Mangonui News

Northland Age, Volume 3, Issue 12, 22 December 1933, Page 1

Mangonui News

The crown block forming the suburban belt at the back of the Mangonui township has been all taken up within the past two year. In its wild and unimproved condition it was the accepted opinion that the land was worthless for pastoral purposes, but these new settlers have exploded that theory.

Mr. Weist who was fortunate in drawing the swamp valley has had a residence .erected and is now busy reclaiming the swamp, having drained the upper portion and has a very fine display of crops.

Mr. McLea has built a very fine up-to-date bungalow residence and lias ploughed' and laid down in English grasses about 25 acres, subdivided into four paddocks ; with the best of fences and gates ; with cgwshed and outbuildings. He has procured some fine pedigree red polls of the best type procurable. Mr. Legge has also a very comfortable residence and four paddocks laid down to grass with also a fair size area laid down in lucerne from which he has already cut and stacked for ensilage, quite a good first crop, and it will be ready for the second cutting in a few weeks. Tie is milking and delivering to the township. Mr. Le Compte has also built, and grassed a few acres. He has gone in for the Queensland buffalo grass as an experiment on pure sand, and it is wonderful how this grass is thriving on a barren sand nob and proves that all these sand spurs can be brought in to profitable use. Mr. Anso has just had completed the first instalment of his residence, to be added to later. He too has done a lot of spade work, and a large part of his improvements is in the form of trenching, in some cases from two to three feet in depth, and the return of vegetables of all descriptions that this area is producing under trenched conditions is wonderful. His lucerne too, is growing luxuriantly and looks as though it will take charge even in the titree, where he has experimented with 'surface sowing, the plants are thriving and making rapid growth. The whole appearance of this block is rapidly changing and it is reasonable to predict that within a few years this once despised area will be smiling farms. The Grown Lands. Department has surveyed another portion of the block into ten more sections and no doubt they will be keenly sought after, and this will extend the settled area from the township continuously out to the Taipa Inlet.

On the coastline, two vacant areas are being taken up. Mr. Caddigan has purchased four sections at the township end of Cooper’s Beach and on one of these he has had built a beautiful seaside bungalow and it is rumoured that he has some friends coming out from England and South Africa from where he recently came, who intend retiring and settling at Mangonui. Each will have an up-to-date bungalow erected on sections that have already been purchased for them. Mangonui which lias the reputation of being the Dominion’s health resort looks as though it is likely at last to come into its own.