112 J. H. MAIDEN. 



now under consideration, it is of course, a matter as to 

 how far expenditure of effort and money are justified by 

 the results they secure. 



Let us not act as if we were content simply for the 

 agricultural flats to last our time and then "Apres nous le 

 deluge." Like the nuggets of gold, and the forest monarchs 

 (now sadly diminishing) we convert into timber, human 

 agency has done nothing to produce them. Let us not deal 

 with these rich flats simply as if they are capital to be got 

 rid of in a brief period, but rather let us act in the capacity 

 of faithful trustees, realizing that maintenance of the pro- 

 perty is expenditure that must be incurred, and that it is 

 vital to the very existence of the property. 



IV. Intelligent Control of Ringbarking. 

 Going back to ultimate beginnings, to the creeklets, the 

 source of all the troubles is the indiscriminate ringbarking 

 and cutting down of vegetation by individual owners. The 

 ringing or felling of trees in paddocks is of course necessary, 

 but the requirements of the natural drainage seem not to 

 be considered. The consequence is that in the dry creeks 

 rifts appear, which gradually widen and carry soil, often 

 the best soil, into the creeks and so on ad infinitum. The 

 remedy lies in the intelligent control of ringbarking. Where 

 there is an even contour of the land the operation is usually 

 safe enough, but directly the land shows widening depres- 

 sions that may carry water to lower levels, then operations 

 should be undertaken with caution, since the water goes 

 along the line of least resistance. In every paddock there 

 is a getaway for the water, or if not, the water will make 

 one. This getaway is the weak point of the paddock or 

 other tract of country, but very often it receives no special 

 notice or consideration. The trouble is accentuated in rich 

 lands simply because of the finer texture or friability of 

 such soils. 



