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Westport
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Behind the lip of
sea-washed level land on which stands the town of Westport rises the abrupt
Paparoa Range, the country's principal source of bituminous coal. The town
itself is marshalled by the mouth of the Buller River, the natural anchorage
that gave it birth. Cement carriers are frequently in the port, to ship the
output of New Zealand's largest cement works, an industry based on the ease
of access to harbour, limestone and abundant coal slack. Westport, whose
name is appropriate to its situation, is said to be called after a locality
in Connaught, Eire. |
A salubrious setting
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Prepared to extol
the virtues of Westport, a booklet published in 1907 earnestly proclaimed:
'Owing to the porous nature [of the alluvial flat] Westport enjoys a very
healthy existence. By the rise and fall of the tide, its sewerage system is
flushed twice in twenty-four hours, with the result that its death-rate is
the lowest in the world.' |
Pakihi soils
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The Coast's soils
are potentially its most important asset, yet to the visitor the often
unkempt appearance of farmland suggests either impoverished or badly managed
land. In fact it is neither. The mild, humid and wet climate encourages
growth where plant nutrients are available, but the decomposition of
vegetable materials in some areas is retarded by the high moisture content
of the soils, limiting the kinds and numbers of soil organisms. Thus organic
matter tends to accumulate in a peaty layer above the mineral soil. This
encourages both acid leaching (as water trickles through the soil,
dissolving such constituents as calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, nitrogen,
iron and cobalt from the upper layers) and waterlogging (as water is trapped
on compact older subsoils) to create what is locally known as pakihi (barren
soil).
Conventional farming methods are unable to cope with the extensive pakihi
wastelands of fern, mosses and rushes. Excessive water and soft surfaces
handicap grazing, even though heavy topdressing can produce excellent
growth. The high-silt composition of the soil makes mole draining unstable
and the structureless subsoil renders channel drains ineffective. |
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