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Third Meeting: 6th July, 1910.
Present: Mr. R. M. Laing (President), in the chair, and over eighty others.
New Members.—Miss Margaret Richardson, Mr. W. B. North, and Drs. E. A. Washbourn and F. J. Borrie.
Paper.—“Additions to the Fish Fauna of New Zealand,” by Edgar R. Waite, F.L.S. (see p. 25).
Address.—“The Permanent Pastures of New Zealand,” by Mr. A. H. Cockayne, Government Biologist.
The lecturer said that in New Zealand, where the pastoral interest occupied the premier position, the grass crops were the most important asset. Of the 38,000,000 acres in occupation, grass lands claimed 36,000,000 acres, or 92 per cent. There could be added another 5 per cent. for those crops, such as turnips and rape, which supplemented the grass in times of scarcity. The grass crops were the backbone of the rural industry. In dealing with his subject, it was necessary to divide pastures into two sections—viz., permanent and temporary pastures. The permanent pastures were those which remained in a more or less stable condition for many years, and did not enter into any system of crop-rotation. Temporary pastures were those which occupied a most important part in reference to crop-rotation, and did not remain in a stable condition for any length of time. Of the 36,000,000 acres of grass land, 22,000,000 were still in their original condition. They had not been sown in any way, and a large percentage was occupied by the tussock region There were 9,000,000 acres of grass land which had been formed from forests, and there were 5,000,000 acres which had been ploughed and sown, chiefly by machinery.
The lecturer then proceeded to show a number of lantern-slides showing the different kinds of pasture in various parts of New Zealand, and the methods of producing them. The series illustrating the transformation of rough forest land into fine pasture land, graced with a homestead, and flocks and herds, was a particularly informing and interesting one, the various stages from the “burn” to the final scene of pastoral perfection being capitally illustrated. A number of subsequent pictures showed the disastrous results which had followed overstocking and the injudicious burning of tussock. In these cases the land had become depleted, and its stock-carrying capacity reduced enormously. A painful illustration of the point
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was provided by a number of views from the Clyde district in Central Otago, a view of the land being shown in its original state, with another view of it after its depletion. One fact was stated to show the effect on the pastoral industry. In 1890 there were 441,000 sheep in Vincent County; in 1910 there were only 277,000. If it were not for the wing thistle, erroneously called the “star” thistle, the land would lose still more of its carrying-capacity. Views were also shown of land in Canterbury which had suffered through the destruction of the tussock by injudicious burning. The lecturer said that the restocking of the land with grasses presented a very difficult problem, and it must necessarily be a slow process. He showed a number of views of American areas which exhibited the same depletion, and remarked that experiments for their restoration to usefulness had so far resulted in failure. The views of Australian and American pasture were interesting as affording comparisons with New Zealand, as well as by introducing to the audience the grasses most affected in those countries.
Mr. D. D. Macfarlane thanked the Institute for sending an invitation to the committee of the Agricultural and Pastoral Association to be present. They had listened to the address with very much interest. It was a fact that the carrying-capacity of runs in Canterbury was decreasing every year. That was partly due to continual burning, partly to overstocking, partly to rabbits and other causes. The chief cause, probably, was the insecurity of tenure. If a tenant had a secure tenure, and his improvements were conserved to him, he would see that his country was not destroyed. Every one knew it was necessary to do a certain amount of burning, but it should be done in the spring-time, and in sections which precluded the possibility of the fire spreading over the whole country.
Mr. J. Stevenson also referred with appreciation to the lecture, and remarked that the views of the depletion of land in America and Central Otago should be a warning to pastoralists to do everything in their power to preserve their pasture lands.
There was some discussion as to whether the original pastoralists, before putting sheep among the tussocks, had had a “burn,” but no definite information appeared to be available.
Mr M. Murphy, who briefly referred to the evils of overstocking and injudicious burning, proposed a vote of thanks to the lecturer, and this was carried unanimously.
This account is taken from the Christchurch Press, to which thanks are due.