THE RURAL WORLD.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 7853, 15 July 1911, Page 2

THE RURAL WORLD.

THE WAIRABAPA.

ITS PROSPECTS AND ITS POSSIBILITIES. INTERESTING COUNTRY VIEWED BY AX OUTSIDER. No. ir. (Written for the "N.Z. Times."’) Like tho Irish pig, the sheep is 'The gintleman that pays tho rint.” Naturally, therefore, almost tho solo topic of conversation on a Wairarapa coast station relates to sheep—market prices of wool and carcase, lambing percentages, average clip, methods of sale, management in detail, and a dozen other phases of the question are all discussed with tho utmost minuteness and appreciation when two or moro settlers get together; but it is curious to noto that tho most important point of all, viz., the improvement of tho flocks, is rarely, if ever, mentioned in these casual discussions. It is not because the settlers are oblivious to tho importance of the matter, for each! one is constantly endeavouring to further his interests in that respect, but it is most probably due to the fact that each one has a theory of his own which he puts into practice to just sxich an extent as will not even temporarily reduce his bank balance. All are agreed, however, upon one point, and that is, that the Romney, or Romney-Liucoln cross, is tho breed most suitable for the country. That conclusion' can hardly be disputed, and tho evidences are everywhere apparent that some attention is paid to the subject of breeding, for the flocks all through tho district are.'on the whole good in size, contour, and quantity and texture of wool. Still the most casual observer cannot help noticing tho unevenness in shape, size, and character, not only in comparing one settler’s flock with another, but in most cases tho heterogeneous* method of breeding adopted shews itself most markedly in almost every flock. Ask any settler to explain this, fact and you will get no satisfactory explanation, for the reason, probably, that sheep breeders —with very rare exceptions —do not study the science of evolution. They know that tho Romney is a closewoollod sheep; that tho Lincoln is not; that the character and texture of , th« wool in both differs very materially. The; know also that the crossbred between th two will very often ’ exhibit on' tho sain carcase patches as distinct in characte as those of the sire and dam'. It is no a blending of the two breeds as caugh by the breeder, for it is neither 'one'no: tho other; but both like Jos eph’s coat, except the colours Ask. tin breeder to* explain it r is eo A; and.yoi have given him a poser.V Ask’vtho fikim question of. the, expert evolutionist.■ anc be will tell you that Nature cannok hc induced to take long strides, and th( stride from the Romney to the Lincoln sheep is j list a shade too far for Nature to accomplish in one step; or, to put i< in the philosophic language, of'Buchnor; "Incessant and minute change is one pi the conditions of life. Sudden change is disease, and to change at all, incipient death.” This is tho cardinal principle underlying all successful, breeding experiments; but how many are there whe iviiow how to apply it? There is only ono in the AVairarapa known to the writer (there may b© others, of course), but the one referred to, Mr J. 0/ BidwiJl, has practised it for years, with tho the result that all his flock rams for two years ahead are already da order at 'more than top prices. Hr Bidwill has struck the right idea, and he is reaping a large profit therefrom. Many chajiters could be written in explanation of the plan anc how to apply it; but tho present article must be devoted to other topics. .* . There is in reality more sameness ir the practice of breeding and management of sheep than there is in the flocks themselves—one year’s experience is almost a repetition of the preceding one, and yet there is really no monotony in station life. A city dweller would think it represented the acme of monotony; but that is because the city dweller is unacquainted with its varieties, scope, pleasures, etc., on the one hand, and its interests, endless opportunities for achievements and resource on the other. City and station life are antithetic entities, so to speak; tho environment is so different. City society has encrusted itself with artificial, conventionalities within which there is no room for the 1 wit of a modern Dean Swift, tho philosophy of a Spencer, or tho educative eloquence of a Huxley. . Country society knows so .such bondage (except in a very few places), and is free to display Nature’s gifts to tho fullest advantage, which it does with a natural dignity and vim that is truly delightful. Thus it is that station life never becomes monotonous —on the contrary, the moro one sees of it the more fascinating it becomes. The loneliness that onco clouded an otherwise bright horizon, has now disappeared owing to tho introduction of tho telephone into almost every isolated habitation. The frequent interchange of visits and social parties, so conveniently arranged by this means, leaves no chance for lapses into "blue moods,’ 1 ’ and while there is considerable sameness of occupation from day to day (no other business is free from it either), there is ample variety of sport and amusement. Hence the total absence of monotony, and tho charm of the life which grows into a fondness on mature acquaintance.

Few farmers take an interest in geology. If they did, the Wairarapa district would afford its urban owners yet another pleasurable change from their daily routine. 1 For instance, it would explain why the Manngaraki ranges afford better pastures than the immeasurably older country lying between them and the sea. Around , Mauricovillo similar contrasts exist in puzzling proximity. Here may be ‘seen on one side of a creek a steep mountain of limestone on the top and face of which large masses of sea shells of various sizes are agglomerated in the form of rocks, and- on the other side, equally steep, sandstone, igneous rock, and conglomerates of quite divergent origin outcrop where erosion has laid them bare. This

would be a puzzling fact were it not that on the limestone hill the stratification is almost horizontal, whereas on the other side it is nearly perpendicular. The explanation therefore is simple, for it is clear that a very long time ago there has been at this spot an immense disturbance of the earth's crust, either by subsidence or seismic action, forcing up the statum at one end or allowing it to sink clown at the other where it dips almost perpendicularly towards the stream. The Mahac hill, where those shells appear in such large fossilised masses, was ci-ce navigated by big fishes, and their fossilised bones have been dug out of the ground some feet below the surface; yet the hill itself, the highest of its ne’.gnbourhood, is at least twenty-five miio* from the sea in a direct line. That it is a mass ’of subterraneoa caverns is evi-

dent from the fact that gurgling springs at the top run down its sides, and disappear again in largo mould-covered hollows where local subsidence has taken place. Not far away a limestone cave exists in which moa bones have been found; but unfortunately vandalism has destroyed its once beautiful stalagmite and stalac-

tite formations. In another direction from the hill, and not half a mile from its base across fiio valley, two or three seams of brown coal have been discover-

ed; overlying these seams is an immense stratum of valuable material which for want of a better name inust be called

clay or shale. This material on analysis is found to contain sixty-two per cent.

of silicate, nineteen per cent, of alumina, and about fivo per cent of iron oxides. Analytically it is almost the same as the famous Stourbridge (English) fire-clay, which has proved to bo such a valuable asset to its owners. This Mauricevillo clay has proved its value, by exhaustive tests and experiments, for the manufacture of roofing tiles, terracotta ornamentation, etc., but New Zealanders prefer to import many things that they could make locally, so there it lies awaiting a more enterprising age. Returning to the coast again wo find

another curious thing oh tho right of the Kaiwhata river (on Messrs Kummer Bros/ property), and between it and a confluent hill stx*eam, runs an elevated spur of easy grade away up to tho higher hills, Mr ICummer, senior, has known this place for thirty or forty years; but until quito recently its surface was disturbed only by his scrub-cutters. Suddenly, however, a new interest attached to it by the discovery that an. upheaval had

♦ taken place, then another somo distance » away, and yet a third at another point, > each at considerable intervals which can- • not be correctly recorded. To-day these ; three miniature volcanoes tell their own : fascinating story. Their positions may ■ 1 be' described by placing one at each angle r of'ah qbfcuse-angled triangle the base of •. ..which measures nearly half a mile on.the joiver slope, and, tho perpendicular pert Jiaps a’ mile and a quarter or more. These . .tlpreo aie to-day exuding an ,inflammable gas which may be either,., marsh gas or the emanation of a subterranean oil well or coal bed. The one oh tho lowest level has for some-time been quite quiescent "except for the faint evidences of escaping gas that rises through dense mud; but ity has not been always so, for , the coursp of tho. mud stream that flowed from it away to the river on a track of its own shows 1 that a very considerable quantity has been thrown up. Tho second one higher up shows a curious condition of things, and is by far tho largest of tho three. Its mud crater, some twenty feet across, exists in : the midst of tail manuka and rush vegetation, and nowhere in ; the vicinity is there any other sign of terrestrial .disturbance’ or volcanic ‘ action. A small creek runs past it a few yards away, and , the mud thrown up has filled the creek to a depth of somo ten or twelve feet away down towards the river in the dry season evidently, for the rains have come down and cut deep channels through the dried mud, which now forms perpendicular walls on either side. Many thousands of tons of mud must have been thrown up, and it exhibits, some curious specimens of tho things that exist away down in the bowels of tho earth. Some are brown sandstone and other common surface formation, quartz, incipient white marble, etc.; but there are two specimens that attract special attention —one a black substance like opal giving forth innumerable scintillations as if it wore studded with diamond dust; tho other a bright green substance which would appear at first glance to-be an oxide of copper. Analysis has proved the dark substance, which was supposed to bo radio-active horn-blende, to bo nothing more than mudstone slightly altered by hypogene action and showing numerous flakes of mica—-the dark colour being due to organic matter. The other, notwithstanding its green colour, oon- - tained no trace of copper,, but was simply sand grains cemented together by the green silicate-of iron (glauconite). It is probable, therefore, that the gas escaping through those vents is marsh gas, always generated by decaying, vegetation; that tho mudstone came from the stratum overlying its source, and that the glauconitic material as well as all tho other curious specimens form the over-riding layers, all of which contain a large proportion of lime. ■; The vent at the apex of the triangle is quite active, and differs from tho other two only in the lact that instead of one large crater-like hole there are several from a few inches to a couple of feet in diameter, and all within-a radius of ten feet. They are filled with muddy water, through which the gaa bubbles like a boiling porridge pot, and the emanations appear to kill all vegetation over which they flow. An endeavour has been made to bottom one of these holes; but without success. It will thus bo seen what an interesting country tho Wairarapa is, and what fascinating problems it may present outside the sheep yards as well as in them. Its potentialities are not half exploited, for cabbages can bo grown even at Te Wharau, and there is no need to cart them all the way from Masterton. Clearly, what the district wants is a denser population, for man, after all, is better ; 1 than a sheep. Ideal farming is a good 1 thing in its way, but ideal land settlement under a stable tenure is better.