NATURE-AND MAN

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXVI, 11 February 1933, Page 10

NATURE-AND MAN

WASTE AND SAVING

A NATIONAL CALL (Edited by Leo Fanning) There is a sense of grandeur in a tree That is sublime, and in the soul of me Awakens awe and reverence for the One Whose master hand moves star and moon and sun. Full often rests a farmhouse in embrace Of friendly elm or maple; note the lace On drooping willow ropes of tender green Reflected in a still lake’s cobalt sheen. And when the gentle, crooning murmurs stir Among the blue and fragrant bands of fir, That stand apart in whispering groups, we hear Strange melancholy music stealing lien r. Observe an oak reach eager arms on high In ecstasy of worship to the sky, Although majestic feet lie deep in sod, Above, its soul communes alone with God.—Anne M. Robbins.

“What is waste? 'lt is the sprawling of the human factor aimlessly over its environment,” wrote Samuel Turner in “Eclipse or Empire?” Who lias not written in a copy-book the old proverb: “Wilful waste makes woeful want” or its variant: “Waste not, want not”? Let each man or woman who wrote these lines in childhood answer to-day the question: “How much time, how much energy, how much material, how much money have 1 wasted since J impressed the proverb on my mind by writing it and rewriting it?” Suppose that New Zealand had today the value of all these individual wastes ns well as the wastes of successive local bodies and Governments! What a happy man the Right Hon. George Forbes would be! What a buoyant budget would emanate from the Right Hon. J. Gordon Coates! What a noble surplus he would show! “Of all wastes the greatest waste that you can commit is the waste of labour,” declared the famous John Ruskin. How true! This waste of labour is a wider and deeper tiling than the average man or woman imagines. How many of the people who complain about “cost of living” think widely enough and deeply enough to see that it is mainly a case of “cost of waste” — waste of something (time, labour or material) ?

NATIONAL WORK FOR IDLE HANDS

In the height of the summer, in a. country which has made itself dependent mainly on farming, there are about 78,000 men registered as unemployed. They are mostly engaged on “relief works,” at huge cost to the general public. A previous comment mentioned that much of the expenditure was worse than waste, for it is an outlay of capital and labour on unnecessary projects which will remain a charge on taxpayers or ratepayers for maintenance. Now is the time for a mobilisation suitable labour for war against destructive deer and goats in the native forests, and against blackberry, ragwort and other nuisances in open country' which will go to waste if the noxious weeds are not wiped out. THROWING WEALTH INTO THE SEA. How much of New Zealand was carried off to tlie sea by angry floocled rivers during the recent “meteorological depression”? How much of that loss was a vengeance of Nature for man’.: folly in the destruction of native forest in high country? The native forests took many thousands of years to make New Zealand’s soil, some of which has been swept away in a few hours as the result of man’s mistakes. Rubble cast by landslides into rivers raises their beds and puts them in trim for wild truancy after heavy rain, and the liner material, the best of the soil, is rushed to the sea. Even if it stays ashore as silt for a time, a vagary of tlie river later on, when it cuts out a new course, may push tlie deposit on to the ocean. WILL MISTAKES REPEAT THEMSELVES? Will blunders of old be repeated in high country when fresh lands are being opened up for settlement? An official statement lias indicated an intention of the Government to settle thousands of unemployed men on the land. Will care be taken to avoid the stupid destruction of forest or steep watersheds? New Zealanders are paying, and will continue to pay, so dearly for mistakes of the past that they should be alert against the perpetration of similar folly.

AMERICA, AWAKENING Scientists and statesmen are arranging to work in co-operation for the checking of erosion in the United States. In a very striking article in “American Forests,” E. 1. Kotok remarks: — “Gully erosion in nonglaciatcd areas of the Lakes States is proceeding at a rapid rate. A study of one large gully in a Wisconsin farm illustrates the cataclysmic rate of gully formation. This gully advanced 500 feet a year for a six-year period, forming at the same time secondary gullies 7000 feet ill extent. The main gully reached a depth of fifty feet in its middle sector. During its greatest erosional activity within* these brief years 400,000 cubic yards of soil were swept onward towards the Mississippi River. “Surveys in the Mississippi uplands show that active erosion on an intensive scale covers as much as 45 per cent, of some of the counties within this 'region. Most of this erosion is the result of abusive farm practice, with fire and grazing as contributory •a'units. Here destructive erosion has now reached the stage where a high percentage of agricultural land must be permanently abandoned because of soil depletion and gullying. Soil scientists estimate that, erosion is costing American farmers 200,000,000 dollars annually in loss of plant food.” A QUESTION OF SENSE Some persons are much concerned because, as -t hey allege, New Zealanders have not enough "‘air-sense.” , In their view, it is more important to get excited' about high flights of aircraft than high exchange. They may be light. However, it is more important still for New Zealanders to have proper sense about their own land than about (j le ;l q-—the sense which requires a

proper conservation of their national estate which yields food, clothing and shelter—the sense which demands care of forests, which are their country’s protector, and of native birds necessary for forest-welfare. Therefore it is encouraging to iind that newspaper articles, on this subject are helping to increase the number of active nature-lovers whose enthusiasm will assist in the making and maintenance of an intelligent national policy in respect to native forests and birds. For example, Miss E. M. Jacobson, editor of “The Akaroa Mail,’’ has written, to me thus: “I thought you might like to know how much your articles are appreciated here. There is a keener sense of appreciation of the beauty of our native birds growing on all sides.” SWAT THAT OWL While people in public and private life are busy with theories for a restoration of prosperity, the German owl continues to wage war on native birds. Mr T. Masefield, owner of a beautiful estate in Gough’s Bay, Akaroa. —an ardent lover of native birds which give him joy on his property—recently caught two of the alien owls in his grounds. He mentions in the “Akaroa Mail” that these pests arc increasing in Banks Peninsula, particularly in Laverick’s Bay. Similar reports are coming from other districts. The time is overdue for a well-planned campaign of extermination against that foreign enemy of New Zealand’s birds, which are as useful as they are delightful.