PASTORAL LANDS

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 16945, 21 September 1920, Page 9

PASTORAL LANDS

REPORT OF COMMISSION. (srECI-- TO "THE TRESS.") WELLINGTON, September 20. Tho following is a summary of the report of tho Commission on Southern Pastoral Lands, which, was tabled in tho House of Representatives to-night:— TENURE. In regard to tenure of pastoral runs, tho Commission 'has come to the conclusion that in many particulars tho Acts need reconstruction, as in their present form they indirectly lead to deterioration of the pastures, to the detriment of both the State and tho lessees. The Commissioners suggest the following alterations (a) That as 21 years, the longest tenuro provided by the Act, is in our opinion and according to much of tho evidence given, too short to induce a tenant to improve and develop the lands ■contained in liis lease, or to give him satisfactory security thereof, the term should bo increased to 35 years, with a right of renewal, provided tlhe land in the lease or license is not .suitable for subdivision, in which case the outgoing lessee shall have a right to a new lease over the subdivision lie selects. (b) That when pastoral lands (have been subdivided into ureas that will only provide a sufficient living for tho maintenance of one settler and his family, as provided in paragraph 1, page 12, of tliisimport, and all the conditions of tho lcas~have been complied with, then, after seven years of t'he term of thd lease, the lessee may havo the option of acquiring the fee simple, either fov cash, or on deferred payment. Tho value ef such laftds shall bo the improved value determined by arbitration, but in no 'ease of a less value than tho value placed upon iJhese subdivisions at the time of their disposal for lease.

(c) _ When such subdivisions as are mentioned in recommendation (b) form part of the lands set asido as national endowment, no rights to_ acquire the fee simple shall be given or implied until an ■area of land equal in value is substituted, which may be cither Crown land, freehold land (urban or suburban), land purchased for settlement purposes, or Native land acquired by tlhe Crown or obtained by exchange. (d) That all leases of pastoral lands shall be offered for selection by ballot, subject to a condition that the lessee shall bo required tp reside continuously on the-ruu'in the discretion of tho Land Board, as provided for m sertibn i6l of -the Land Act, 1908. Tho object of this recommendation is to put the residential obligations of a pastoral run on the same basis as a small grazing run.' It is hoped by this means to- read to better management of pastoral runs.

(e) That in dealing with pastoral leases or .licenses, it is necessary to decide two years before the expirv whether the run is -suitable for subdivision or not. When the run is not suitable for subdivision the outgoing licensee or lessee shall bo entitled to receive a renewal of his lease or license, in accordance with the provisions of the Act. but' tho rental terms and conditions of the lea so shall be decided upon twelve months before tho expiry. _ (f) In the case of subdivision mentioned m recommendation (e), the method or subdivision shall be decided upon two years before expiry, to enablo t-ne survey to he made, so that the outgoing lessee or licensee will be enabled to exercise his right to select a subdivision twelve months before exnirv. in crder to regulate the disposal of his surplus stock, and give the incoming tenanton opportunity of acquiring stock bred on the country. Wo have been led to mako this recommendation through the well-known fact that sheep bred on a run thrive far better than strange sheep. (ct) That as pra'ctically all tho pastoral land* are now held under the existing tenures, in order to make our recommendation effertive, it is very desirable that these conditions should to all renewals of leases or licenses of pastoral lands. (h) Ir. consideration of the period of T>astoral leases having been extended to 35 years in tho terms of our recommendation (&S, we recommend that the.conditions therein suggested apply to all renewals of present leases. OCCUPATION. In regard fo pastoral Crown lands, it is recommended that sales by auction be abolished, as it iS found that when lands have been offered at public auctions, the rents obtained are frequently oxoessive, and in consequence the tenant overstocks his. land in an endeavour to recoup himself for his outlay, which leads tor the deterioration of the country. • As the present system of examination by Land Boards is not quite satisfactory, it is suggested that a system pf examination by competent Boards should bo held at stated times, and certificates of competency issued to prospective applicants. In regard to pastoral runs, it is recommended that the runs should contain sufficient winter and summer country to run a flqck up to about 5000 sheep in country that carries a snow risk, and up to about 2000 where there is practically no snow risk. "Where there is not sufficient winter country on a run for the purpose of sub-division, land suitable for this purpose should be acquired within a reasonable distance of the run-in question. No pastoral lands should be held by. companies or -by absentees. Safeguards j are suggested in regard to transfer. ] CULTIVATION. Under. this heading it is- recommended: — (a) That in certain cases the tenantshall. spell such area or areas as the Board shall from time to time direct for such periods as tho Board deems necessary, the rent on such spelled "areas to be abated! pro rata. It is suggested that this provision could bo applied to tho best advantage at the oommencoent of a lease. This provision is to bo mandatory in new leases of pastoral lands, but optional in all leases or licenses of pastoral lands now in existence. (b) No restrictions should be placed on the cultivation to be effected on pastoral lands, with the following exceptions: —The lessee shaN not toko more than three, crops from tno same land in succession, and either -with', or immediately after a third crop of any kind, ho shall sow the land down with good permanent grasses and clovers, and allow tho land to remain- as pasture for at least three years from the harvesting of the last crop before being again cropped. (c) That no clearing by felling and burning bush and scrub and sowing the same iu grass is to be effected except ■with tho conscnt of the Land Board. IMPROVEMENTS. Under this heading it is suggested that when it is seen that a tenant by tho destruction of rabbits, light stocking, and careful management, is improving the condition and carrying capacity of tlv? lands comprised in his lease, such improvements shall be placed to his credit and. in no case be a factor in increasing tlic vout on a fcncwal. In the case of subdivision, tho outgoing leasco shall receive the value of this class of improvement which shall be paid for bv the incoming tfenant. Wh'ere a tenant is causing tho value of the land to be reduced by incompetent or careless management and overstocking the Land Board may forfeit his lcale' without compensation beyond the value of the substantial improvements, -which shall be assessed at their value to an incoming tenant.

RFOUISITES FOR IMPROVEMENT

The Commission states that the three requisites for improvement are getting

rid of rabbit.-, surface sowing, and spelling. They found that trapping to destrov rabbits is almost universally condemned, and they agree with tins verdict. Thev consider that the pes. could be got under if heroic measui Cj were adopted. The iollowmg are methods for the destruction of rabbits that tlie Commissioners- think most elhcacious. , . , _ (1) Fencing lower country m t o comparatively small areas by means of rabbit netting. , ' (2) In order to make use of netting general, we strongly urge the Government either to make it m this Miintn or to procure it from abroad and sell it at cost price for cash, or on deferred payment, for bona fide destruction. , . Poison inn: should be earned on simultaneously'~by owners of adjoining I<U (4) When rabbits are appreciably rcduced bv systematic poisoning thfittli. remainder be got under by mesui* ot dogs, ferrets, guns, and t '5) Protection by. law c: aU natuiai enemies, and breeding and libeia ferrets and cats. , (G) Fumigation, where suitable, should be practised. SURFACE SOWING. Judging from the favourable results from surface sowing m many localitic, and considering that the conditions tor plant lire and seed gemmation of many slopes up to 3000 feet, or indeed, 4000 feet altitude, are not very different troin what they aro at the lower levels, n is reasonable to exnect satisfactory results from the surface sowing of such countrv. Also there is the important fact that the sheep themselves and ottier distributing factors have led to the P? r ~ manent settlement up to high altitudes of certain palatable plants, such as Yorkshire fog, fiorin, meadow-grass, and catsear, to cite some of tlio more important. _ ' Now, what Nature is doing unaided should surely bo better carried out by tho skill of man, suggests the report, which goes ()n to state that surface sowing can only be carried out on land where there is sufficient tussock. The Department of Agriculture is carrying out careful experiments in -ne-grassing denuded country from 1000 to 2000 feet altitude. Wo found, states the Commissioners, the experiments designed witlli scrupulous care, and to us-they seemed planned in the right direction. Until these experiments produce positive or negative results, it seems to us promature to offer definite suggestions regarding re-grassing the completely denudixl areas, but the matter of their improvement receives further oonsidera•tion under the head of grasses and other ,plants to bo used for surface sowing, and having regard to the recent work on palatabilitv carried out by t'he Department of Agriculture, we consider the following to bo most suitable: — Meadow-grass, cocksfoot, catsear, white clover, suckling clover, fiorin, redtop, clanthonia, Yorkshire fog, (Rowing's fescue, and possibly bliiegrass, but the seed of this is not yet to bo procured commercially. To the above might be added lucerne and yarrow. SPELLING. Equally important as surface sowing and a corollary to it, is spelling the ground.. Even without surface sowing at all, spelling is a most powerful weapon in tho hands of one wishing to improve his upland pastures. How can a pasture grazed year in and year ouf. even at the time of seeding be'ex'peeted to remain at its best. 'It must deteriorate. Witness in this regard the constant grazing for noarly seventy years of the mountain tussock grasslands. No wonder they have deteriorated. Tho marvel is that they are not worse. Nowhere can tho "good effects of spelling be better shown than in the absolutely depleted lowlands of Centra 1 . Otago. Tho exact time it takes to regenerate a piece of this lowland desert is not known —possibly three years will bring about a fair result. Even if so long a timo is required, this is no excessive period for lestoring absolutely worthless ground to an equal, or, more likely, a better state | of palata.bilily than existed in any primitive pasture of Centra] Otago. ! Coming next to those better grassed pastures which make up tho bulk of tho pastdral lands, the evidence before us and our own experience, lead us unhesitatingly to declare how necessary it is for tho mountain pastures to be spelled The seeding and spreading by means of their creeping stems of the palatable grasses is thereby greatly facilitated. A pasture which is not naturally is going back, and natural regeneration can only he induced by ' Hand in hand with such spelling comes in surface sowing. Ifc i 3 next to useless to sow after burning the tussock, and not to speU the ground till such timo as the seedlings are able to resist tho .attack of stock. 'This stands' true especially for a grass so palatable as cocksfoot. Finally, it must be urged that nothing but the best seed bo used, of high Germinating poovor. From the evidence given before us, many failures in surface sowing in the past must he attributed to the use of unreliable seed. * TUSSOCK BURNING. The Commission is strongly of opinion that the burning of tussock is advisable. but a hard and fast rule such as specified in the Land Act is undesirable, and tho Statute in this respect requires to bo modified. The Commission recommends experiments in regard to the effect of burning.upon the tussock and accompanying .plants. WINTER FEED. In urging tho growing of more winter feed, the Commission states that generally speaking the summer country of the South Island sheep runs is considerably understocked. This applies with jts greatest force to the splendid summer country of tho iiiicarscliist mountains, whoro even in tho most de-, pleted part of Central Otago there are extensive .pastures of tall blue tussock, a grass of fair palat-ability oven it not burnt. On the mountains of Canterbury and Marlborough, the amount of summer feed is considerably less, owing to tho extensive areas occupied by shmgle slips. This understocking of the liigli county is altogether due to the "much smaller carrying capacity of tho winter country. In order then to increase tho carrying capacity of the runs as a whole, tho growing of much more winter feed than ab present is essential. The restriction on growing crops should be modified to enable purchases of feed to be made ( from neighbouring stations. DETERIORATION AND DEPLETION. Under this heading the diversity of pastures is dealt with, and the various grasses referred to. Tho causes of deterioration, and -ultimate depletion aro summed up as follows: —(1) Burning, es- ( pecially at the wrong season; (2) overstocking; '3) continuous grazing for /0 years without attempting any improvement; (4) the rabbit increase —the most potent cause of all: and (5) the tenures and conditions under wliich. the land is lield. GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS. The Commission recommcnds that on tho expiry of pastoral runs on tho .Blue, Mountains, situated in the Gl-gnkenich, Rankleburn, and Crookston survey districts, suitable areas of these runs be set aside for afforestation purposes; that settlers be assisted to plant shelter belts; that the destruction of the kea be encouraged; that the provision of leases relating to the spead of noxious weeds be strictly enforced; that in ea«ses where freehold land necessary for the working of the adjoining or adjivcent high pastoral is lei to the tenant of such land by tlie non-resident owner, tho Crown should take steps un- ! dcr the compukory clauses of the Act j to acquire such land and add it to the lease of the pastoral land in terms of Section 59 of tlie Land for Settlements Act, 1903; that irrigation and dry farming methods he rigorously pursued on areas set apart at Galloway Flat ; that- the Fencing Act be amended to specify the gauge of rabbit proof 'iet-

tm- as 36 by 1 \ by 17; that experiments be conduotc-d to ascertain if ferrets can bo rendered immune from distemper bv inoculation; and that lncerno growing in the areas covered by the report be exhaustively investigated.