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but the requirements of the natural drainage seem not to be considered. The con- 
sequence 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 Aveak 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. 
The State of New South Joules is mainly made up of paddocks! The paddock 
is the unit in considering the effects of erosion. Much of the mischief has already 
been done, but intelligent conservation of existing and future trees has vast possi- 
bilities for good. It ought to be made penal to ringbark up to a certain distance 
from a watercourse, or to cut down a river oak on any of the rivers (watercourses), 
except under a special license only to be obtained after due inquiry. The reason of 
the suggestions is that improper ringing and felling affects the riparian owner lower 
down, and he has quite enough difficulties to contend with, which are beyond human 
control, to be victimised by the ignorant act of his fellow-man higher up the stream. 
I could give an instance Avhere a man cut down river oaks to make culverts ; the 
river oak timber is now perished, and if he had gone but a few yards away he could 
have got almost imperishable ironbark. He now has to repair his culvert, but his 
river oaks are gone, his banks are falling away where he removed them, and a larger 
culvert is noAV required. In tlie case of a casual labourer, this would have been 
termed living from hand to mouth. In the present instance, it is miserable expe- 
diency and opportunism unworthy of thinking men. If the results of acts like these 
Avould alone affect the doer, we could view the matter with complacency. 
(a) Shelter for stock should be adequate. Shelter for stock is necessary ; a 
few acres of trees should be left, and not an odd tree or t\vo, which die out. The 
ruthless cutting down or sapping of trees has its basis in self-interest. A man desires 
to get the fullest advantage out of his land, and until it comes home to him that he 
is acting against his own interest in not conserving sufficient trees, he will blunder 
along. The advantage of leaving adequate shelter for stock is so obvious as not to 
be arguable. 
(b) Danger of cutting trees too near the watercourses. All over the State 
people have made a mistake in sapping too near the rivers and Avatercourses. The 
dry, dead timber at the edge of the watercourse no longer holds the banks, for 
the reason that their roots have shrivelled and decayed, and have no gripping 
power ; then the tree gets top-heavy, and breaks down tjie banks, and th,e secon.d 
chapter of mischief begins. 
