118 J. H. MAIDEN. 



the whole State for the sake of one town. What really is 

 at stake is the rich soil aiong the whole course of the river 

 and we should do all we can to prevent this marrow of the 

 country from being wasted. 



d. Chamfering the banks. — I would recommend that the 

 soft banks be chamfered in some places. Where soft banks 

 overhang, as we see in many places, they fall over and 

 tear away enormous quantities of soil. One sees the 

 remains of trees in many of these banks, and they do damage 

 in precisely the same way as do the imbedded boulders 

 already referred to. 



e. Planting and conservation. — It appears to be very 

 necessary to educate the people not to destroy timber and 

 other vegetation on the banks and in the beds of creeks, 

 and in certain places to proceed with replanting. It is 

 quite true that replanting may in many cases mean the 

 utilization of good land ; it is equally true that if remedial 

 measures be not proceeded with there will eventually be no 

 good land left to plant on at all. Planting close to the 

 edge is, I reiterate, a mistake, and arises from a natural 

 desire to make the most of the land, to cultivate as much 

 as possible for crops or grass. But trees and other plants 

 placed too near the edge of a friable bank may be a source 

 of danger and not a real protection, since they may act as 

 a lever to break down the banks. 



1. Natural bank protectors. — Let us observe the inter- 

 lacing and ramification of the roots of trees in good soil 

 (such as these flats and river banks). It is very extensive 

 and their mechanical action in arresting washaways is 

 obvious. One can see evidence that the banks of the Upper 

 Hunter streams were much more lined with trees than at 

 present. In many parts of the Hunter and its tributaries 

 one sees large river oaks (many of them past their prime) 

 leaving no descendants to continue their work of bank pre- 



