THE GREENFIELD ESTATE.

Clutha Leader, Volume XXXI, Issue 1855, 21 October 1904, Page 5

THE GREENFIELD ESTATE.

PURCHASED BY THE GOVERNMENT. We were enabled to inform the townspeople, by means of an "Extra," on Tuesday afternoon that the Greenfield Estate had been acquired by the Government for the purposes of close settlement. To those who had followed th<s ■ information furnished by our Wellington correspondent during the past 10 days, the news would not come as a surprise. But it is exceedingly satisfactory to know that the negotiations have eventuated successfully although from information which came to us a fortnight . ago, we had not very much doubt on the point. The estate comprises some 23,000 acres, but we understand the homestead blocks, aggregating about 3,000 acres, has been retained by the Smith famThe price paid by the Government, viz., £4 per acre, is less by 2/- an acre than the whole estate Was valued at for probate duty, and i's 5/- per acre less than was offered by Government for the six or seven thousand acres on the Waitahuna side about two years ago. The/late Mr James Smith was alive, however, in these days, and it is well known that he had a very high opinion of Greenfield, and it is said that he never objected to any valuation that was put upon it, On the 22nd of March last, immediately after the, Premier's visit to this district, and his outspoken remarks regarding the large estates through which he had, passed, following upon which a Close Settlement League was formed here, antl petitions largely signed asking' tlie Government tp acquire G«*>n field and tSyfievale, W published a short account of several large properties, furnished by Mr Robert Grigor, surveyor, who has an intimate knowledge of them expending over nearly; half a century.,' In reference to Greenfield, Mr Grigor said : This estate comprises some 23,000 acres, and was first leased from the Crown in 1836 by a Mr White, who then leased it to t'he late Wn*. Shand, from whom it was leased by the late Jas. Smith about 1860, that gentleman acquiring the freehold by purchase from the Crown about 1864, at an average price of a little over £1 per acre. The estate has a frontage to the Molyneux of about eight miles, extending from th« mouth of the Waitahuna river to the mouth, of the Crookburn, near Tuapeka Mouth, the Waitahuna river being the boundary between this and the Hillend Estate. It extends inland from seven to eight miles, and the liind' is of similar formation to that. of Hillend, the highest parts ranging to a height of 700 ft above sea level. As far as is known the whole has been, under cultivation at different times, and a large portion is specially suited for wheat growing. The estate has been generally recognised 1 as a model of good hus-

bandry. The estate was surveyed by the Crown in 1862-3 for close settle l ment. Major Richardson, the them superintendent of'Otago Province, pushed on the survey very rapidly, no less than six survey parties (30 men) being engaged in tlie work. The reason for the hurry was in order to offer facilities for the settlement of the population (estimated at 10,000) that had been attracted by the Gabriel's Gully rush of June, l&Pil. Immediately after the survey die: land was put up to auction, the sales being chiefly held in Lawrence, But the. result was disappointing ; the time was apparently not suitable, as tlie people for whom the survey had been made were evidently too eager on making their fortunes on the gold fields, and did not realise the splendid opportunities offered for acquiring good land on exceptional terms and with easy accessibility. Possibly the auction system had something to do with this, as the few who were desirions of acquiring sections were outbid Jjy'. those wishing to obtain large areas, and although the latter paid large amounts for some of the sections, yet the price for the whole areas only amounted to a nominal sum. In one or two cases sections fell to the would be small settler, but in course of time- they all sold out to the large owner adjoining. There was then no freehold except tho pre-emptive right o\ or the So.sere sections at itfre homesteads, and 10-dfcre sections for sites for shepheeds' huts. Th,e estate is already cut up into blocks of from SO to 200 acres each, and is fairly well provided with roads belonging to the Crown, many of ■ which have been metalled. The s.s. Clyde taps the western boundary of t|«! property. The nearest portion of the estate is nine miles from Balclutha, the Greenfield landing being 14 miles. There is a good road up the Bruce, side of the river as far as Beggs', and a comparatively small exnenditure would carry this road on to Greenfield.- Tho Greenfield homestead is about equidistant from Lawrence, Balclutba, awl Clinton.