THE ROADLESS NORTH.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 17, 20 January 1905, Page 3

THE ROADLESS NORTH.

JIB ROBERT STOLTS IMPRESSIONS. A LAND OF GREAT WEALTH. The Chief Justice (Sir Robert Stout) I few days ago completed a tour of the Northern Peninsula, and he was very iniK'h impressed by what he saw for the jrst time. He made the crip with Mr Justice Cooper, who is an old Albertlander. as cicerone. Leaving Auckland the twt) went to Helensville by train, and took steamer to Tangiteroria, launch thence to Wharekoe: from there they w . ent overland to Whangarei and Kamo, staying at the latter place overnight, o-ouV on by train to Ilukerenui: thence to Kaikohe". where they remained over Sunday, driving i n Monday to Waimate, and thence to Paihea. across by boat to Eugsell. thence by steamer to Whanparoa and Mangonui. driving from the Utter to the Oruru Valley: returning to JlEnsonui they took steamer to Whanoaroa. Rus-:ell and Auckland. The Chief justice went back to Waiwera to stay at the Hot Springs Hotel the same day he cetnrned. and was joined later by Mr Cooper, Robert came back to Auckland yesterday tn attend the University Sena:?. To a "Star" interviewer Sir Robert was good enough to communicate some of his impressions of his trip round the half-disi-overed country that stretches so far Northwards from this city. WEALTHY IF DEVELOPED. ■•I trunk there is great wealth in the Sorth if it can only be developed," he said. "The land i≤ rich in patches, and inanv of those patches ar» all wellsettled upon, but the land of less virgin fertility has been to all intents and pur-. poses quire neglected. I have no doubt that much of what is now rated as second and even third-class land could be brought into good profit one way or another. It is regrettable that no ef- ; fort ha; been made in the past quarter ! of a century to ascertain what could be done to make the inferior land useful — considering the great strides that have been made in agricultural science during the rast -5 years we have been very remiss in not "doing something in that direction, for the climate is such that given a far start "hings would grove well. It may be that the American system of in- j troihieing some miercbe which will give j nitrates is the best trethod. or the land may require more phosphates —I cannot say. of course, but modern agricultural science, which is so highly spoken of. and to which we ourselves are applying ourselves, should enable to definitely ! state what is necessry to bring the lane areas of land into bearing. EXPERIMENTS. 'Tears aso the Government of which I was a member made an attempt to establish an experimental farm at WhanEirri on the poor land with that idea in its mind, but the Government which acceded to pow r in 'S7 did not carry out the scheme, and nothing has been done since. True, there is an experimental farm near Kamo. on which I sa%v cr°ps growing and trees planted, but I don't know that it is the most suitable place for such an experiment as I suggest, the land it is nn b?in<r better than sec- j nid-class. some of it being: rich volcill.c j soil. .What I wanted was to have a [ farm on pocr gum land, so that we | should see what we needed to do to fer- j tilise it." "Those sorse farms —" "Oh, yes. I saw a gorse farm at Pakarak'a. and was not impressed favourably hv its progress. One of the men driving us put it tersely when he said. 'The sheep are indignant and won't look at it!' The gorse may bring nitrates to the soil, but I am afraid it is an unsuitable experiment —it seems to mc a failure." TEE RICH LAND OF THE MAORI. "Still, there are considerable areas of rich land?" "Yes. some of it very rich land. Much of it is settled- pretty closely, but there I are some large unsettled patches which are in the possession of the Maoris and not at present available for the pakeha. Xear Kaikehe I saw very rich land— | 20.000 or 30.000 acres of it. I should judge | —very fine rich land suitable for small dairy farms. It i.s. I understand, all Maori land, hut as it has never been brought before the Court and the title is not ascertained, it might be a difficult thing to deal with it —Maoris generally | prefer claims that complicate matters j sadly. If the land were available it ■would be very suitable for close settlement. Theiv is one place I saw near Lake Omapore which seemed to include some very tine land. I saw a great deal oi land now condemned as useless which is better in quality than the land you see tm the railway and road from Nelson j to the Buller. and in addition there i> j the filer climate. Around Ohaewai there is considerable cultivation going on. and I saw improvements in the farms Ground Whangarei —there more than anywheiv pise. I also noticed near Helensville that since I was there 20 years auo a vpry distinct improvement has been made —there are as line farms as you can see j anywhere west of Whangarei. At , Ohaewai I -aw a- tine crops of oats as , you could see anywhere. At the same time =ome of the farmers are not keeping down the noxious weeds ns they j should. I feel that it is much to be regretted that the rich lands which > are j held by the Maoris are not made avail- [ able for settlement. They certainly are j too rich to leave unused, and if the Maoris won't sell, they may lease." TO IMPROVE THE LAND"Does anything occur to you as a means of improving those waste and inferior landa?" "Of course it is necessary to have scientific inquiry into that matter, as I said just now. but seems that the kauri is being so rapidly cut out—faster even than I imagined—something needs to be done to replace that timber. I think It is now realised that the kauri is being rapidly i osT t0 t i Je co i onv " "It is stated we have only ten years' supply at the present rate of cutting." THE VALUE OF TREE-PLANTING. '"In 1885 I prophesied 50 years as the We of our kauri forests, and I was wide ot the mark. So that the absolute need 01 utilising the third-class land of the colony for timber-raisinsz. which should aye °een the policy of every Governffl ent long ago. is being driven into the of the public by the sheer force °t circumstances. Loiig since I urged tot I emphasise now—the value of ree-planting on waste lands to renew T c ttmber being cut out. From what 1 saw at the Whakarewarewa reserve. *»ere third-class land is being utilised "'liepurpose by the present Govern- , ,' \ hav e no doubt that the system oula have been completely successful. , 0{ opinion that it would pay the -"untry to spend thousands of pounds m tr ee-pbnt : "T ni waste lands. ££ I think imrn>- ■ ■ -. should b~ to start Anting op

was shown by Lord Avebury in the "Contemporary Renew,' in 1885, I think that the forest plantation of the German Government on the waste land on the mountain-tops,, etc.. had yielded a splendid return—there was almost as much income being got at that time from the waste land forest plantations as from the rich- flat lands used for agriculture. Yes, I think the Government might profitably invest thousands a year in the scheme—the tune that has passed has been sadly wasted by not doing so before. "One thing that struck mc about the forest plantations of the North was that the trees are mostly pines. I saw a fine row of elms at Pakaraka. showing what might be done with English deciduous trees; but it would be only after many trials and much close investigation that one could determine what would be the best trees for the North. The wood of the Highland larch would be very valuable if it could be grown, but it only grows in mountainous localities, and I don't know how it would fare in a country swept by the sea winds like the North. I should think it would do well in such an elevated inland locality like Rotorua." THE NEED OF THE NORTH. '"TV hat struck you as the dominant need of the North —roads or railways?" '"Roads—roads to the harbours. In my opinion what is needed to properly develop the North is a system of good roads from inland to the numerous ports, so that people could get to the har- j I hours at all times and there put their products on board the steamers, and in a few hours have them in Auckland. Such roads as are formed in the North seem to be well formed, and I had my mind disabused of one idea at least by my trip —the idea that there was an insufficiency of good metal. Except in some districts there was plenty of metal available, and splendid material toe—a great deal of volcanic rock. There is a very good road for about 12 miles out of Mangonui, then there is a fair road from Kawakawa to Kaikohe; but between Hukerenui and Kawakawa the road is poor, and I should imagine that in the winter it would be very bad indeed. Of course we saw the roads at their best, the weather being fine." WONDERFUL HARBOURS. '"'The North has a wonderful asset in its harbours. I was immensely struck by the utility as well as the great beauty of the harbours—some of these surpass Sydney Harbour in beauty—they ars wholly delightful. Whangaroa Harbour is very fine, and Mangonui is a most serviceable harbour for ordinary coastal steamers"The cable station at Doubtless Bay. by the way. is a fine place—better equipped and more finely situated than the Wakapuaka station.) But the harbours are not much use unless the settlers can get to them from inland." POOR COUNCILS. '"There's the rub that makes calamity of the Northern settler's existence." "Yes. I quite understand that. The local bodies have not sufficient money to make the roads as things are. for the rating area is limited—the settlement is upon the richer portions only just now, and there are as great patches of poor land that has been untouched. Still the North has one great advantage over some other portions of the colony—the land is all comparatively close to the seashore, and as the settlers can use steamers and sailing vessels for the transport of their produce and stores, they are in a much better natural position than settlers are in the inland parts of the colony, where the roads are the only means of communication with the big centres." COMPARED WTH CENTRAL OTAGO. "Admitting that, the settlers are not much better off when they cannot get their things to and from the shore." "Very true —but think of the position of settlers in Central Otago, in whose broad valleys, far larger and richer than those of the Northern peninsula, even ujp to the Cold Lakes, the finest wheat in the world, perhaps, is grown —wheat that got the first prize at the Philadelphia Exhibition in competition with the whole world!" THE WAY OUT. "But what do you suggest can be done to push on the necessary roading of the North—for it must be roaded somehow, and the local bodies haven't the money?" "It would not be a bad idea to give all the license fees for timber cutting to the County Councils just as the goldfields revenue is given. I don't see that if a gold duty is right —and I think it is right, for it is really a royalty on capital that is being taken out of the resources of the eountrv — why a royalty on timber and gum should not be equally allowably paid to County Councils. If the councils were to be granted this revenue, as in view of the fact that they cannot be expected to make roads through their districts with the present" number of ratepayers, they would be enabled to make and keep good roads right through the Northern countries, and also from the Bay of Islands past Waimate, thus opening up that eountrv. But along with this something must imperatively be done to get the splendid large areas of Maori lands utilised. Otherwise the roads will be quite ineffective. When the Main Railway is completed between Taumarunui and Taihape " "Distance lends enchantment !" '"When that colonial work is accomplished, then no doubt there can be an' extension of the railway beyond Hukerenui to Kawakawa. and also branches further North may follow. But the prime necessity of "the North, as it appeals to mc, is roads—good roads serviceable in summer and winter alike, to the nearest and best ports along the coast."