Lower tussock country in better shape

Press, 15 June 1979, Page 9

Lower tussock country in better shape

Last Friday Mr R. D. (Doug) Dick retired from the position of chief soil conservator with the North Canterbury Catchment Board.

He joined the board on March 1, 1946. He was then the first soil conservator to be appointed by a catchment authority in New Zealand.

In all parts of the Canterbury countryside, with which he has been associated since, he has seen significant change. In general, the lower altitude tussock grasslands (up to about 920 m or 3000 ft) were in better condition today then they were 30 years ago, he said last week in reflecting on those changes.

The restriction and control of fire had been a major factor in this improvement, he said, and aerial oversowing and topdressing, together with the dropping of fencing material from the air, had provided a new opportunity to improve this country.

Over that period, he said that there had been great changes in the management of the pastoral lands of the high country. Burning of grasslands and scrub had been restricted and fire had been followed by special treatment — mainly aerial oversowing and topdressing — to improve the vegetation for stock production and combined with this had been additional fencing to allow controlled grazing. A particular purpose of this had also been to increase the density of the vegetative cover to protect the soil from erosion.

Some of the higher land on the mountain slopes —■ the so-called class 8 country — with sparse vegetation, which had been unable to sustain grazing, had been retired from grazing by sheep and would be used primarily for soil and water conservation.

On all of the runs where quite large areas had been retired from grazing under soil and water conservation run plans, subsequent production had been increased because of the improvement of the remaining grasslands. The object had been to reduce soil erosion, which had been largely brought about by the management of the land since settlement, although geological erosion continued as it had done in the past. Referring to the part that the aeroplane had payed in the improvement o; the tussock grasslands, Mr Dick recalled that in October, 1949, the North Canterbury board, in conjunction with Sir John McAlpine, had initiated the first aerial seeding and topdressing in Canterbury

on Craigieburn. Mr John Brazier, of Christchurch, had been the chief pilo't on this occasion of the two aircraft that had experimented and carried out this operation.

At that time an effort was made to sow a native seed, danthonia, which was unsuccessful, but later using clovers and cocksfoot seed sown in the late winter or very early spring surprising success had been achieved.

The wide use of the aeroplane and helicopter to drop fencing material had also enabled fences to be erected where they would not otherwise have been able to be put, so that the combination of the use of the aeroplane in oversowing and topdressing and the helicopter in fencing to facilitate management of the improved grasslands had combined to bring about revolutionary changes iji the use and management of this country. But these changes were not only confined to the higher country. On the plains Mr Dick said that a major work had been the encouragement of the planting of trees for wind break shelter, also to prevent soil erosion.

From the days when wide belts of Pinus radiata and Cupressus macrocarpa and some gum trees (Eucalyptus globulus) had been planted, there had been a change in recent years to the stage where only two or three rows were planted, with a slow growing tree on the windward or westerly side and a fast growing tree on the Leeward side. The fast growing tree was still the Pinus radiata, while the slower growing ones might be cedars, Cupressus arizonica or some eucalyptus species. And in addition to the diversification of species to prevent windthrow, great changes had also taken place in methods of planting, from planting trees direct into the grasslands to the land in the rows being first “ripped” and the pasture and weeds killed by spraying. This had helped in the achievement of a 90 per cent establishment with the young trees where previously in dry seasons the establishment had been

less than 50 per cent and perhaps only 20 per cent. During his time with the board it had encouraged and assisted with the planting of more than 600 km (375 miles') of wind break shelter, which was equivalent in extent to 12 times across the plains from the sea to the foot of the mountains.

But from surveys that had been made about double the number or length of shelter belts was required on the Canter-

bury plains to improve the environment for animals, plants and man. This would certainly increase the production of the land whether it was under irrigation or dryland farming systems.

In the early 1950 s Mr Dick said that he had carried out soil erosion surveys on the Port Hills and recommended the then unused practice of grassing down orchards to help prevent soil erosion, but over the years since this had gradually become common practice.

More recently, because of soil erosion on the Port Hills bordering Christchurch, all of the land occupiers had been required to obtain a permit before they were allowed to bulldoze or bare the soil. The relative soil stability surveys that were carried out acted as a guide and help in the issue of these permits, and also in the review of the town and

country planning district schemes on this hill country.

It was interesting to note, commented Mr Dick, that while the catchment board had now come to the city, town and country planning had also moved into the high country, as in the review of the county district schemes all land was now classified into different categories — rural or urban — and in this process information in the land capability plans of the catchment board for rural areas was helping. Mr Dick has had a varied career, and his long association with the countryside and farmers has enabled him to establish a ready rapport with the country people among whom much of his work has been done. He was bom at Weston in North Otago in 1914, the son of a farmer. He was educated at Waitaki Boys’ High School, Otago University and Lincoln College, where in 1938 he graduated master of agricultural science. While at Waitaki and Lincoln he was prominent in sports. He captained the school First XV and First XI, and in 1931 as an opening bat set a record for the school and North Otago when in senior club cricket he scored 254 and 157 runs in successive innings. At Lincoln he captained the college XV for one year, played for the Country tream for two seasons and also South Island Universities. While at Lincoln, with Don Gordon he initiated and organised the first New Zealand Universities’ ski tournament at Temple Basin in 1938. In the same year, when he was president of the Students’ Association at the college, he was also the first representative from the college to attend the New Zealand Universities’ Association.

Before he became interested in mountaineering Mr Dick went deerstalking in the valleys of northwest Otago, when there still were herds of 50 and more deer.

He came into mountaineering in the early stages of amateur climbing — that is unguided climbing

— in the 19305. With Harry Stevenson in 1937 he did a pioneer traverse of Mount Aspiring and in 1940 of Mounts Cook and Tasman. On the traverse of Cook he and his companion climbed from the Tasman side by the Zurbriggen ridge to the summit peak, along the summit ridge and descended into the Hooker. On this climb they travelled in the reverse direction to that normally followed and the Zurbriggen ridge had not been climbed since 1905.

Out of Lincoln Mr Dick joined the entomology division of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research in 1939. In this capacity he worked in Canterbury being seconded to Lincoln College for facilities.

At the beginning of 1941 he went into the jArmy and subsequently served as an officer in the Sth Brigade of the 3rd New Zealand Division in the Pacific. After he returned to New Zealand he spent a year on the home mixed cropping and fat lamb farm in North Otago and at this stage very nearly went into a farming career. It was after this on March 1, 1946, that he came to the North Canterbury Catchment Board. At the 10th New Zealand science congress in 1962 conservation was given the status of a separate section for the first time and Mr Dick was chairman of it. In 1969 he was the convener of the committee that organised the first conservation week in Christchurch, and in 1972 this committee organised the Christchurch Urban Environment Week, during which the mayors of Christchurch and Kaiapoi and the chairmen of the counties nearby made up a panel in an open forum in the Civic Theatre when environmental problems in the city were discussed under Mr Dick’s chairmanship.

Then in 1977 the Port Hills Research Co-ordinat-ing Committee was set up with Mr Dick as chairman to advise on research on the Port Hills and report to the catchment board.

In 1955-56 he was president of the New Zealand Soil Conservators’ Association, of which he is an honorary life member; in 1959-60 he was president of the New Zealand Alpine Club; in 1960-61 president of the Lincoln College Old Students’ Association; and in 1977 he was elected a fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Agricultural Science. He also served as chairman of a committee that erected an interdenominational chapel at Arthur’s Pass.