412 



Mr. J. A. Wilson said tie had made many inquiries amongst the old inhabitants about 

 a wave that reached the Bay of Islands shortly after the great earthquake at Concepcion, 

 but he had not been able to glean many particulars. 



The Chairman said they could easily ascertain the telegraphic times of the late tidal 

 wave's impinging on New Zealand, as these were recorded at the time, and transmitted 

 to the General Government. 



Papers read : — 



( 1. ) "On the Surface-fall of Water, as a guide for Under Drainage, " by J. Baber, C. E. 

 (See ante, p. 213. ) 



Mr. Stewart, C.E., said Mr. Baber's plan was very good so long as the ground was 

 pretty regular, but it would not do for a rolling field where the drains could not be put 

 in. In all cases he was of opinion the chains should be placed as nearly parallel as 

 possible, whether they were 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, or 22 feet apart, and so on, but not at 

 right angles to the contour. The smaller drains might be of one and a-half inch tiles, and 

 the larger of three inches, with a main drain also at right angles. The object of a drain 

 was not only to take water off the surface, but also to let water and air into it. 



Captain Hutton was disposed to agree with Mr. Baber, for if the ground was steep 

 and the line of swiftest descent chosen, the drains would speedily choke. 



Mr. Buckland said they might place their drains as they pleased, but water would 

 go downhill, and the steeper the quicker. 



Mr. Baber : But suppose you have a hill ? 



Mr. Buckland : We take them "ound a hill, and then we must take off the water 

 slowly. One of the greatest difficulties was when they came to a land spring ; they must 

 tap that. 



Mr. David Hay said they would find a good guide to draining in the vegetation that 

 grew on the top of it. No general rule could be laid down, however, except for clay soils, 

 and for these only if of an equal medium. Sometimes they were placed 15 or 20 feet apart, 

 according to the quality of the sod. All drains should be angled where the ground was 

 steep, but those drains that were semi-circular had been found to draw better. The 

 ditches should also be well scoured out, and wells sunk at the mouth of each drain. It 

 was well known that drained ground was several degrees warmer than the undrained, and 

 where air and moistare got to the roots of plants vegetation proceeded better. 



Mr. Buckland said he believed that deep drains, or any kind of drains, were of little 

 value unless they also subsoiled the 'ground. In the neighbourhood of Mangere it had 

 been observed that the drains did not carry off the water as before, and the cause, he 

 thought, was that the land had been "puddled" by the cattle. The effect of draining 

 on the potato crop was in some cases very remarkable. Immediately over the drain the 

 potatoes were saved, while all around they were lost with rot for want of proper drainage. 

 He doubted if Mr. Baber's theory could be reduced to practice, for nothing, in his opinion, 

 could regulate drainage but the gravitation of the water. 



Mr. Boardman said they had just heard two statements that he cotild not reconcile. 

 Mr. Buckland said the potatoes were saved by being over the drain, and yet Mr. Stewart 

 said they were required to put water into the ground. Now, there was no logical 

 sequence in the two statements, for on Mr. Buckland's theory the potatoes supplied with 

 the additional water would rot. 



Mr. Stewart : But when sub-soiling and deep-drainage are carried out, the sub-soil 

 becomes the right soil, and the surplus water is taken off by deep drains. 



Captain Hutton said, with reference to the remark of Mr. Buckland that deep drains 

 did not carry off water now so quickly as formerly, he might observe that the surface of 

 the volcanic soil of New Zealand was not soil, but soil in the process of formation. 

 Volcanic soils do not decompose very rapidly, as we see at the Shortland diggings, where 

 the sod is a tenacious mud. Where the soil is light and porous, drainage is easy, but 

 light volcanic soils will get heavier ; and he thought, if the drains alluded to by Mr. 

 Buckland were too far apart, that would account for the difference. 



Mr. Baber said that chains should always be at right angles to the contour of the 

 land. 



The Chairman said that no rale was applicable, but there were a few general rules 

 that might serve as a guide. Mr. Baber's plan not to run the drain straight across had 

 not been well understood, but these drains would then lie in the line of steepest descent, 

 while, by placing them at right angles to the contour, Mr. Baber only stated what was in 

 harmony with a general law. 



(2. ) A communication from Mr. Hawkins, North Shore, relative to the decrease in 

 the quantity of honey found in beehives was read by the Secretary, in which the author 

 gave, as his opinion, that the reason was owing to the honey -producing shrubs being 

 destroyed by browsing, and that the honey -yielding districts had become overstocked 

 with bees. 



Mr. Buckland said his son was a bee-man, and his experience corroborated the 

 observations that had been made this night, and at previous meetings. He had found 



