SOIL EROSION IN N.Z. NOT AS BAD AS IN UNITED STATES

Grey River Argus, 1 March 1949, Page 2

SOIL EROSION IN N.Z. NOT AS BAD AS IN UNITED STATES

DUNEDIN, February 28. Soil erosion in New Zealand was not nearly so serious a problem as some people considered, and was not nearlv as bad here as in the eastern United States. That opinion was expressed this morning by Professor G. W. Robinson, head of the agricultural chemistry division at the University College ’of Ganger, North W ales.

Professor Robinson, who was leader of the British delegation to the Pacific Science Congress, added that he had not had an opportunity of observing the country as a whole and was referring only to those parts he had actually seen. These were mainly lowland areas. He had noted a certain amount of erosion in the higher areas of the North Island, but he did not regard it as seriously as some people did. Professor Robinson was impressed by the “enormous fertility” of the soils in New Zealand, which exceeded anything in England. When he visited the Taieri plains he was astounded at the fields of crops such as swedes, mangolds and corn. New Zealand, he said, had as high an agricultural potential as any he had visited.