SALE OF NORTH CANTERBURY RUNS.

Press, Volume LIII, Issue 9326, 29 January 1896, Page 5

SALE OF NORTH CANTERBURY RUNS.

Iα connection with the sale of leases o North Canterbury runs, advertised yester day, it may be noted that these comprisi the whole of the mountain country lyinj between the Rakaia and Hurunui rivers with the exception of the areas already selected by the Midland Railway Company some educational (Canterbury College reserves, and some lauds which are deemec suitable for disposal in areas of less thai 5000 acres. In 1889 these runs were let fo; terms of fix years and ten months fron May Ist, 1890, in anticipation that the) would be speedily taken over by the Com pany. As a very large proportion of thi country still remains in the hands of thi Government, ib has been decided to lease il for terms of twenty-ono years from March Ist, 1897, when the present licenses wil expire. (Cue provisions- of the Laud Act; require that pastoral runs shall be re-offeree for lease not less than one year before thi expiration of the existing licenses, and the; are therefore being put up on February 28ti in order to comply with the law in thi respect. The Commissioner of Crowi Linda, with Mr D. McMillan and the Hon W. C. Walker, M.L.C., the Classificatioi Commissioners appointed by the Governor hare inspected the country now under lease and classified it into pastoral and pastoral agricultural lands ; the latter, being suitabl for disposal uuder the small grazing ruu c other settlement systems, will not be agaii offered for lease in the present areas; th former are the runs now advertised. x few alterations have been made , in the boua daries of the existing runs, but the majorit of them will remain as at present. Th np3et rentals have been carefully adjostei on what is believed to be a fair and equitabl basis towards both the Crown and it tenants. Lithograph plans, giving full pai ticulars for the information of intendio buyers, are expected to be published aboo the middle of February.