OPOTIKI FARMLANDS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 262, 5 November 1930, Page 10

OPOTIKI FARMLANDS.

PROSPEROUS DISTRICT.

OLD SHIP AT OHIWA.

WOODLANDS SOLDIER- SETTLERS,

(By A Travelling Correspondent.)

The Opotiki flats are looking very well in spite of the very late season. Grass, in many cases, is nearly- ready for hay. Miles and miles of hawthorn and barberry hedges give the district a. very snug look. It must be conceded that some of the farms on the Opotiki flats are among the best in New Zealand.' The richness and staying power of the land is something to marvel at. It is said that some pad j . docks have teen cropped for 50 years without ever being put ■ in" grass, and the land is still in good heart. Hundreds of thousands of sacks of maize have been sent away from Opotiki, and still the land is rich, and is growing pasture equal, to anything in New 'Zealand. Owing to the high cost of production, very little maize is now grown. Most of the land is now used for dairying. The upland country, stretching away to the Waiotahi, is also in dairying. This land is light, but answers very readily to manure, which is used extensively. It grows good pasture, and keeps stock healthy. This year the grass is showing the effect of the continuous high winds and" late season. Stock have not yet put on their summer • coats. There is also a good stretch*. of good rich flats in the Waiotahi Valley, which ■carries large numbers of dairy _ cows. Some of this la'nd looks as if, it needs' more drainage. Much work is being undertaken' on the hilly . country round- about Waiotahi. Land is b,eing gradually reclaimed from scrub and fern,.and brought into .dairying. A great deal of lucerne is being grown around the Opotiki district. This grows well and adds immensely to the carrying capacity, of the land. This is more noticeable on the higher country. Every ' farm seems, to have its lucerneipaddock.

When the erosion was taking place, at the old township of Ohiwa; the timbers. of a vesselj said to 'be about -70 feet long, | were disclosed. None of the : early, settlers or. even the Maoris, has any record,, of this.ship. The timbers were still quite sound. Part of the keel was taken away to niake a culvert. . " • :T. The Woodlands soldier settlement seems to be quite "on its feet." The soldiers have done much hard work and have established'goodhoines. Their herds and pastures are a credit to their per- .■ severence and industry. High overhead expenses are still a terrific load, which is felt more heavily during falling-prices. One very pleasant feature of the district this season is the prolific blossoming of garden flowers and trees. There is also a great profusion of flowers in the native bush. ■ WiM bees are also very plentiful and are hiving in farm houses. They enter in between the ceiling and. roof, and make honey. One house has had as many as ten colonies under its roof. This countryside-should offer a good field for bee farming. .1