MENDIP HILLS FIRE.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18102, 18 June 1924, Page 5

MENDIP HILLS FIRE.

- BIG CLAIM FOR DAMAGES

HEARING CONTINUED

The heaving of tho two actions aris- ] ing out; of grass fires in tho Mendip ) Hills district was advanced another t stage yesterday in the Supreme Court, ' before Kis Honour Mr Justice Adams, I when tho cases for tho plaintiffs were j closed and tlioso lor tho defendant i opened. iho plaintiffs were Robert Kcir Mc- 1 Candtess, Parnassus*, farmer, who claimed damages amounting to £l9lß 10s, and Alister Malcolm Macfarlane, Jj&nercost, Parnassus, farmer, who claimed £4OOO damages, and tho defendant v.'as: Norman Rutherford, Mendip Hills, Parnassus, statiou-hold'pr. Mr 0. T. J, Alpers, with liira Mr H. J). A eland, appeared for Mc-Candless, and Mr Acland, with. him Mr Alpers and A. Cuthbert, for Macfarlane. I ho defendant was represented by Mr j M. J. Gresson, wtik him Mr C. S. Thomas. * I Both cases are being taken together, | Plaintiffs' Oaso Continued. Ernest Courtney Webb, manager of the Brookside station, said: ho had thirty years experience of tussock country. ilo inspected plaintiff's properties in February, and again last week. He considered the country was secondclass tussock country. There was certainly dantUonia also growing on tho land. He thought that the chief feeding grasses were tussock, and the grasses associated with them. He corroborated what had been said concerning the extent of the damage. lie would assess the damage to Macfarlane's property at about 30s per acre, and' to McCandless's at about £2 per acre. He would have given the properties a spell until the spring after the lire hod he owned tho properties. To Mr Thomas: The firo had not uone any damage to tho land on which the fern had been growing, hut it certainly had not improved it. Ho considered that McCandless's pasture land had been damaged to the extent of £5 per acre, with 30s damage to the pasture, land on Macfarlane's property, it was not possible to sow danthonia on the land which had been covered with fern. He should not have added anything for tho damage done to the fern land. He had always been a believer in tussock for food in spring and wTien it was in seed in December to January. The edible grasses about the tussock? were also guod for food ; purposes. He thought there would be 40 per cent, danthonia on the property. He would liko to eradicate danthonia from Brookdulo because the sheep never | looked well on it. Ho had got rid of 1 iabbits on lirookyide during 1 tho last I two vears, so these could not be blamed for the condition of the sheep. He thought tussock was a bettor; feed on such land as that about Mendip HHls than danthonia. Generally speak- ; incr, gullies afforded no shelter for sheep unless there _was tussook or some other shelter on ic. Sheep would not go into fern for shelter, "hut if they were in front of fern they stopped there on the approach of a storm. He had better lambing off tussock country than in country covered with English grasses, with a certain amount of tussock mixed with. iu. At Brook-dale there were ltKXi acres of tussock and! 1500 acres of English grasses. Most of the Ifimbine: done there was done in the jTuglish pasture ' land, for t'«ir reason 'that there was more of it than of the tussock country. Sheep born on a property were better fliJm those hrouplTt to it. The chnnqe of climate accounted for this. • * : Do you "{suggest that every time you buy sheep they go back in conditiont —Yes, for the first year. ; It must be a depressing business buying sheep, then?—lt is; you try it. You aro much better off-hero. (Laughter.) A Surveyor's Evidence. Stanley Bruce Clifford, surveyor and clerk to the Cheviot County Council,

eriid he had recently inspected the pro-pert-ie's of plaintiffs. He did not- notice any tall fern on the properties, although he would not say was no such fern in the gullies. 1 ..... To Mr Gresson: He did not think that GOO acres had been burned, although he had not made an estimate of what had. Sample of Grasses Produced. James Seymour, Yaldhuvst. fanner, said on Saturday last ho part of Murray's country and part ot Mc- ] Candless's. The feed on them appeared to be very short. lie identified a I piece of tuasock (produced), which ] had been eaten by slicep 011 Murray .-s j property. He also identified some I burned tussock eaten off by sheep, and ] some rushes in a similar state. Sheep only ate rushes when very hungry. ; He identified a fern as being typical of j what grew on McCandless's property. There were grasses and weeds growing | in the fern which were edible for I sheep. He considered that there was, generally speaking, no very high ferns on McCundless's property. To Mr Gresson: There was nothing to show that the tussocks had not been eaten by rabbits. If there had been cattle on Murray's land the/ would account for the rushes produced being in their present state. William Charles Fleming, Christchurch, retired farmer, corroborated tho evidence of the previous witness regarding where the exhibits of grasses had been obtained. Value of Tuasock. Owen T. Evans, sheepfarmer, wit a twenty-two years' experience _ of tussock country, said he had inspected the two properties on two occasions. From the unburned patches ho judged that the land had been medium tussock country interspersed with danthonia, with a proportion of fern on it. Ho did not think that the fern would exceed three feet in height, even m the gullies. , On the tussock country, apart from the fern, the food for tho sheep was made up of tussock, cocksfoot,' Yorkshire fog, clover, and a number of other grasess, as distinct from danthonia. He placed littlo value on danthonia, for food purposes. He agreed with Jlr Ward'p opinion in respect of the food value of danthonia. He considered sheep woull not eat it if they could get anything else. Sheep liked a varied diet. Hj thotight that tussock had a definite food value. The most valuable part of tho food on tho properties was, he considered, tussock and the grasses growing in and about it. In a dry season tho grasses in and around tho tussocks would keep greener than tho grasses elsewhere. lio agreed that tussock had valuo for shelter, and m some cases shade for lambs, and was also valuable as protection to other grasses from frost. He thought 70 per cent, of the tussocks bad been destroyed by fire. Since the fire, somo stock could havo beon carried on tho Vxnd, but not tho upual proportion of stock. To his mind, the grasses assorted with, the tussock which had been buried would not como back again if a ton years' spell wap given tho land. To havo Surface-sown tho burned fertr area would havo been unwise. It would havo cost &2 per acre for seed and labour. In Macf arlane's case this would have involved the expenditure of £BOO, and, judging by the previous two seasons, such a procedure would have only meant throwing mon§y away. He agreed generally with Mr Freeman's evidence. To Mr Gresson: He had seen the effect of summer burns on danthonia Country elsewhere than the plaintiff s properties. So long as danthonia was . kept short it' had good food valuo. Ho had seen sheep ea.t tussock to within six inches of tho ground at Hawarden at any period 1 of the year. H© did not suggest that tussock itself was a factor in sheep food unless food was scarce and there had baen a bad season. Had tho plaintiff surface sown the land with danthonia, it might have improved tho fern land, hut he thought that cattle would havo had to be put on the land to crush out the fern. The tussocks and grasses in the 1400 acres would he depreciated oO per cent., but something had been allowed for danthonia in estimating the claim for damages. He considered that if sheep were bought and put out on the country in question, they would be worth 2s 6d less - the first year than they would subsequently. Non-suit Point Raised. ' Mr Gresson moved for a non-suit on tho ground that there was no evidence before the Court that any fire lighted . by defendant or his agents caused damago to either plaintiff. Tho evidence showed that there was a fire on the Mendip property on Thursday, January 9th, and that when the fire crossed the Leader it was still on Moridii*. No witness had spoken ofithe five spreading to Murray's and'.neither of tho plaintiff's properties was bordering on Mendip. The uncontradicted evidence, was that the fire spread from Murray's'. It not in tlie least follow that the fire was not lighted by, Murray, who was not called. It was obvious that the burden of proof that the fires which caused the damage had iiot been dis- j charged. \ Mr Alpers said tho evidence upon which he relied was that the two., properties of plaintiffs' and that of defendant were contiguous, and the evidence showed that the fires came-from Murray's from the end block and defendant said that whim he came homo the firewas all over Murray's. He also said that tho fires did in fact spread acrbs3 the Leader. There was als-) the evidence of Henderson, that 'lwj "dropped a match and took no further notice of it. The fire was lighted in the land adjoining Murray's place, which was separated from the other only by a wire fence. Mr Gresson: It is the absence of Murray that makes the case defective. No one saw the fire go from Mendip to Murray's. Mr Alpers said Sincock's evidence showed that a nor'-west wind was bloW- , ing at the time the fire wad burning. There was also the evidence of McCandless, who saw defendant in town, tho iatter stating that he could riot help him as he had no liability to him, his only liability being to Murray. If he thus admitted that lie had a liability to Murray, it whs admitted that the fire spread from his place. Hi'? Honour said he would reserve ius decision on the non-suit point mid give Mr Gresson leave to inivo it after the jury had given its verdict. THE DEFENCE. In opening the case for the defence, Mr Gresson said it was very clear that rightly or wrongly Norman Rutherford believed in summer burning. He was a sheepfarmer of many years' experience, and it had always been tho practice at Mendip to burn in summer. One of the questions for the jury to decide was whether summer burning was beneficial or not. To a certain extent it depended on climatic conditions; if the land was burnt in summer and rain fell afterwards, the country was certainly not impaired. There were two schools of farmers in the country, the first which placed its reliance on tussocks and the associated grasse?, and the other which thought that danthonia was. a valuable grass. -Siutherford bolonged to the second school, and he believed that burning was beneficial at any time, but especially so in summer before rain. The tussock men pinned their faith to tho tussqek for two reasons: First, that it afforded shelter, and,' secondly, for tho associated grasses. Tussock had not the same value as shelter on hill country where there were gullies. One

of the witnesses, "Ward, had given his opinion that danthonia was a good grasM on light land. One of the findings of the Commission which sat in 1920 was that danthonia hid a good food value. The tussock itself had no feed value until after it was burnt in the spring. In Canterbury there seemed to Le an extraordinary lack of the knowledge of danthonia. It was a grass that had come to stay in New Zealand, and it had very valuable qualities. Marlborough witnesses would say t'-at it was their experience that to* turn tussock country into danthonia largely increased the carrying capacity. A survey map of the properties Blibwedthat Macfarlane's land consisted of 552 acres in fern, SO in manuka and creek bed, and 51>6 in tussock and danthonia. McCandless's consisted of 275 acres of fern, 45 of manuka and creek, and 300 acres of tussock and danthonia. Thus it would be seen that the areas of land which might be damaged by tlie fire were SGG acres and 300 actes, and not the quantities mentioned in tho claims. Biologist's Evidence. Alfred Hyde Cockayne, Director of the Fields Division of the Department of Agriculture, said that from 1909 till 1923 he was biologist to the Department, and since 1909 much of his 4hno had been spent in an extended study of the grass lands in New Zealand. Ho inspected tho burnt land'in April, when a certain portion was unburnt. That portion gave him an idea of what the whole area was like beforo the fire. There wore darlt faces left unburnt which were closely covprbd with tussock. Another portion con: sisted of tifssock-danthonia sunny fffces, and yet another fyind of land might be described as danthonia country. Another part was clothed with light fern interspersed with English' grasses and danthonia, another wjth dense fern, and anotfier with rnapuka scrub. A good proportion' of the dark faces was covered with fern. The sunny fsceß ; were typical tussook-danthonia country, arid the majority of thejn, with the exception of those that had been burnt regularly, consisted of 50 per cent, tussock, 40 per cent, danthonia; and 10 per cent, of associated grasses. On certain portions of Macfarlane's arid McCandless's land, particularly on the levol portions, the percentage of danthonia was greater than 40 per cent. Tho fern land could not have been injured in any by being burnt. That area evidently did not provide food for she'ep except iii. odd casbs whero tracks had been made through, and a certain amount of edible vegetatioh was alongside tho tracks. The iriixod > fern and grasfc country might have a'ffdrded. a littlo more winter feed this season if it had hot been bufjit, but tho only way in Which the fern areas could be preventecl from'Bprpading was by mea,ns of frequent .fijos. He would unhesitatingly Bay that the burning of such land eyen on January 14th was a commendable practifco. Oh the dark Jacee .{eft unburnt poa, or silver tussock, was tho main grass, ai}d on the suhny frices fescuo tussock jfris abundant. At one time he was a strqng supporter of the tufcsook followers, 1 hi 6 •opinion being the bcliof that tussock was an exceedingly valuable food plant. ' Dicing the, last 14 years lie haqt given considerable, attention to the two tussocks, ana froin observation he ctfme to con: elusion that both'poa and fescue, tussocks were but rarejv oajten by «}ieep, readily eaten by rabbits, at times ,by horses, arid occasionally, by cattle, fox a very limited period after tisssbok was burnt, the fresh green shoots wero eaten by sheep more or less readily, quito readily when there was a comparative absence of other grabs. The tussock provided extremely' little feed for sheep. That was his opiiiion, alter considerable personal investigation. However, the actual seed-heads "themselves were eaten by sheep* but one of the distinguishing features of the plant was the' small number of its seed stalks. The Effect of Plreu Mr Gresson: Whiit was thi) of the fire, op danthonia? —The effbet,of tho fire on danthonia Kis been ;a; Considerable increase in tho area occupied by that, grass.' \ . Before the fire, \itnes3 continued, the country was tuss'eck-4anthojiia, land, an,d on the sunny faces there Tyb.uld be a lesser quantity of danthoniil than at present. " - ■ Mr Gresson: What are tlie wefita of danthonia? , Witness said that the tbrin as used by the CoUrt meant the two kthds of danthonias which occupied a good quantity of the second-class sheep country, and some of the first-<ilass which had not been ploughed. Ajl tlie, danthonias were of similar feed valijb when they, were managed so as to give j their maximum food value. Dahthonia j when kept low provided ' at certain : portions of tlie year a palatable and fattening feed, as did any of the English grasses that on similar country. At some portions of the year it was quite unpalatable, and iras Rejected by sheep if there wote other J&njjjish grasses or clovers available. Tho period of maximum and food value Wgs approximately between September, end of November, when the seed stalks started to develop. In the autumn it was readily oaten by sheep, even if it hr t d not been burnt in midsummer. Average good, dan : thonia properly managed was better than half-ewe country. The weakness of tho country" was that the herbage was apt to become highly unpalatable If left to run wild before December. English grasses also dried up riii like country. It was frequently Asserted that {lie most valuable period when there should be palatable grass was in the spring, and danthonia admirably fulfilled tha,t need. There waa a considerable amount of baro ground, but it would be fairly soon covered by danthonia. The fire would affect the country, considered as ewe country, as lambs would not be able to be got oft so soon, but that would be .jnadq up by a larger amount of dry stock that would bo carried. Since the fire a larger amount of edible material had been produced, but whether that was temporary or not ho could not say. Tho fire had dono no permanent damage, but it might necessitate an.alteration in the system o£ management. Apparently the present owner had thought danthonia detrimental; and endeavoured to keep the tussock as large as possible. Mr Gresson: How soqn could you put sheep on a burn after rain? Witness: "In five to seven weeks." He would not advise anybody to take Dr. Hilgendorf's advice that after a burn in January sheep should not be put on until November. The danthonia should bo kept as short as possible to avoid the growth of innuttltious vegetation. The lower slopes of the Pbjrt j Hills might be described as danthonia country, and the higher slopes aa tUs-sock-danthonia. The majority of the sheep lauds on Banks Peninsula Were chiefly danthonia, although English grasses were present. If danthonia could bo kept short one could wish for nothing better, but farm practice did riot allow that. A good many of thb tussocks on the sunny faces would in a few years give way to danthbnia. In thousands or acres in tho South j Island, notably Marlborough, tho tussock had disappeared, and had taken its jjlace. Witness 'said he would always view summer burning afe detrimental if a lamer wished to "keep tussock on his property. ' Cybßß-E?^riitnation. Mr Alpers read witness extracts froip an article written by him 'in 'the Journal of Agriculture" in 'l9lO. Thb

article began: "Before detailing the immense damage that burning; has caused and'4B causing. •< .• . Witness stated that he" was still of the opinion that "every- care should 'be taken to kqep the-tussock- as 'intactii,s possible, less the u^f factors of wind and"dryness should an,; immediate destruction of. the-feed-ing grasses" on-country witlr,considerably less than 20 inches pf rainfall. He did not ltnow, the <ainfalL at; Parnassus, but he thought that -'it would be SO inches than .- SO . inches. I lie.would not'approve spblUnSf.'Jitftcf?iriano's p#operty after.'! a; burnj ,■ as I yfiegrass was not present .- anjr quantity. Bluegrass. had iio more food, value than danthonia in his : opinion. Cocksfoot was the only grass" likelj' to be eaten out by sheep pl(tbed on after burning, and it would life benefited by spelling, unless the ,Cocksfoot had been killed arid the country lyas Rapidly boirig covered by danthonia. On ' Mac,farlane's propdirty the ■ da?k faces had i|uaiititioß of (Socljpfoot. He would al* w4ys cbndeinn Biunmer burning on where danthopiardid-not,.occupy mbst oi the ground. He would . never deliberately . burn ' iff ; the "summer country with 10 per/ oerit. English but would prefer to do it in the! spring. In ,19 t 10 he was ; a^^ 86 all kinds of bUming, and .comment made by him. under'a ,titlo;of "Summer Burning" still applied in Central Otago. In fact, lie Was still against spring buini>g on* counti-y which had a .raiiifall of lu inches pet year, as regeneration did hot follow. There' were twb, schools in, 1910, and even at the present day there were men who believed ( that tussock, was, superior to dtihtlibnk in point of food Value. In 1910 one school believed in burning ?nd another in -non-burning; in 1924, one schibi believed in burning and, the other'in. burning any tinie, the original non-burning school having practically disappeared. cattle were not Usbd on tho danthonia land,' burning waa necessary. In Canterbury, the spring burtiers" and theas possible" were dominant. ''Mr Alpers asked,what witness would say of the opinion of Cautejbuify farmers, who' produced the famous "prime Canterbury." Mr Gresson: Not on this sort of land. Witness: I would be delighted to know that half-ewe, country is producing "prime Canterbury." Mr Alpers aisked if witness would contradict the body of Carite-rbury farnier3 which disapproved of summer burning. " Witness: No, but tho 180,000 acres of rape grown in Canterbury hato more to do" with the "prime Canterbury." In further cr«sa-eiamination, w;itness gjii'd there was speculation as to whether a mixture oi danthonia, English grasses and tusspek .was not fetter than pure danthonia. In 191 Che had Said in an article that summer burning on tijssftck , botjn.try was universally rejected. Witness did not agTee with Dr. Hilgeftdorf's views on tugsoclc lapd and danthonia. At timeS even experienced. sheepfariners might mistake danihoriia for certain English grasses. If the Macfarlane country had been burnt every Bpring, tiie result of the fire would, not hfcye been so disastrous to t)jo, laAd.. The Mse was then adjourned until 10. a.m. to-day.