NEW DAIRY LAND

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 48, 19 November 1932, Page 10

NEW DAIRY LAND

Settlement Operations REVIEW BY MINISTER Conversion of Galatea Land settlement activities were reviewed last evening by the Minister of Lands, Hon. E. A. Ransom, who recently inspected several of the development areas in the north. Visits were paid by Mr. Ransom to the Onepu block at the top end of the Rangitaiki Plains, the Galatea block, the Ngakttra block, and several development areas in the North Auckland peninsula, and in discussing the progress made he said he was more than pleased with the., results being obtained.

Mr. Ransom said that the Galatea block was purchased by the Government in March last Pending the completion of a programme of development work it was being farmed by the Lands Department as a sheep and cattle station. A good portion of the area was in fair pasture, and the condition of the stock was excellent. The development, work was proceeding on the lighter portion of the estate, and already good progress had been made. An area of 2000 acres had been cultivated and partly sown down in grass, and arrangements had been made to have a total area of 6000 acres in new pastures by next spring. It had to .be remembered that the intention of the Government was to convert into a dairying settlement 22,000 acres of land which for 50 years had been used as a sheep and cattle station. No manures had been used in the past to maintain the pastures, and consequently some time was essential to enable the department to renew portion of the grassland and rehabilitate the balance. That was imperative to ensure the success of those who eventually would take up the sections for dairy farming purposes. “The Ngakura development area, which is situated in the centre of a large tract of pumice land about 20 miles from Rotorua,” said Mr. Ransom. “has in two years been transformed from a waste of scrub and ground weeds into high-class dairying pasture. “The results obtained from the demonstration farm last season were most encouraging, and six additional farms are now in full working order under a sharemilking scheme. “Next season this number will be further increased, and by 1934 the whole of the pastures will he sufficiently consolidated to permit of the permanent settlement of the whole of the cultivated area, approximately 6300 acres. , ~A An “The whole block comprises 14,000 acres, but the rougher portions are not suitable for settlement, and as the district is a treeless one I have instructed that these portions be afforested under the direction of the State Forest Service with a view to the provision of firewood and timber.”