THE KING COUNTRY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVII, Issue 108, 8 May 1909, Page 9

THE KING COUNTRY.

ITS NATURAL RESOURCES AND POTENTIALITIES. NEW DEVELOPMENTS. (From Our Special Reporter.) After passing lightly and discursively over a few of the more remarkable features of the wonderful country opened up by the Mnin Trunk railway, it seems well to conclude with a brief summary of the natural resouces and potentialities of this great territory, now rapidly undergoing settlement. TIMBER— AND AFTERWARDS. First, there is the timber. The lower levels of the vast plateau to the west of Ruapehu is one huge forest, containing large areas of some of the best timber ever seen in New Zealand. This will last many years, unless fire anticipates the axe and clears it all away in one sweep. The land is fairly level, and once the bush is criss-crossed with ventholes made by sawmill tramways and clearings, it will gradually begin to dry and become an easy prey to conflagration. That is the chief danger, and serious it is in the after view of the fires round Raetihi in the drought of 1908. The rougher papa country towards the Wanganui River will probably he> cleared by the settler without the intervention of the sawmiller. The bush there is mostly of the tangled mixture of rata, tawa, and other non-mill-able timbers. DAIRYING AND SHEEP. When the bush has disappeared, v;hat will be the use of the country ? The papa lands will always be valuable for grazing purposes, being excellent fot sheep. The higher uplands about Ohakune are more doubtful. The winter there is undeniably severe, and feed will have to be grown in large quantities, if stock are to survive. At present in winter cattle are left to roam in tho bush until the spring comes round again. Thr>t will be impossible when there is little or no bush. At the same time, it is not f, windy country, like the coast lands, and shelter belts are already being planted in the older settled districts in tho vicinity of Raetihi. The soil is volcanic, and apparently not so suitable for sheep as for cattle. Dairying will, therefore, be the main industry of tho Ohakune districts, when sawmilling passes with the bush. A hardier breed of cows will be required, unless there is to be universal rugging or housing. Root crops do well. Even at Karioi, out on tho plains, a fin& crop of turnips a month ago could be seen from the train. Iv the sheltered valleys of the Ohura, the Tangarakau, the Whangamomona, and the Wanganui, and their tributaries, fruit-growing should succeed. On the Wanganui and near Whangamomona there are already some splendid orchards. COAL, PAPA, AND POTTERY. The King Country, which properly speaking is north of the Wanganui, is, perhaps, not destined entirely to agriculture. Along the Tangarakau Gorge there are frequent evidences of coal in the beds of inflowing streams. This is said to show a continuation of the Mokau seam, worked for many years on the Mokau River, and producing a fair quality of coal. Local enthusiasts say there is thirty miles of coal, but that requires confirmation. Still there should be enough to make an experiment in an important manufacture, namely, pottery. All the country for miles and miles around is practically one solid mass of papa, a sort of compressed blue clay, which crumbles when exposed to the air, forming a useful top-dressing to a paddock, but a wretched material for a road — that is, in its natural state. Burn the papa, however, and you get the finest road metal imaginable. There are several miles of roads about Whangamomona metalled with burnt papa, and -they possess a beautiful smooth red surface, that hardly any traffic can destroy. The metal is costly, but the road is worth it. Now, this burnt papa, examined closely, has all the appearance, texture, and hardness of terra cotta. 'Why, therefore, with any amount of wood and coal available close at hnnd, should there not be a flourishing industry in the manufacture of terra cotta D ricks and pottery. Perhaps, with a little admixture of pumice, another variety of building material could be obtained. Then, not thirty miles away, are the limestone deposits on the Upper Mokau and Awakino. As yet iron ore is missing, but still there is Taranaki ironsand less than a hundred miles away by rail. And at Whangamomona there are rumours of ore. Through all this country the Stratford-Ongari.e line will pass, and then there should bo developments of these potentialities of the great King Country. CLIMATE AND HEALTH RESORTS. More important, perhaps, at present, because more immediately available, through the completion of the Main Trunk railway, is the magnificent asset the Ruapehu country has, in its climate. Its severity in winter has been mentioned, but it is a seventy of frost, rather than one of bleak winds. For pulmonary troubles there should be nothing like Waimarino, Erua, or Waiouru. A co-operative labourer, who had helped to dig the foundations for the Makatote viaduct, told the writer that he had been a constant suriVrer from asthma before he took on navvying in the highlands of the railway. Since then, for over two years, he had never had a touch of it. Another had found relief from malarial fever, while several consumptives had benefited by their residence in the rare atmosphere of the mountain region."-. Erna particularly impressed the writer with its suitability for a sanatorium. The little station lies under the lee of a huge, bushy spur of a foot-hill of Ruapehu. In front is an open, grassy natural clearing, several miles long and about a mile wide, quite, level, with a low range of wooded hills on the other side. It looked as if it were specially designed for a racecourse. FOR TOURISC AND SPORTSMAN. There is one more aspect — that of the tourist and the sportsman. Ruapehu and her daughter volcanoes will always attract the climber who can start from Waimarino, Ohakune, Karioi, or Waiouru, or from any of the stations between, if he is willing to strike across country. The climb is not difficult, unless the mountaineer choopes, and the view is glorious. For the fisherman there are the streams about Raetihi and Ohakune all affording good sport Wild horses and cattle may be hunted on the plains, and there are plenty of pigs in the northern valleys of ths Wanganui and her tributaries. In conclusion the writer would suggest that an experiment be made with the acclimatisation of grouse on the pumice plateaus. In outward appearance these desolate plains are not unlike the grouse moors of the north of England and Scotland. Of course there is no heather, but still that might be acclimatised, too. At present the&o uplands are practically desert, with only an odd sheep or so to be seen at wide intervals. The experiment would hceni uoitk a trial, and there are many possibilities in the King Country.