — that is not overrun, more or less, and upon which they have 

 not already left their mark, the tame stock browsing around 

 the farms and townships, and wild mobs running at large 

 among the back ranges and gullies. For years past this has 

 been the case in the extensive mountainous districts extending 

 along the West Coast from Whangape to the Manukau Heads, 



