Waxeuin.—Local Variations in Gravity. 463 
the poor plants were being alternately drowned in wet weather, and in dry 
scorched for want of moisture. Such soils should be cut by a sub-soil 
plough to the depth of 18 inches or 2 feet, drawing the furrow slightly down 
hill, letting the surplus water away, while the pulverized and stirred clay 
would retain sufficient moisture. It would be an additional advantage to 
turn over a furrow of the top vegetable mould with the cominon plough, the 
sub-soil one following in the same furrow; by this means the young plants 
would have the benefit of the old surface soil to start them. 
In an earthy kindly soil all that is necessary is to make a slit with the 
planting spade—pushing the slit a little open—when your boy, with his 
basket of seedlings, drops one in the slit, and puts his foot on the sod 
closing it. 
Planting here should follow the sawmillers and this cannot be done too 
soon. The remark is frequently made “ cut down the forests, there will be 
plenty of timber to last owr time. Convert the forest lands into agricul- 
tural holdings and cover the country with men, women and children.” 
Those who make such remarks are evidently not aware of the fact that 
in many parts of Europe and elsewhere the cutting down of the forests 
resulted in converting countries formerly fertile and well peopled into abso- 
lute deserts, necessitating the removal of man and beast to look for food 
elsewhere. This ought to be a warning to the people of this grand — 
to conserve their native forests ere it be too late. 
Man is eradled in timber, housed in timber, and coffined in timber, he 
therefore ought to take care of his cradle, his cottage, and coffin, while he can. 
I intended to have produced historical proofs of the evil effects of the 
denudation of forest lands, I will however do so, if well, on a future 
occasion. 
Amr. LVII.—The Surface Features of the Earth and Local Variations in 
the Force of Gravity. By T. B. Waxeun, B.A. 
[Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 12th September, 1882.] 
Ix a former paper the nature of the physical agent causing gravitation was 
carefully considered. This paper seeks to confirm the views expressed in 
that paper, and it will be necessary to recall three points on which much 
weight was placed. They are— 
(1) That gravitation is produced by a physical agent, the ether, which 
according to a growing belief is what is commonly understood by 
the ** electric fluid.” 
(2) That this ether is composed of corpuscules which have a very high 
velocity of rotation. 
