THE FLOOD RAINS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3101, 20 August 1913, Page 14

THE FLOOD RAINS.

With torrents of water pouring down every creek and literally sheets of water overflowing wide areas of grass fields and making its way to the plains to increase the volume of the already flooded rivers, one begins to wonder how such small areas can collect such quantities of water, why such waste is permitted, and what means should be adopted to prevent such waste. It is rather difficult to “name our blessings one by one ” when culverts are washed away, turnip crops drowned out or silted up, stock carried off its feet and drowned, and farmwork generally brought to a standstill. Yet we could not exist without a tremendous amount of moisture, and few farmers realise how dependent their crops are on an adequate supply of rain water in the first place and soil water in the next. Roughly, one inch of rain means that 100 tons of water falls per acre. To produce a crop of 56 bushels of oats it has been variously calculated that from 400 to 650 tons of water are required. The same amount is required to produce any cereal crop, but the climate experienced may modify that amount. Our rainfall in the course of a year averages 25 inches on the coast, and therefore 2500 tons of water fall annually on every acre. Enough, one would think, to wash out anything soluble in the ground. All our crops secure most of their food in solution. Such figures should make it evident that we have only to cultivate our land skilfully to have an abundant supply of moisture available at all times. The greater the depth of pulverised soil the greater amount 'of water will the land hold and the better will be the supply of capillary water. This stored up water in the soil is the most important source of moisture to the plant. But is it not possible to store up some of the excess of water in such a way that it shall not be all wasted and occasion such untold misery as usually follows in the trail of a flood? Should we not guard against the s3nseless destruction of forest on steep watersheds, and rather cover such country with saving plantations of valuable timber? Many home industries might be established if suitable timber was grown, provided up-to-date marketing methods were instituted. Is it not necessary, also, that accurate information should be available from reliable sources as to the rainfall near the sources of our dangerous rivers? Apart altogether from floods, such information is indispensable in Central Otago to secure tin? information required for irrigation and electrical power calculations. Arrangements should be made to secure accurate records. We have a weather office already under a capable bead, but he must be tremendously handicapped by the meagreness and unreliable nature of the information forwarded to him. It should be possible for farmers in low-lying country to receive adequate and trustworthy warning of sudden changes, and thus get the chance of making their stock snug before disaster overtook them. The amount of money involved in stock is enormous, and if the safety of such districts can bo assured by a reasonable expenditure in this direction it would be a good investment for the country. There is another aspect of a continuous wet season which causes as much loss indirectly as flooding the land —viz., the difficulty of keening weeds in subjection. It is impossible to clean land, or even to cultivate it passably, first on account of its wet state, and latterly on account of the bard, unkindly state it gets into on drying. Thus, what weeding is practicable is less efficiently done than usual. Crops are thrown late, and weeds get established first and cannot he harboured without sacrificing the crop. Fortunately, there arc some compensating features even of a flood. Enormous numbers of grass grubs are killed out when the water completely covers the ground, and the flooded district is free from them for some time. On some occasions the ditches are full of them after the water subsides. Then the silt deposited by the flood water after a time acts like a top-dressing and stimulates the grass. On the other band, it loaves a trail of bard and unnrofitablo team work and the danger of silted grass grazing and disease. behind it. and it is heartbreaking for the capable farmer to have samples of all the weeds under the sun deposited on In's clean ground. r I lie flood can onlv be described as one of the least desirable visitations a farmer can experience.