LAND FOR SOLDIERS

Evening Post, Volume XCI, Issue 5, 7 January 1916, Page 8

LAND FOR SOLDIERS

THE AREAS AVAILABLE

DEFINITELY SET ASIDE.

The quantity of land provisionally set aside by the Prime .Minister (as Minister 'for Lands) for. the settlement of returned soldiers totals 499,262 acres. Of this . amount, areas aggregating 87,000 have been definitely set aside, and will shortly be alienated by proclamation for this purpose.

A representative of The Post obtained from the Prime Minister some details regarding the 87,000 acres. About 60,000 acres are "situated'in the Upper Hawkes Bay, ■ comprising the Kaiwaka. Block, 6880 acres; the Henuaturea Block, 3990 acres; the Awa-b-totara Block, 17,130 acres;, the Purahotangihia Block, 26,300 acres; the Te Kuta Block, 1470 acres; and other lands open for selection, 5308 acres.'. The whole.of this land is situated on the route of the Napier-Gisborne railway, about four to eight miles from .Napier," and is chiefly open, hilly, pastoral land, mo^tfy in grass, _ part in scrub and -fern. It is described as suitable for . subdivision" into " sheep farms ranging from 500 to a few thousand acres, probably averaging about a thousand acres each. It is.now being subdivided.

Another Hawkes Bay block is in the Takapau Survey District, and comprises 5543 acres situated on the Napier-Wel-lington railway between Norsewood and Takapau townships. The soil is firstclass and most suitable for dairying. The block is surveyed into 22 holdings, and the 'lease expires in May next. The Prime Minister said that this land would be eminently . suitable for the purpose for "which it is set apart. It was already "broken in" and would not require from those who took it up the hardships of pioneering. " . Land set apart in the Wellington district comprises 71 acres of the HallJones Settlement at the Hutt, and 107 acres of the Waddington Settlement, also at the Hutt. .This land is flat, and rich. The Hall-Jines Settlement is available ■for occupation at once, and the Waddington Settlement will be ready in October next. ..'...-.

In Ota-go -there are 23,000 acres of the Benniore T^tate, open tussock land suit: able for pa,stora] purposes lin areas averaging about 12,000 acres. The land set, apart is. described .as the best'of the low : lying part of Benmore. In addition, the. Poukawa Swamp, near Te Aute, is being drained, and when the work is completed there will be another 2500 acres of rich land suitable for small holdings available.

So far, said the Prime Minister, the enquiries from returned soldiers for land had been very few. In cases where soldiers had come to them every assistance had been given. In one instance a man had been-placed on a sheep run in the .Marlborough locality. The time they had to. provide against, •of .'course, was when the war was over and men who were fit and well were returning, home.