The East Coast Railway.

Hastings Standard, Volume XIII, Issue 4310, 13 November 1909, Page 5

The East Coast Railway.

THE ROUTE EXAMINED

FROM TUTIRA TO MOHAKA

THE PROBLEM OF THE PUMICE LANDS.

THE CLIMATIC CONDITIONS.

By Malcolm Ross, F.R.G.S.)

For a distance of 20 miles from Petane the proposed East Coast Railway would pass through excellent pastoral country, the lower valleys of which contain a limited area of agricultural land. Then, for about 15 miles, it would go through very inferior country indeed. In the future it is possible that scientific agriculture may alter the race of the landscape.• At Tutira station one is in *t :>js.uon to note the cnange in l: e nature of the soil caused by the deposits of wind-borne pumice grit *rom the form r outbursts of the volcanic region. The country underlying these d.ifts is composed of what is known to geologists as the Hawke's Ba> and the Maungaharuru limestones. The former, in which there are large numbers of unbroken shells, is found on the eastern side of Tutira. More to the west is the Maungaharuru formation, in which only crushed fragments of shells are to be found. Between the limestone ranges there are conglomerate and sandstone formations, and occasionally one notes sections of papa formation. The country for many miles aronud has .been heavily sprinkled with windborne pumice grit, and, as a result, we have the peculiar result —peculiar at all events, to the eyes of a southerner—that the alluvial flats are wretchedly poor, while the steep hillsides make good grazing country. The reason is that the numice has been washed off the steep hillsides, leaving the original limestone land to grow good grass, while the barren pumice has been spread over what, in olden times, might have been the | richer alluvial flats. Mr Guthrie- j Smith, who is a keen and careful observer, has seen this country being j grassed, or grassing itself, for the | last 26 years. Thus, for over a quarter of a century he has watched the arrival of each grass, its subsequent spread, and, in some cases, its decline, and he has a fund of valuable information on the subject. The long struggle between the native and the alien species, he says, still continues, and the indications point to the survival of the native varieties. One fact that stands out prominently in connection with this country is the enormously lessened fertility of to-day's surface as compared with its grass-carrying powers in the early eighties- I am led to believe, however, that after a number of years clover may again be j grown. The sward of clover that covered the sides of Tutira in the eighties and early nineties fed many swarms of bees. Now the bees are conspicuous only by their absence. It remains to be ascertained what the new methods of cultivation will -do in regard to improving the productivity of these lands. The land will, one day, be valuable for afforestation purposes, and I feel confident that in many localities it will also be valuable for fruit-grow-ing. There are, of course, different ! degrees of quality in pumice, as in other lands, and while much of the pumice country may be quite useless for fruit-growing on commercial lines there are areas of biack pumice soil —such as Tauranga —where fruitgrowing upon modern methods ■would pay, and pay well. The Department >f Agriculture at the fruit testing station at Tauranga has established beyond doubt that almost every kind of fruit can be grown in the district. Pears, in the old orchards established by ex military men in the early days, are giving splendid returns. One orchardist reports that his trees yielded an average of twelve 401b cases per tree. Apples, peaches and nectarines are doing equally well, and in speciallly favoured localities citrus trees are givine good returns. Manuring and watering will no doubt play an important part in fruitgrowing on pumiceous lands in this country. I have stated that much of the land bordering the proposed line in this particular locality, especially to the westward, is pumiceous, and consequently of poor quality. I feel certain, however, that it is capable of improvement, and a railway that would bring to it manures such as superphosphates, bone-dust, and basic slag at comparatively cheap rates would be the means of greatly increasing its productivity. There is room for experiments, and, if it is proposed to build the railroad, the Government should undertake these experiments and settle the question within the next few vears. Hitherto it has been the opinion of many that the pumice lands of the North Liand are utterly worthlesss ; but in the Auckland district excellent results are, I understand, being obtained by the use of basic slag. Indeed, from what I saw myself on this expedition, »t was plain to me that good root and even oat crops can be grown on properly prepared soil The soil require* manuring and consolidating, aad there is nothing better for it than the trampling it gets when sheep and cattle are eating off a crop of turnips grown with the assistance of to 2cwt of superphosphates to the acre. Mr Guthrie-Smith is carrying out experiments that will be watched _ w *ith interest. His run is. on native land, and he gets no compensation for improvements, so that in his experiments and the expenditure of his capital he will be working largely for the Maori landlord. # It was a great delight to me dunnj my all-too-short stay at the Tutira homestead to note the careful way

in which the meteorological observaj tions were taken are tabulated. Mr j Guthrie-Smith is a k?en ornithologist, and he has made a hobby of photoj graphing the birds in their native ! haunts. Most interesting were his | pictures of hawks and their young, the nests of various birds, and of kingfishers feeding their young. Mr Guthrie-Smith is particularly anxious to have the run de- ; clared a sanctuary for native birds. ! He has identified no fewer than 48 species of native buds on the run. It was most interesting to see scores of duck on the beautiful willowfringed lake, to see the kingfishers, and to note the pukekos quaintly strutting in the swamps, apparently" 'confident that there was not a gun j within a hundred miles of them. I J might write at much greater length | on these and kindred matters ; but I j must come back to more practical ! matters. ! On Saturday, September 25th, I j left behind me the amenities and the ! pleasant hospitality of Tutira, and | j set out on the next stage of my journey to Mohaka. On some pumice | land on the left a braird of healthy oats indicated that cultivation of such soil cculd be successfully undertaken. Land was being ploughed for turnips, and rye-corn is also to be experimented with. The land on the left continued ooor in quality; but on the right, towards the sea, the limestone hills were carrying thousands of healthy sheep. I reached Waikari, which is composed of a hotel, in time for lunch, and. in the afternoon drove on to Mohaka, where there is a little village situated on the banks of a fine river near the seacoast. During the last few miles of my journev the country had improved considerably, and a large area of good pastoral land was again in sight. The Mohako district is capable of much closer settlement; but a railway is wanted to open up the country. Here, as elsewhere, the native land question is, to some extent, a bar to progress. (To be Continned.)