THE PASSING OF THE BUSH. 
HE object of these papers on the 
9 S disappearance of our forests 
and the necessity for replacing 
them is not so much to supply 
information as to rouse public interest 
in a matter of vast national importance. 
which hitherto has attracted far too 
little notice here, and which involves 
most serious danger and irreparable loss 
to our country if it is any longer ig- 
nored. Generally speaking, the Passing 
of the Bush has been regarded by most 
people who have thought about the mat- 
ter in one of two alternative ways, ac- 
cording to the temperament of the think- 
er. The sensitive and aesthetically- 
minded folk have thought of the bush 
mostly as a highly picturesque asset 
among our manifold scenic attractions, 
and they have deplored its disappearance 
chiefly because it means the destruc- 
tion of natural beauty, which can never 
be restored. On the other hand, the 
practical, hard-headed men of the world, 
whose attention has been called to the 
subject, have considered the vanishing 
of our forests chiefly from the standpoint 
of our timber supply; and they regret 
the approaching extinction of the kauri 
and other indigenous trees mostly be- 
cause it will mean higher prices and 
heavier cost of production in the build- 
ing trade and other associated industries. 
No doubt these views are all important 
enough in their way; but there are other 
aspects of the case, which, to my mind, 
demand far more urgent consideration. 
It does not seem to be generally under- 
stood, or, at least, generally appreciat- 
ed that the destruction of our forests 
means a great deal more to us all than 
the loss of timber or the vanishing of 
picturesque scenic effects. And it is be- 
cause too little attention has hitherto 
been paid here to the effects of the 
wholesale destruction of our bush on 
the climate, the soil, and the fertility 
and reproductive power of the country 
that I desire to impress upon my read- 
ers with the utmost possible emphasis, 
the magnitude of the evils caused by 
deforestation. 
WORDS OF WARNING. 
I have suggested above that the most 
important effects of the destruction of 
bush or forest are those bearing upon the 
climate, soil, and fertility of the country. 
There is nothing original in this state- 
ment. It may be found in any ordinary 
geography; but the trouble is that we 
seldom apply generalisations. of this 
kind to our own case. Yet, so far as 
New Zealand is concerned, the evils to 
which I am referring, were long ago 
officially and authoritatively recognised. 
There lies before me a copy of a paper 
on “The Climatic and Financial Aspects 
of Forest Conservancy as applicable to 
New Zealand,” read before the N.Z. In- 
stitute at Wellington in 1877. The 
paper was written by Captain Campbell- 
Walker, then Conservator of State For- 
ests for the Colony, and it shows in 
every page that the dangers resulting 
from the indiscriminate destruction of 
the bush were even thirty years ago 
clearly. realised and vigorously impress- 
ed upon the minds of our legislators and 
administrators. 
Captain Campbell-Walker deals first 
with the effects of timber felling on clim- 
ate, and he finds ‘fa host of evidence 
tending to prove that the general de- 
struction of forests has rendered climate 
more trying, less equable, and devoid of 
sufficient moisture; in short, hag caused 
