BURNING HILL COUNTRY

Southland Times, Issue 23922, 14 September 1939, Page 9

BURNING HILL COUNTRY

To The Editor • Sir, —As spring approaches it is with I regret I see our runholders burning the tussock and fern on the hill country. Surely anyone who stops to think must realize that this devastating practice cannot go on indefinitely. They are destroying the very things which build up soil fertility and bring about conditions which are conducive to pasture improvement. When a fire sweeps across a hillside it destroys all decaying vegetation, humus, insects, seeds, and seed-beds. As the dead leaves fall off a plant they rot and' make food for the living plants. These dead leaves go to make that humus that is the very life of the soil. Insects and bacteria live ‘ on humus and turn it into rich plant food. A soil that is devoid of humus very

quickly becomes so poor that it cannot support plant life. A fire destroys seeds and seed-beds. Any seeds that may have escaped the fire are left without any protection or covering that will keep them moist or that will protect the young seedling. The bare ground is exposed to the sun, wind and rain. The sun drys the seeds and seedlings and they wither and die. How can they be expected to live and grow where their food and clothing has been destroyed ? The wind blows and batters the tender plants and many die or just manage to exist. The ashes, humus and light soil is blown into the valley and water-courses and is thus lost or useless to the hillside. The rain beats on the bare soil and as the fire has destroyed all the sponge or surface covering that conserved the moisture for plant life, the water runs off with increased velocity and scours away the very best soil —soil that it has taken nature countless ages to produce. Plants with rough and coarse texture have lived on the raw material and when their life-span is over they die and in decaying produce what helps to grow better plants. Cannot people realize what is happening when they look at the many large tracts of country around New Zealand that were once good tussock but have been burned and burned-until now only fern and scrub grow ? In many cases not even scrub has survived for mother earth to cover her nakedness. Even the surface soil has been blown or washed away and only ugliness remains to speak of man’s folly. Surely our Government or Agriculture Department should do something to stop this continual burning of hill country. We hear of the destruction caused by the deer in this country, but it is nothing compared to the damage done all over our land by burning. I was in high country (over 5000 ft) a few months ago, where the only stock were a few deer, and some mis- ' guided person had done more damage with a fire than the deer would do in many generations.—Yours, etc., WILLIS D. McRAE. September 12, 1939.