TE HORO'S RAPID GROWTH

Evening Post, Volume XCI, Issue 146, 21 June 1916, Page 13

TE HORO'S RAPID GROWTH

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TOWNSHIP WITH AN INTERESTING HISTORY

the north towards Otaki. The beach formed the coaching road, bufc there is no need to resort to that now, for between Otaki and Waikanae there are 'now at least fifty miles ■of good, wellformed roads. In fact, in this district the splendid roads are a feature regarding which the residents might well feel proud. ' SELF-CONTAINED TOWNSHIP. Te Horo's growth has all come about | within the last four years. Five years ago it could not support one general store, and goods were purchased in. Otaki. There were no shops of any description, but to-day it boasts a general' store, refreshment rooms, a butcher, a bootmaker, a newspaper agency, a billiard saloon, and, last but not least, a co-operative cheese factory. Besides all these there are three churches (Anglican, Roman Catholic, and Methodist), a large public hall (erected by public subscription), while the school has had to be enlarged on two occasions, GROWTH OF THE SCHOOL. Perhaps the public school provides the best barometer as to the growth of Te Horo. As referred to above, it has been found necessary, within recent years, to enlarge the school by adding | a room on. two .separate occasions, and even now it is quite .full. In 1904 the average attendance was 39. In the twelve intervening years it has, gone ahead gradually. Here are the figures for each successive year, beginning at 1904 :—39, 50, 55, 52, 56, 66, 62, 67, 83, 82, 89, 90. This year the number of children on the roll is 104. -Mr. G. W. Kirk, the headmaster at Te Horo, says it is hard .to believe that a place could go ahead so rapidly as has •Te Horo. When Mr. Kirk arrived at Te Horo twelve years ago he had to reside three miles away from the school. The conditions are greatly different now, and no school teacher would describe the Te Horo School as being in the backblocks. SUBSTANTIAL PROSPERITY. Judging by the appearance of' the various homesteads and small farms at Te Horo, the owners are extremely prosperous. In fact, they admit that that is so. They say that everything is favourable to dairy farming and market gardening, and they are satisfied that Te Horo has a great future before it. Speaking to a Post reporter, one of the early settlers recalled the 'early days, when fat sheep and bullocks were the principal product of the land. The wethers brought from 8s to 10s, and the bullocks ,£5 to £8 for extra good. Now, for the same quality stock, the prices are, in the first instance,, £1 to* £1 Bs, and in the second £12 to £16. The storekeeper used to buy what butter the farms produced, at the rate of 4d to 6d per lb, and expected the settler to take most of the money out in stores. What a change has been brought about with the establishment of the co-opera-tive factory! FRUITGROWING. As with the remainder of the district, Te Horo is very favourable to fruitgrowing, except that it lacks the essential shelter. Each new orchard has to 'be provided with shelter, and, of course, this is somewhat of a drawback. The climate is ideal for strawberries and small fruits, and in this line considerable success has been achieved by Mr. R. Smerle, whose place is situated close to the railway station. Mr. Smerle cultivates about twenty acres, and makes a specialty of strawberries,, but- he also grows black currants, gooseberries, and raspberries to perfection. For . its rapid growth, Mr. Smerle recommends Australian bluegum for shelter. Mr. A. Mountier ' has a. fair-sized orchard, and he sends tons of apples and pears to Wellington during the season. There are several young orchards in the vicinity of Tb Horo township, and very soon the supply of fruit from the district/ should be considerable. . PRICE .OF LAND. One thing which must strike a visitor to the West Coast district is the high

price asked for land suitable for dairying, or, in fact, any other land activity. And, seemingly, buyers are found readily. At Te Horo any man who likes to work can make a living off ten acres, and some have to make such a small area pay although they have gone in for nothing .else but dairying. However, the price asked for these small, holdings, which, as a rule, are the pick of the country, is as much as £100 to £110 per acre. Bigger plots bring up to £70 per acre. j I NEW BLOOD. New blood will do a great deal for any place, and Te Horo people_ are in j a position to appreciate.that truism. Te Horo has been fortunate enough to attract progressive settlers, men who, as the .Americans would say, move some.. One has only to look at the new dairy factory, wmch is a monument to the progress! yen ess of the district. There are not. many of the original settles left now, many of them having sold out and gone to pastures new. A few of the oldest settlers still farming there are Messrs P. A. .Gillies, B. Mickell, T. H. Windley, C. J. Sisson, and A. Mountier. Messrs. Best, Mickell, and G. P. Caley all have fine herds of cattle, the result of an importation of some notable pedigree Holsteins. Messrs. Brady and Hai'kness specialise in Jerseys, and all round the quality, of the herds has improved wonderfully.