The Grey River Argus WEDNESDAY, April 11, 1945. LOSS OF SOIL.

Grey River Argus, 11 April 1945, Page 4

The Grey River Argus WEDNESDAY, April 11, 1945. LOSS OF SOIL.

As a pastoral area the West Coast may not compare with many oilier provinces, but that is a, reason why the best should be made of such soil as it does possess. A correspondent to-day calls attention to the loss of soil due to dredging, and is justified in questioning whether, in the long ntn, gold extracted from _ pastoral country is worth the soil that is lost thereby. No doubt a deal of the area being dredged would have remained out of use for decades, but it is reasonable to expect thqt in future no area with pastoral possibilities, and certainly noiie already bearing pasture,* should be granted for dredging without provision for the restoration of the soil. It has been contended that such a thing is not practicable, but our correspondent points out that in other countries methods arc adopted whereby the soil is restored. Various methods by which this might be done on the West Coast arc quoted, and these are at least worthy of a proper and sustained trial. The Government possesses machinery which is capable of saving a vast amount of soil, and the companies which are exploiting gold deposits should have an obligation either io equip themselves with such machinery, or to arrange with the State to strip the soil as a preliminary to dredging. .It might be feasible even to improve sonic of the areas in question by means of re-soiling. The various methods mentioned by our correspondent offer a choice. Vendors of .land for dredging arc interested only in their own immediate return, and too many others are prone to view with equanimity the dissipation of the soil. Such an attitude is largely due to ignorance of the fact that one inch of soil may represent nature’s work for a century in providing a. basis of subsistence for posterity. The days when New Zealanders could regard their national resources as inexhaustible in comparison to population have passed. Cor the future wealth production will entail a more farsighted and sustained form of exertion, and conservation of the soil, must be the foundation of that exertion.