Puprercorne.—On the Influence of Forests on Climate and Rainfall, 31 
Enough has now been said to show the calamitous consequences of 
denuding a country of its woods and forests, and to show that writers of 
repute, who have made this subject their special study, are unanimous in 
connecting the occurrence of droughts and famines, the drying up of lakes 
and rivers, together with the outbreak of certain malarious epidemics, with 
the reckless destruction and waste of forests. 
We are, in Australia and New Zealand, much in the same position as 
the inhabitants of India in this respect, and we are only beginning to feel 
the effects of the wholesale destruction of our forests. In New Zealand 
particularly, the forest question is a vital one, and the sooner it is grappled 
with the better it will be for the colony, the question being one which will 
so greatly influence its future prosperity, together with its commercial value 
as a colony, its climate, and its salubrity. 
In a very interesting paper by Dr. Hector, showing the percentage 
of our forest land to the whole area of the colony, his estimate is, that 
between the years 1830 and 1868 the destruction of forests was as follows :— 
In the Province of Auckland F im i .. 58 per cent. 
2 Taranaki SS se "T Trey | Boar 
€ Wellington * 20 . 
re Hawke’s Bay 60 , 
us Nelson .. ‘ 16 
» Canterb ii 
»5 Marlborough . > š 1 
is Otago... s m es uc dE 
Showing that the average destruction during these thirty-eight years was 
about 25 per cent. During the five years from 1868 to 1878, it was esti- 
mated that of what remained in 1868, the following was destroyed :— 
In the Province of Auckland << s zs .. 27 per cent. 
is naki ká = ae 2 EE sere 
» s sa ^ c AD x 
i Hawke’s Bay .. sx em «da. ae 
A Nelson .. as ES Ped ey 
e Marlborough «428 
= Canterbury za oe E «x U y 
n Westland c es 21 
n Otago  .. kė a a soc I. 
In other words, taking the whole colony, 20 per cent. of what forest 
remained in 1868 had been destroyed during the five years ending in 1878 ! 
It will be observed that in these estimates the Province of Hawke’s Bay 
stands pre-eminent in its ‘‘bad eminence” for destructiveness of forests, 
which, if it continues in the same ratio, will leave it with very little, if any, 
standing timber in the year 1899, or in twenty years hence. 
