Institute In Southern High Country

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29744, 10 February 1962, Page 6

Institute In Southern High Country

On their recent visit to the Otago and Southland high countrymembers of the Tussock Grasslands and Mountain Lands Institute had seen enough to justify their policy of wholehearted support of the conservation farm plan system and their belief that this system represented a sincere effort to conserve national resources and to assist runholders in maintaining sound properties, said the director of the institute, Mr L. W. McCaskill, this week.

It had also been found that there was great interest in the work of the institute in its attempts to co-ordinate research affecting the high country.

In the course of their travels the management committee of the institute travelled by launch across Lake Wakatipu to visit Mount Nicholas station of about 100,000 acres, which is occupied by Mr P. Hunt. Mr McCaskill, said that this station was subject of a farm plan prepared by the Otago Catchment Board in co-op-eration with the Departments of Lands, Agriculture and Scientific and Industrial Research and a stock and station firm—“an outstanding example of a team job.”

Some 12,000 acres of severely eroded country had been withdrawn from grazing and made a conservation reserve and a further 33,000 acres would be grazed by cattle alone. Mr McCaskill said that one of the major objectives was to increase production of the lower country to enable it to take the stock withdrawn from the tops and a further aim was to reduce sheep and increase cattle numbers.

The scheme, which had been in full operation for only about a year, was being carried out under the provisions of the Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Act with the Soil Council providing subsidies. Members of the committee travelled by jeep up a winding and steep track to reach a point about 4600 ft up to view the efforts at revegetation and stabilisation of very badly eroded country at Mid Dome, about five miles south of Athol. Ranging from 1150 ft to 4826 ft the area comprises 1600 acres of which 500 acres are estimated to be shingle fans and screes. An early fire in 1857 followed by the invasion of the rabbit from 1880 on-

ward with overgrazing by domestic animals have been the primary cause of recent chaotic conditions at Mid Dome.

Mr McCaskill said the members of the committee had been particularly inters ested in the success of Pinus contorta or murrayana at high altitudes—above 3500 ft —on severely eroded areas where it had originally been thought that native vegetation would not regenerate. The opinion had been expressed. however that because of the danger of Pinus contorta seeding and spreading under favourable circumstances. extreme caution should be taken in its planting on sites where it might constitute a menace to surrounding farm land. Mr McCaskill said that the visitors had also been impressed by the tremendous recovery of snowgrass and wild Spaniard in the absence of grazing by stock and rabbits, and there was general support for the idea that the area should be used for intensive studies of the regeneration of snowgrass. A call was also made on the adjoining Lowther conservation zone. Here for years shingle has been discharged out of two eroded catchments onto the main highway and on to rich agricutural land on the flat, six farms being seriously affected by shingle deposits up to 3 and 4ft deep. It is also threatening a drainage system on more than 5000 acres. Mr McCaskill said that a catchment control scheme costing £17,000 had ’ been approved, of which the local share of £4400 had been apportioned under classification. The interesting thing here was that about half of the focal share was being met by down country farmers in the hope that some day they would derive some benefit from wprk done in the catchment. '

Institute members were very impressed with the vigour with which the Lands Department was prosecuting a programme for the rehabilitation of the Eyre Creek catchment, said Mr McCaskill. Eyre creek is a major tributary of the Mataura river between Athol and Garston. Interest in the catchment had started, he said, when a run of 4500 acres had been abandoned in 1943 and its rehabilitation had been undertaken by a committee representative of the Southland Catchment Board, the

Department of Agriculture and the Lands Department using results on Mid Dome. Because of the problem that the creek was to both the railway and the road the Southland Catchment Board had been interested in a catchment control scheme for the area, but when the Lands Department had the opportunity to buy out the main run in the catchment. Stratheyre, they were able, by making adjustments with adjoining runholders, to form a block of 51.000 acres which they propose to rehabilitate using improved farm mangement methods, with the ultimate object of resettlement.

They still plan to run sheep on the lower part of the catchment—a fine Romney flock is envisaged—but most of the grazing, and particularly in problem areas, will be confined to cattle. A year ago 200 heifers were moved to the area from Molesworth and a further 100 local cattle were put on. In the last 11 months 1100 chains of fencing have been erected and a year ago 1200 deer were taken out of the catchment. Mr McCaskill, said that deer were likely to be a real problem on oversown areas and to neces. sitate constant attention. The area also has its own air strip. Mr McCaskill said it was estimated that when the rehabilitation programme was completed about 60 per cent, of the catchment would be capable of being grazed. A visit was also made to the 2090-acre area of snow tussock near St. Bathans, which was made available to the Otago Catchment Board by the late Mr J. McK. Morgan for experiments and demonstrations aimed at finding a method of handling this country other than by burning. This venture naw in its initial stages was also another example of team work with the Catchment Board. Department of Agriculture and Soil Bureau working together, said Mr McCaskill. On the Moutere station of Mr Robert Jopp and Son near Alexandra the institute committee looked into how 430 acres of lucerne and lucerne mixtures are used for the benefit of hill country on the station by rotational spelling. Mr McCaskill said that carrying capacity had been doubled on the 430 acres, in addition 3000 bales of hay were saved for winter feed and it enabled surplus stock to be sold as fats instead of stores.