DARGAVILLE AND ITS DISTRICT.

Evening Post, Volume XCIII, Issue 48, 24 February 1917, Page 10

DARGAVILLE AND ITS DISTRICT.

A member of the Parliamentary Party which recently visited the Auckland district, in'his notes (in tho Taranaki News) anent Dargavillo and the district around it, pays of the Kaihu Valley:—"This valley contains some excellent dairying land- In ono paddock-was a mob'of fat bullocks that would be hard to,beat anywhere. A local settler said the land in question fattened a bullock to the acre, q.nd that tho bullocks always commanded top pi-ices. Ono could beliovo him." Of Dargaville lie says: —"Darg&ville is one of the towns of the North that must go ahead. It has a vast area, of back country, a great deal of which is undeveloped, a fine river navigable for a. great many miles.^ a genial climate, and abundant rainfall. For years it slumbered, but lately it has awakened to its opportunities, and made considerable progress. Tho town and district have a population of from 6000 to' 7000, but it could cosily carry 60,000 to 70,000. It is crying out for labour. In this respect it is liko the whole of the North. Population is needed, and a-nybod* with industry and/a little capital would do well horo; Even' tho poor lands can be turned to profit. This has been shown by Mr. George Bayly, late of New Plymouth, who some, time back bought some' land on the coast for 12s an aoro that most people considered practically useless. But Mr. Bayly thought otherwise, ajid began cultivating, and secured such results that unimproved land in the vicinity increased with a bound from 12s to something botween £2 and £3. ... It wa6 Mr. Bayly and other Taranaki men who showed the western north what could bo done with their land, and incidentally showed them the value. Land has since been going up in price, and if- it increases much more it will be detrimental to the interests of the district, for there will not be the margin for the next man vvJio is so badly needed in the North. A district can have no better asset than reasonablypriced land, and the converse- also holds good. As evidence of the upward tendency we might instance one block which was offered to tho Government a' few yea.rs ago for 6s an acre. A syndicate so-' cured it for £1, and it was subsequently cut up, and now commands £9." ,