BAY OF PLENTY PROGRESS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 28, 1 February 1913, Page 10

BAY OF PLENTY PROGRESS.

SETTLERS ON SB-AX. X. HOLDINGS EDUCATION WJAifD TOUR. '!';.• chairman of the Au.-klaml Board ■•: Kluca-.-:.— i Mr «:. J. i.jrlindi. wUh '•-.<- architect iMr John Farrefll and the . i!i...-.ving members, Mtsre J. 11. McKeai.a. E. I . Hvinke .m.l 11. J. Greenelade, ■'::".[■ j._: c-ompl**:e.l .' \\~-\ of inspection :.-.• the M-:iuolr in the B.iy of Plenty district. Mr C-arlanl and'Mr r'arrell returne.l to Aueklan.l iroin Tanrangs thid morning by the Xgapuh'. In conversation .-. :h .1 v:;-.->- of the "Auckland v..ir.'' Mr i.iarl-and gave interesting impres_ions of the progress of the Bay of Plenty district. ~lt :.s now ...bout four yextv since my l.iet v.ir to :hat locality." remarked Mr <~larla.nd. "and :h : s time 1 saw on every haid evi.ien. i- of close settlement, which T e.vnsi.ie- :i very gratifyiruj arsnnni-" of national We left Auckland on the 24-rh and went to Rotorua. From that place we drove on to Te Teko. where we met the school committee and attended to some matters of detail. *"T saw the Priestman grab dredge, bnt it was not at work on the river. A new dredge will be in corn-mission very shortly, as it has already been landed at Wn-_—it—te. The dredging is being .k>m> down the swamp towards the sea. in order to have plenty of w_ter all the trme operations are going on. This 6w_mp is a valuable piece of country, as it contains 80.000 acres of some of the fmeKt land in Zealand. Thpre Bhoold not be the siifrhf-est engineering d—kmhy in draining- the land, as t-here i» 40ft of faII from Te Teko to the outlet at the s_. Once the work is completed it should cease to be called the Te Teko Swamp and renamed the Bay oi Plenty Downs. From Te Teko we went on to •W ha!__ne and inspected the school ■there, where everything was found to be sat—iactory. Certain repairs and minor _—.tiers were sanctioned. Then we drove over to Opotiki. I was very much impressed with the future prospects of this locality and the class of country passed ■through. Some of it i~ V—y fine in the valley. It is to be regretted that the _ast Coast railway will not come nearer ■Than nine to ten miles of Opotiki, but hope is entertained that communication may be g-ined by the eorust ruction of a Ijr—oeh line. The fact of the railway not _rjnch—g- Opotiki is due to it being taken ■np. the Warmana valley to save expense. iVVe wr_t to Waimana in the Urewera country, and inspected the school there. Formerly this was a native school, but as the prophet Eva bad withdrawn the children the building was handed over to the P.oard of Ednea-tion. and we removed i'- nearer the cheese factory. It is now a board 6Cboot but the bulk of fhe children attending it are Maoris or i_f-eostee. "We also visited Taneatua. and _otere. I should be inclined to describe Taneatua as the garden of the Bay of Plenty district. After seeing the tine land I was not surprised when I was informed that some of it had sol.l as high as €40 and even £o0 per acre. The land is getting into entail holdings, and dairying is what v be : ng gone in. for. On the hilly sides of fh'S valley 1 saw ample evidence that it is excellent sheep country, as the flocks look splendid. It is quite evident to mp that maize growing will soon be a small factor in the Bay of Plenty, as attention is being turned on all sides + o n'-ii-vng. which pay? better. There is no.hinsr 'ike the Quantity of maize show::i<r t-here we '.v-nt that there was on mv 1.-X- Tip four years ag-o. "Wo tirove from Wh.ikatane to Tauranga, in»ne. tirp s'-'iools en route at Ponearoa, Pnenfrar-ti. Papamoa. and Te Puke. I was mii'-h imere.-sed with the fact once more "' wbc-t .-in e\-ellent judge the old time Maori wis of good land and pure water. All up the Waimana valley the hills are f .-.rifled, and also around Te Puke. The extent of the earthworks that have been done show that there must have been a hie ponnlation in the old days on the F.p-t Cossi. where the land was good ■snd water plentiful."