BACK-BLOCKS SETTLERS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 36, 6 November 1907, Page 2

BACK-BLOCKS SETTLERS.

- TRIALS AND TROUBLES.' An Eketahuna farmer informed our Wairarapa correspondent that the' condition of tlio roads in many, parts of the back-blocks might be improved if the proporty owners themselves were'to tackle-the subject as it should be tackled.! Instead of adopting this procedure, however, and"• forming a united body for their general benefit," they showed a disposition for petty parochialism, each, one "went on, his own" as it were, and their pockets and their comfort both suffered. Recently a.property ownor'in the Waterfalls district stated that he would give £500 towards a road in that districtj if the Government and the County Council each followed suit. Instead of welcoming this proposal, a number of sottlers residing farther on the line of route sqt their backs against the idea, tlie'-facfc' tb'at'vits Jconsumm'ation''wourd::give* {hern/at 'least "seven miles of metal in lieu of seven miles of mud. Our infbrman't' declared' 1 that" might rate themselves; and, at a cost of perhaps £10 per year a piece, get good roads.. Two Wairarapa auctioneers, who. went out to 'Pongaroa the other day, had a liard time. The road was a sea of sticky mud, feet deep.' Early in the stagey of the journey, the occupants of the . vehicle had to vacate their seats in order to' help their horses. , Physical offort was necessary on several occasions to extricate the carriage from the numerous holes. Eventually, .however, the horses wrenched tho swingle trees from the vehicle, and wero," so ojaiausted that the auctioneers; had to abandon them and finish their journey on foot, a distance of six miles.' At a very bad piece of the Alfredton road horses are. so.often: Btuck up to tho girths in mud that _ livery stablekeepers carry with them specially prepared slmgs. When a horso is _ hopelessly stuck, tho rope is slung round his barrel,, and his owner gives him a lift. An able-bodied man can liolp a tired horse greatly in tthis manner, and astonishing results are sometimes effected. In some other portions of the bush districts, dairy farmers have had to sacrifice their milk supply for many mornings owing to tho impassableness of tho roads. A number of dairy farmers 'have experienced a most wretched winter with no milk supply worth recording, and stock in poor'condition, is it ; any wonder that some of them have thrown up their sections, and tackled day labour? The present dry weather in the bush districts has dried up tho roads in the backblocks, and many farmers, ;who have been practically isolated' since May, are now able to visit' their country towns.