A NELSONIAN'S TRIP TO THE NORTH ISLAND.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXV, Issue 122, 25 May 1891, Page 2

A NELSONIAN'S TRIP TO THE NORTH ISLAND.

(Communicated) 1 have thought that it would be interesting to some of your readers Mr Editor to tell you of some of the things I saw and the impressions reonivfld iv (ravelling through a part of the North Island, As I am not a lover of towns I have but little to say about them, further than the less you see of some the bstter you like them ; at any rate this was my opinion with referenoe to the groat Empire City, It was not tbe city but the wind I objeoted to, So, after staying twenty-four hours, I took a tioket on the Manawatu Company's lino for Longburn where I arrived at 11 o'olook in the morning, bojng four and a halt hours from Wellington, Here I put up with a friend (an old Nelaonian), who has a beautiful property, on looking over whioh, and the surrounding diatriot, I wondored why more of tho Nelson farmers had not gone there. A remark made by my friend I thought suggestive. He said, all along the lino I travelled from Wellington whioh is moat'y settled, there are five Scandinavians to one Englishman, while plenty of strong able young men about tbe Nelson farming distriots were satisfied to take a wife, and 25 aorea of poor laud from their father, and settle down for lite and the very best land of New Zealand was boing settled by foreigners. Speaking of land I will confine myself to three itma, laud, roadß and railways, three things that are linked topether to a great extant, for land without roads or railways is not muoh good < and certainly the same applies to roads aud railways without land, 1 will take the land first. In saying we have nothing like it I should bo giving no definite idea of its quality, but perhaps, if I tell you I saw as muoh stuff taken off a piece of land that would take five times the area to get as much iv Nelson, you will understand better what I mean. You may say this is only one instance, but I enquired from sheep farmer, what would be the yearly income from a sheep farm, say 300 acres, and the amount given would require at least 1000 aores here. I do not mean to say there are no difficulties in the way of getting land there; the system of eeleotion from the Crown is anything but satisfactory, I will give an instance. A biook of, say, 10,000 aores, is open for selection. You go and select a seotiun, or two or three, as tho oa.se may be; others do the same, and the ' qhauotia are* there, may be a dozen applications for your sections, aad in one case I Was told there were' no less than 90 applications for the one section, You

have then so many ohanaes against your getting the land you have seleoted, perhaps after going to a good deal of trouble and expense in getting something suitable. There is plenty of land to be bought aeoond hand, improved, and unimproved. In going back into the bush for miles you have not tho same trouble to get roads mnde aa here, for the simple reason that Vhero is something to make it for, viz., any amount of laud, and generally good ; mile 3of roads urn rapidly made to enable a return to ba got from laud taken up. The roads on the whole are not nearly so good as ours for two reasons— There s a great deal more rain, and not nearly so much stone ; still there avo stony places, and it is not all good land. Along tho Wairarapa line I saw stonier I land than, any I have seen here ; that side of tho Island does not appear to bo as good as the other. I could not help chawing a comparison as I jonrnoyed by rail hour after hour with our little line, where at times the journoy is ended too soon, with tho long trips you can get on tho other side. You can start at daylight in the morning and keep going till dark, and although they consist of long lines of carriages they are always full. It will give you a little idea as- to the amount of stock carried by rail when I tell you there are 1500 sheep railed daily from the country to Wellington alone. Besides this there are several freezing works which are supplied with sheep chiefly by rail. I am afraid I must wander somewhat from my text to toll you that I visited one of theso freezing works, which I was told was not so large as some others. I was kindly shown all over the plant,' and was pleased to see the order and method in which everything Wci3 dono, not so much as a bone being wasted. I was informed that to keep the works going in full swing it required 5000 sheep daily. I forget the exact number of freezing wor ks in the North Island, but of this I am satisfied, that the supply cannot be kopt up— that is to keep all the works going— so that the price of sheep for the future looks well, and in course of time no doubt the price of New Zealand mutton m the home markets will be higher than at present. •