SOIL EROSION

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 59, Issue 4219, 4 December 1939, Page 8

SOIL EROSION

DANGER IN NEW ZEALAND. VIEWS OF CANTERBURY COLLEGE LECTURER. “The more I saw the more I was worried about New Zealand,” was the comment of Mr L. W. McCaskill, lecturer in biology and agriculture at the Christchurch Training College, when discussing the soil erosion problem in the United States in an interview in Christchurch. Mr McCaskill left New Zealand last April under a Carnegie travelling grant and spent a fortnight in Canada, 10 weeks in the United States, and 11 weeks in England and Scotland. He also intended to visit Denmark and Sweden, but he was obliged to abandon this project because of the outbreak of the war.

“Soil erosion is the No. 1 problem in the United States, and it was the problem that caused the downfall of the Roman and Grecian Empires, and China, and will cause the downfall of North Africa. In the United States, the problem was intensified by the last war. The United States had an open market for all foodstuffs and all types of land were ploughed up for the sowing of wheat. “To deal with the problem the Federal Government has put some land right out of production, and has shifted some farmers off their land with a view to restoring the vegetation. Dams have been built, gullies have been plugged, and grass has been sown on land which is natural for grass. Trees had been planted on the steepest country, grass on the relatively steep areas, and strip cropping and contour farming have" been introduced in various places.” Turning to New Zealand, Mr Me-

Caskill considered that there was a need for a thorough survey of land so that erosion could be checked. Since he had come to Christchurch seven years ago he had noticed the development of gullies at Heathcote. “We are getting to a stage when a lot of our country is becoming naked,” he said, “and I think that attention should be given to the headwaters of rivers, contour furrowing and further research into grasses and pasture plants which would be best suited to the soil.

“The tussock problem in New Zealand had been met by burning,” said Mr McCaskill, “but this had resulted in exposed ground which had been subjected to washing and blowing. The grass on which the sheep fed had been sheltered by tussocks. Now that these had been burnt off there was no more of this grass, and so we could do well to give attention to plant introduction.” Mr McCaskill said that the conservation creed in the United States was being instilled into Americans by the use of the newspapers and the wireless, but chiefly through the schools, and he considered that New Zealand could meet the problem of erosion if everyone took an interest in conservation.