EARLY WAIKATO.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 71, 24 March 1928, Page 1 (Supplement)

EARLY WAIKATO.

SETTLEMENT AFTER THE WAR

* PIONEER'S MEMORIES.

MAKESHIFT FENCES

(By R. W. ROCIIE.)

Makeshift j ust about the correct <c.-.n to apply to the fences we had in those distant times. Fencing now pre(•fiits no obstacle to the farmer; it was inr different in our case; we had no *'.«• with which to erect fences at the rate of perhaps ten or twelve chains a day l.y a couple of men. Wire was enhv.'ly unknown for some time, owinto, us already mentioned, the high rate Ct freight. I reti: r w ] len first Jot of barbed wire was introduced, at tho prohibitive price of £2 10/ a cwt. •A* may be imagined, very little was w.mml. We . little choice in the matter of fencing material; we just had to use eitl-.r tea-tree, wattle fences on top of a low ditch and bank, or kahikatea— ew amp-grow n post and rails. As regards the posts, these were .just as short-lived the wattle, which did not last Ion; r than n couple of years, so that renewals were frequent. Each man went to the bmh and felled and split his own posts and rails, then after carting home we Bad to bore and mortice the posts and point the rails. We used to rig a contrivance on which the posts were laid find the auger turned with an iron handle, on the principle of the windlass, which was quicker and less lab rious Than hand-boring in the ordinary way Owing to the short-lived nature*of the fencing materials it was a common practjee to plant gorse seedlings on the fac.' of the sod bank. These in a couple of years made a fairly effective fence, but had to be rigorously trimmed when in the flowering stage to prevent spreading. In spite of that, however, a good deal of grubbing of young plants along the hedge rows was necessary. Quickset hedges were also planted," but as these were slow of growth not very many jvcre to be seen. Hardwood Fences. In Rangiaohia some hardwood post and frail fences were erected by the late Major Jackson and others who could afford to j)ay for this very lasting material, which Was imported from Tasmania. Some idea of the great expense may be gathered from the high freight already mentioned, well as that from the country 01 origin, and also from the number to the chain where 9ft rails were used—four to jßach panel. In the end no doubt they were the cheapest, but the initial Expense was beyond most of us. Many years afterwards when hunting was begun these hardwood four-rail fences were still sound, and offered good obstacles to any but first-class jumping horses, of which, by the way, we had a good many in the Waikato. I wondei how many of the present generation of young farmers could fell, crosscut and split trees, up to 4ft in diameter, singlehanded, in as quick time •« we used to do? We had to do a lot of work singlehanded. As years went on many groves Of prickly acacia matured and furnished posts equal in durability to totara and puriri, and the farmer who had a good grove made a jrood deal of money by the pale of posts, which, of course, were only Suitable for wire fencing. . Little Value Placed On Land. When militia regiments were raised . |and grants were made to the militiatoien, so much rur .l to each, as well as a "town" acre, as it was called, the are., of rural land ranging from 400 acres, fox officers of highest rank, down to 50 acres Hot a private. Many townships were surveyed and cut up into acre sections, but some were only map townships, nevei having been occupied as such; consequently the acre lots were never taken jip by the >>wners. eventually becoming nurseries of noxious weeds, $hiefly gorsc. [These town acres became in time a •tource of trouble to local governing bodies, as no rates were ever paid, and in most cases the owners could not be graced, so that if the weeds were to be Eradicated the expense fell on the unfortunate residents of the district. Needless to say, the clearing was left undone. [When the militiamen were disbanded _ toany of them were anxious to leave the pountry, not being farsighted enough to piee any good future before the district, fco they offered the titles to their sections for almost anything they could get. 1 know for a fact that some fifty acre lots were sold for £5, and perhaps a bottle of rum thrown in—very often the bottle had u potent influence in closing the deal. Some were sold for £'20 to speculators, who held for a rise, but in the end they were not so choap to the buyers, as gorse and tea-tf'ee grew rapidly, so that when they were taken for settlement the cost of clearing so great that the speculator was glad to quit them at cost it he could, alter paying rates and doing without his jnoney for several years. Rise In Values. Much of the land that was sold for tfcn shillings an acre is now fetching as Such as £20 and £25, after being oken in. I have in my mind a section 0n the Te Awamutu-Alexandra Road, a rndy soil, the owner of which abandoned to the mortgagee ( £1 an acre was the {mortgage), who was glad to let it go for 10/. Tho first man had no capital so fences fell into decay, and ran out, hut the second was a practical man with (capital enough to buy manures, so he had the farm (100 acres) in £™od| ikrder, and though it was sandy and tuipromiging-looking, he made it produce •uch good pasture that he was able to toilk 25 cows with the prospect of rising to 30 or more as the place became consolidated by stocking. In the latter part ©f the last century —in the 'DO'S — improved farms were sold for as low as '£2 10/ an acre. Of course, when dairying became firmly established, land values |Obe rapidly, and were unduly inflated in "War time owing to temporary high prices for stock and butterfat, but fortunately ittey arc becoming more stabilised now. Alexandra, now called Pirongia, was a township that had a good deal of trouble %ith absentee owners of town acres; no fates were paid, and gorse took possession of most of them. How it ended —if k is ended—is more than I can say, as I have not been there for very manv years. The acre lots had only a nominal value, as the expense of getting titles have made the consolidating of them into farnu too expensive to be proStable. Government land values for

Unimproved Crown lands were in %hose days, a brother of the writ-' * Acquiring a block of 140 acres for 10/ »n Acre. It has changed hands since, and ,%ow is probably valued at .£ 15 to £18 in V* improved states