THE PLAINS OF CENTRAL OTAGO.

Evening Star, Issue 12865, 14 July 1906, Page 2

THE PLAINS OF CENTRAL OTAGO.

(Concluded.)

Without a map or a long and wordy description it is rather difficult to give a clear conception of "the lay of the land" to those of our readers unacquainted personally with the plains of Central Otago. Yet it is to such a clientele that this article is specifically dedicated. Those who know the district are already enthusiasts on the subject of irrigation. The best way that suggests itself is to suppose an airship ascending from Middletnarcb with a full complement of sceptics aboard. The course will be set north-west, nearly at right angles to the line of railway. First it will be necessary to cross the Rock and Pillar Range of decomposed schist, some six miles of elevated and rugged country, on the farther side of which lie the Serpentine Valley and Maniototo* Plains, already dealt with in the article of last Saturday. Beyond these is the Rough Ridge, here about ten miles wide, and then Ida Valley opens out, 120 square miles in area, its greatest length S.W. and N.E. Through its centre run tho Idaburn and the Poolburn, with numerous feeders coming from the ranges on either side, and uniting to pass through the Poolburn Gorge on their way to swell the Manuherikia River. At the present time this valley is carrying on tho average one sheep to every four or five acres. Certainly no one could claim it as a rich farming district on its past or present achievements: Yet Ida Valley is an old lake basin identical in origin with tho Maniototo, and its soil should be good enough for anything. Our aeroncf rises again 1,500 ft, and passes over the Raggedy Ranges, descending some four or five hundred feet lower than before into tho Manuherikia Valley. Almost beneath us is the end of that part of the Otago Central Railway at present open to traffic. This valley, 140 square miles in area—again the site of an ancient glacier—is watered by the Manuherikia River, with its numerous tributaries— Dunstan Creek, the Poolburn, and many others of less importance. Still keeping the N.W. course, our ship rises 4,000 ft, passes over the Dunstan Mountains, and alights near Wakefield, in the Upper Clutha. During the voyage she has passed to starboard of Alexandra, Clyde, Cromwell, Tinkers, etc., and to port of Hyde, Hamilton, Ranfnrly, St. Bathans, etc. Hamilton, with a little irrigation scheme of its own from the Pigburn, would make an ideal spot for a sanatorium, being in such a situation as to enjoy the maximum of sunshine while yet high enough to be clear of the winter mists. The Upper Clutha Valley, in which our ship now lies, has an area of 165 square miles, and is well watered by the Clutha and its tributaries^—Lindis, Cardrona, etc In all some 400,000 acres of flat land has been sighted during the trip of 150 miles, and were it possible to irrigate only half this area, a population of over 60,000 would be carried in addition to the present 5,000 or 6,000. It will have been noted that each of these valleys has its quota of small creeks and larger streams, many of them perennial. But they are supplied by rain which has fallen in the mountainous country and by springs; the local precipitation is very small, only averaging 16' in annually. This, while undoubtedly diminishing the persona] discomforts of a farming life and lessening the chances of a storm-ruined harvest, yet prevents—as we showed in our previous article—the winning of a crop within measurable distance of the best of which the land is capable. Abundance of water undoubtedly exists within the region, but it now goes uselessly tumbling down rocky beds or meanders through flat shingly bottoms. Nature has provided every material requisite, but intelligence, initiative, and labor must be applied by man. The water is everywhere lower than tho land, and although on a small scale enough may be elevated to meet local requirements by animal or mechanical power, this is a clumsy, unscientific, and wasteful way at best. The only rational method is to catch the water at a height and use its hydrostatic head to propel it over the area that ia to be cultivated. It may appear superfluous for us to insist on the truth of so self-evident a proposition, but opponents to the gravitation schemes which we are advocating may adduce the fact that £26,000 at the present moment is annually paid for tho pumping of water from the river Nile, and that Egypt is in the forefront in irrigation matters. The reason of this payment is, however, that the Egyptian Government, in 1883, entered into a thirty years' contract with the pumping company, and cannot now withdraw. Old races originally constructed for alluvial mining have been pressed into service by some agriculturists, notably by Mr John Wilson, whose career at Ophir furnishes a striking object lesson of the benefits derived from irrigation. In a similar way Mr and Mrs MacConochie, an elderly couple at Clyde, have irrigated their little plot of land, and sold £35 worth of onions last year from half an acre, in addition to growing potatoes, etc., for their own consumption. We have already shown from what sources and at what expense tho irrigation of the Maniototo Plains can be effected. As regards the 64,000 acres of Ida Valley, and considering one-half irrigable as before, wo have 32,000 acres to deal with. There is first the Government —once Bonanza—water race. It is not too much to ask that one-half of this water should be devoted to agriculture. Seventeen heads would irrigate* 11,000 acres. The remaining 21,000 could be watered from a dam at the point where tho railway crosses tho Idaburn. Neither this stream nor the Poolburn is perennial, but the storage of storm water by this dam should, on good authority, meet the requirements. The dam itself would cost £5,000; adaptation of the Bonanza race and other smaller sonrces of water, £3,000; reticulation, etc., £5,000; total cost of irrigating 32,000 acres, £13,000; interest at 4 per cent, on £13,000, £520; upkeep and management, £1,000; total, £1,520. Tho annual cost would thus be less than Is per acre. In the Manuherikia lie 90,000 acres. A sixty-head race seventy miles long, extending to Clyde from Dunstan Creek, with subsidiary races from other. feeders of the Manuherikia River, should not cost more than £60,000; interest at 4 per cent, on £SO,QOO, £2,000j npkeep, eta, £2,000; total, £4,000; annual charges for 45,000 acres, £4,000, or is 9d per acre. In the Upper Clutha there are 110,000 acres. Sufficient water could most cer. tainly he obtained from the Lindis and Timara Creeks on the east, and from the Cardrona River on the west/ We are not in a position to give even a rongh estimate of the probable cost, but there is no reason to apprehend any tremendous engineering difficulties, so that it would probably be safe to assume 2s as a maximum annual charge per acre. A few days ago Mr J. M. Coane, a prominent irrigation engineer, giving evidence before the New South Wales Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works, stated.; "Lucerne for dairying and. look*

"raising would be the staple industries "in irrigation districts. From 6d to 9d "per acre-inch is a prico irrigators could "well afford to pay for their water:" This, on Foxwell's estimate of one acre-' foot per acre, would amount to 6s; to 9s per acre per annum. Again, in Egypt the increase of rental after irrigation is over £1 per annum (Hazcll). It seems probable that the height above sea-level of the greater part of both Ida Valley and the Maniototo Plains, and the consequent severe frosts, would militate seriously against the successful cultivation of the more valuable fruits. It is nevertheless true that modern science has produced specially hardy varieties even of such fruits as the orango; also the circulation of the air on the "sidelings" would, experts say, mitigate the extremes of temperature. So that, in some ,parts ! at least of these lands fruit culture may be a success. Yet it is probable, as Mr J. M. Coane says, that the fattening of I store cattle, growth of root and other l crops for winter feed, and dairy farming will be more general. How much better situated then will be tho Ida Valley farmer than his Australian rival' But for the remainder of the lands under conBideration, there can be no two opinions as to the suitability of the district for fruit culture. Mr Bragato, Chief Viri.: cultural to the Victorian Government, and a man of world-wide experience, declared emphatically after his visit in 94 that the Clutha Valley was «exceptionally suitable for the cultivation of the grape." His figures were .—'«' Expenditure on plants and tillage durin* the five years preceding full maturity of the vines, £8 per acre; value of fullbearing vines, £IOO per acre; annual * t expenses, pruning, etc., £2 10 s per acre ; annual profit, £ls to £2O per acre." plni » Bl f kmor °' tho Pomologist, put on record at the same time his opmion that "wherever water for irrigation purposes can be obtained splendid n gf ? nbthe Manuherikiaand Clutha yall e y S ... Mr B to cer mentioned Queensberry (Wakefield) as the highest point on the Clutha. where the ideal conditions prevailed, but, on the other band, every observant traveller has remarked upon the size and splendor of fruit growing to the open air right up to Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea Messrs Bragato and Blackmoro both spoke of the dryness of the air as a valuable qualification for the preparation of raisins and other dried fruits. ' Allowing, for the sake of argument," that these vast areas win be converted into one huge orchard by irrigation, and' assuming that the life of their population would be idyllic, what market is there for the produce? The New Zealand Year Book for 1905 contains, under " Lnports," the following items:— "Fruits £213,956, and jams, etc., £5,383." It is not too much to say that 80 per cent, of this £2C0,000 or so should never have left the colony. Again, under the same heading, one reads": —"Wines £55,0C0, and spirits £240,000." If the New Zealander cannot manage to oxist without these things, it would be bettor for him to drink the honest products of his own vines than the imported alcohoi-plus-logwood "port" or spirits of the "forty-rod" brand. Some 50 per cent, must, however, be allowed for the champagne, etc., of the bon-vivaht and the favorite brand of spirits of tho confirmed tippler, but there still remains £150,000, which, if it must be spent at all, had better be retained within the Colony itself. After home requirements in the matter of fruit had been satisfied the surplus would at first be absorbed by the markets of Australia, but as more of that country was brought under irrigation this trade would languish, New Zealand products should then capture the markets of Europe and North America, arriving',* as they would, just at that period of the year when fruit is most to be desired and most expensive. There is no reason to fear a glut in fruit; it is at once a luxury and a food.

Although it is true that the districts of Maniototo, Ida, and Manuherikia already enjoy, or will shortly enjoy, railway communication with the seaboard, the Clutha Valley and tho Hawea Plains are in less favorable case. Tho need for the extension of the Otago Central Railway is, however, a matter quite beyond the scope of the present article. Moreover, an influential and public-spirited body, with many years of good work behind it, already has tho matter in hand. Such is not the happy lot of tho projects for tho fertilisation of the lands to bo benefited by the proposed railway, and it certcnnly seems strange that the descendants of people that crossed 14,000 miles of sea to make a home;—members of a race noted all over the world for its commercial acumen, initiative, and tenacity of purpose, a race which has, moreover, thrust irrigation, with all 'ts benefits, upon the Egyptian fellah and the Hindu ryot—have hitherto been so strangely blind or so stolidly apathetic as regards the possibilities of their own land. This is essentially a question which should interest the young men of New Zealand. For many years after the writer of this article and the majority of his readers have disappeared into the Ewigkeit this GR.tNTJ work—the irrigation' of our barren lands—will stand as a monument to the foresight and public spirit of the people of Otago in the early years of the twentieth century. Apart from immediate betterment, the happiness of unborn generations is vitally concerned, and the matter should he approached in no partisan spirit, but as a great and civilising work which shall List for all time; and its exocution must rest with tho generation that will succeed us, unless tho project is firmly and vigorously grappled with immediately.