SALE OF THE PATETERE LAND TO AN ENGLISH COMPANY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIX, Issue 6330, 2 March 1882, Page 5

SALE OF THE PATETERE LAND TO AN ENGLISH COMPANY.

A VAST SETTLEMENT SCHEME FOR 220,000 ACRES.

News was received yesterday by cable that the blocks of Patetcre, acquired by a company, and of Whaiti and Kuranui, purchased from the natives by Messrs. Dihvorth and Howard, had been sold to a company in England, who were at once to enter upon a large scheme of settlement. The terms of the arrangement which has been come to are not fully known in Auckland—indeed are not yet fully settled in London—but we believe we are in possession of the principal points in the transaction. The purchase is to be at 32s 6d per acre, the amount to be payable as follows Ss 1W to be paid in cash, Ss lkl iu twelve months, Ss lid in two years, and Ss to be taken in shares in the company. Supposing the net payment to be 303, and the acreage of the blocks 220,000, this would make the purchase money £330,000.

It will be remembered that some months ago, Mr. Rich, of Otago, and Mr. Halcoinbe, the manager of the fielding settlement in the province of Wellington, went Home to England, having been empowered by the owners of the J. J atetere block to offer the land for sale in England. Mr. Rich has been iu the company from the beginning, and is thoroughly acquainted with the land, while Mr. Halcombe's position, and the success he has achieved iu the management of the Fielding settlement, are guarantees that proved experience will be brought to bear on this work in his management. Patetere and Whaiti and Kuranui are admirably suited for a large settlement. It is partly bush and partly open land, including the skirts of the great forest which runs at the back of the Tauranga and Rotorua districts, and land famous in old times for its fertility. It forms the upper portion of the Thames Valley, while for many miles the Waikato River is its western boundary. It will command easy access from all parts. The road—which is partly made from Cambridge to Rotorua, and whose construction is to be accelerated by the placing on it of 200 of the Armed Constabulary—runs throueh the block from the township of Oxford to the boundary, passing through the well-known district of Tapapa. The projected railway, which is to connect Rotorua with the Thames Valley and the Waikato and Auckland line, runs nearly lengthways through the block, a station being fixed upon near the centre of the laud. Settlers will thus at the very first have the bases of abundant means of communication. Mr. Halcombe's first care at Fielding was to give the farmers the means of access to the land which they took up, and he will have a most favourable opportunity of working in the same maimer on Patetere. There i.-"a considerable extent of land on the Tokoroa plain which is of poor quality, but no attempt will be made at the present time to occupy this, till its capabilities are tested. Ample reserves have been made by the Native Lands Court for the Maoris, but it is supposed that the amount left will be at least 220,000 acres. The Government have reserved to themselves three pieces of land iu favourable positions, and these ought now to bring good prices. Few people can form a correct"idea of the vast extent of country included within the boundaries of '220,000 acres. It would be about seven times as much as the county of Eden, which stretches from the Manukau to the Waitemata, and from the Whau portage to the Tamaki portage. The Patetere block is larger than several of the English counties. It is probably as great iu area and capabilities as the present settled part of Waikato. It is important that the colonisation of such an immense tract of land should be entered upon with energy and skill, with abundant capital, and with the best materials in the shape of settlers possessed of adequate capital, and knowledge to work their farms. There is, we are glad to say, every prospect that all these requisites will be at hand.