LAND FOR SOLDIERS

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 158, 4 July 1916, Page 6

LAND FOR SOLDIERS

NXAB WAERENGA FLAT. SOME EXPERT OPINIONS. The announcement that the Government has purchased 600 acres of land eight miles from Waerenga Flat, Lower Waikato, for the purpose of cutting up into sections of from CO to SO acres for settlement by returned soldiers, created considerable interest locally on account of the varied nature of the land in that district. Until the exact locality is made known, only general comment can be made as to the value of land in this locality. As will be Been from the opinions expressed below the land in the district varies considerably. •Mr. G. J. Garland, who has considerable knowledge of the locality, when seen by a " Star" representative this morning pointed out that, while there was a good deal of swamp in the neighbourhood of Waerenga, there were patches of exceedingly good dairying land in addition to the excellent " hard" or fruit lands in the district. It was inconceivable that the Government had purchased an area of the swamp, which, though it might make good dairying land when drained, was totally unsuitable for settling soldiers with a view to their ■being able to obtain returns forthwith) It was more likely that some of the good land, worth up to £30 an acre, had been •bought, although in the absence of any indication as to the precise locality it was impossible to form an opinion as to its character. Mr. A. Schmitt, who is also well acquainted with the country, said that he could not recall any land in the vicinity of Waerenga corresponding with the description of good dairying land. Generally speaking, the land in the locality was of two distinct kinds. The higher land was clayey, 6tiff soil, which was good for fruitgrowing, but the land that was at all adapted to dairying was swamp, which, in his opinion, could not be drained until the height of the river was altered., On such land it would be impossible to place soldiers with the object of enabling them immediately to earn a livelihood.