24 



March) the best for my land. The trees take longer to die, but 

 they do not throw out any suckers. I think it will be found very 

 hard to lay down any hard and fast rules about ringing, as it will 

 be found not only to Vary in different districts, but also in the same 

 districts as to the best time of the year." 



Blaclcboys. Mr. Wellard continues : " What is almost as 

 necessary as ringing the timber here in the hills is having the 

 blackboys cut down. I have had some land chopped and find the 

 stock niuch prefer the cleared land to that where the blackboys 

 are still growing in the same paddock. Price for chopping the 

 blackboys about 2s. per acre." On this subject Mr. J. Forster 

 Johnston writes : " I have 100 acres at the Preston ... so thick 

 with blackboys that I have known a stockman to ride three times 

 round the block before he could find a beast in it, so I determined 

 to have the blackboys chopped off. I let 50 acres to an old man at 

 2s. 6d. per acre . . . and on settling up he was so satisfied 

 that he walked back 40 miles to do the other 50 and had a nice 

 cheque to take. My neighbours laughed at me for doing this, 

 saying it was money thrown away, but I see now a good many of 

 them are following my example. You can now see nearly all over 

 the paddock, and there is a good swath of English grasses growing 

 in a large portion of it." The Preston progress Association 

 reports that " chopping down blackboys greatly improves the 

 carrying capabilities of the land." 



Effect of the destruction of trees upon the water supply and growth 

 of grasses. There is a decided unanimity of opinion that the killing 

 of the timber increases the water supply in all the localities from 

 which correspondents have replied, but apparently more so in some 

 localities than others. The increase in the water supply is pro- 

 bably governed by the diversity of the timber and the geological 

 formation of the ground, and thus the slight difference in opinion 

 may be accounted for. With one exception, that of the Ferguson 

 Farmers' Association who report that "the natural grasses die 

 out" after ring-barking, there is a decided unanimity of opinion 

 that the destruction of the timber is followed by a marked increase 

 in the stock carrying capacity of the land. So unanimous is this 

 opinion that one is led to believe that the exception referred to 

 above has been caused, perhaps, not by ring-barking, but by the 

 young and finer grasses which the destruction of the timber had 

 induced to grow being fed out by overstocking. In fern (bracken) 

 country ring-barking appears to be of doubtful benefit. Mr. 

 Andrew Muir, Lake Muir, writes : " From my own experience I 

 should say that ring-barking improves all lands where there are 

 no ferns ; but in fern country the killing of the timber stimulates 

 the growth of the ferns to such an extent that they completely 

 choke out the grasses in a few years." 



Cost per acre of ring-barking and sapping. The highest price 

 paid for ring-barking is, according to the returns, 2s. 6d. per acre, 

 the lowest Is., the average price per acre being Is. 9|d. The 



