Hawke's Bay Herald. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1884. OPEN LAND AND BUSH LAND.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 6978, 4 October 1884, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Herald. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1884. OPEN LAND AND BUSH LAND.

It is ofteri'stated by those who, short of * political capital, seek to manufacture ' some, that all the open lands of Hawke's Bay havje been " rhopped-up " by wealthy in large blocks, and that there is only densely-bushed land left for the small settler, except at exorbitant prices. .It is not our purpose now to go into a history of the past to show the fallacy of the assertions often. made respecting the' acquirement of some of our large runs, but we will take the present, and assert that the statement that there is no open

land available ia not accurate. Yesterday some large blooks of fine open country, much of it fit for agricultural purposes, were offered for sale by the Oommissioner of drown Lands, on behalf of the Board of College Governors. The land is easily accessible, some of it being within about two miles of the township of Wairoa; it was offered at an upset prioe of from 15a to 30s an acre ; and the terms of payment were exceptionally easy and the interest low. Yet only three seotions were sold. Just before that sale Mr M. R. Miller had unsuccessfully attempted to sell some adjoining blocks of improved land, though the reserves were low and the terms of payment fairly liberal. But when a few bush sections are offered there is keen competition for them, though they may be further from Napier than ia Wairoa, though they may carry timber which is not only valueless but a great drawback to the purchaser, and though, when oleared by infinite labor, they may be less productive and more broken than the Wairoa sections, for which there was no bidder. Whence comes this anomalous state of affairs P Doubtless it is partly due to the fact that everyone knows the bush, and thero are few who have not travelled through it. A railway journey of four hours and a coach ride afterwards are looked upon as small inconveniences. But a six hours' trip to the Wairoa on a steamboat seems to be regarded as quite a formidable undertaking by most people, for it is the exception, not the rule, to meet in these more southern ports of the provincial district anyone who has been to Wairoa, and even of those who have made the trip few have gone beyond the township. This want of knowledge of the capabilities of Wairoa lands is doubtless a main cause of the slackness in the demand for land there as compared with the demand for bush sections. Another active element in producing the anomaly is to be found in the fact that settlement in the bush has got a good start, and has become a sort of fashion or custom. Man is a gregarious animal, and where the first few go others follow. Settlement in the bush was first promoted by special means, but it now needs no bolstering up. Why should not a similar plan be adopted at Wairoa 1 ? If the special settlements in the bush have succeeded, in spite of the many and peculiar difficulties whioh meet the bush selectors, surely they would succeed at Wairoa, where the conditions are much more favorable. The labor and cost of clearing and preparing the land for cultivation would be a mere bagatelle at Wairoa, compared with the bush, and, practically, the Wairoa is aa accessible as the bush, and almost as well furnished with the means . of transport to the Napier market. We commend the idea to the consideration of the Land Board, and others interested in the progress of settlement.