OUR DAIRYING INDUSTRY

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 14924, 23 February 1912, Page 4

OUR DAIRYING INDUSTRY

THE THAMES VALLEY. DRAINING BIG SWAMPS. PROMISING DISTRICTS. No. VI. THY on; special COMMISSIONER ] Thk Thames Valley has already won a name for itself among New Zealand dairying districts, and turns out annually a considerable amount of butter. I venture to say, however, that dairying is really only just commencing in this very promising part of the Dominion, and that in a few years there will be such a, development there in dairying and in other classes of farming as will astonish most, people. 'Ihe Thames Valley is really a misnomer, for, as is the case with the Waikato, there is no true valley., but anyhow the name is now pretty generally used to describe all the lands in the watershed of the Thames or YVaihou River. As a matter of fact it includes now the lands in the watershed of the Piako River as well. Used in its fullest sense the Thames Valley extends from the Htiuraki Gulf to the vicinity of Taupo, and-- is between 70 milts and 80 miles long. Near the gulf it takes the form of a level, great plain, from 14 miles to 20 miles wide, and averaging this width for nearly- -10 miles. New Pasture Land. This is the part which is bound to see a big expansion in dairying quite .-oon, tor it includes the famous old Piako Swamp, which is now being drained bv the Government, tinder the name of the Hauraki Plains. There are over 90,0u0 acres m the area, which the Government is handling, and only a third of it has been as yet opened tor settlement. The balance will be made available gradually, as. the drainage works proceed, and will make some of the richest pasturage in the North Island. The 00,000-odd acres being brought under settlement by the Government is only a portion oi the Lower Thames \ alley, for the Hauraki Plains block only extends from the Hauraki Gulf to some r.iles short of Te Arolia, and is altogether to the westward of the Thames River, Ihere are large areas of privately owned lands and Maori country on each side of the river, which drainage operations will turn into the best class of dairying country, and further south, about Te Aroha, and many miles beyond Te Aroha there are very large areas of good swamp land, which are now being drained, or are about to be drained. It is doubtful if even onethird of the flat land or low land in the Thames Valley is at the present time being made use of, and even this third is still far below its full productive standard. But there are the hill lands on each side of the so-called valley. On the eastern side are the Goldfield Ranges, wonderfully picturesque, and for half a century given over to the romantic but elusive form of mining. , From Mining to Dairying. In the various valleys running back into these ranges where until recently there was no thought of permanent settlement, and where the prospector or the miner vainly sought for hidden riches the prosaic cow is finding congenial quarters, and if given fair opportunity will undoubtedly yield greater dividends than any of the mines on the eastern slopes between the Golden Mile and Waiorongomai. I have travelled over these Goldfield Ranges pretty well from Cape Colville to le Puke, and I know of an absolute surety that a very large proportion of this interesting country will make fine pasture, and it would be* a very good thing for the nation if the Government would release nearly all 'of it from the mining restrictions, and give the settler an opportunity of seeing what he can do with it. The miner has had practically entire control over it for a, long time, and has spent more money on it than ever he got out of it ; but I am getting' out of the Thames Valley. The Head Waters of the Thames. Beyond Te Aroha it widens out into open rolling country, interspersed with great swamps, running westward as far as Morrinsville, southward it goes on past Matamata, Okoroiri, Tirau. into the bracing uplands about Lichfield, and past Lichfield on to the great pumice plateau, which surrounds Taupo. It is rather curious that some of the tributaries of the Thames River flow almost side by side with tributaries of the Waikato, and one can easily walk without climbing any marked dividing ridge from one set of waters to another. It is, however, still more curious that men are to he found who still think those great stretches of rhyolitic and pumacious country between, say, Putaruru and the Tokoroa Plains, are useless for farming and hopeless for dairy ing. As a matter of fact dairying is already being carried on in the Thames Valley as far south as Lichfield, and when dairy-fanning reaches its legitimate position in Auckland, and depends on crops and cropping instead of so entirely upon grass, it is probable that this class of country will produce quite as much butterfat as the rich Hats in the lower parts of the valley. It will, of course, require more labour' and capital and skill to produce, but it will come, and right pleasant dairying country it will make, too, that land of rolling downs and grey crags. Morrinsville and Maori Lands. I stated that only about one-third of the laud in the lower part of the Thames Valley, or between the Hauraki Gulf and Te Arolia. was as yet even primitively worked ; I question whether there is even as large a proportion as this in the upper portion of the watershed. Even in the middle portion, which includes Morrinsville, Waihou. and Waitoa, there are great stretches of idle country. Drainage works are being extended, and grass and cows are being pushed out into the swamps year by year, but there are many thousands of acres in the old Waitoa Estate still untouched, and in Hungahtinga other thousands, and Maori country as well. I visited Morrinsville grown almost out of recognition since I Inst sawit a few years aeo. It litis increased its population sixfold since the 1906 census, and is carrying out quite an ambitious scheme of public works, and yet idle Maori land comes right up to its municipal boundaries, and continues in an almost unbroken line eastward for about 14 miles. There are, I believe, over 30.000 acres belonging to the natives- which can only be made productive by pakeha labour and pakeha capital, and, of course, the pakeha must pay the dusky owners of the soil heavy rents for the privilege oi improving this land, and hand it back to them at the end of the lease with all it" improvements. No wonder the citizens of Morrinsville turn atrainst the Government, which will neither encourage the Maoris to work their land nor permit the pakeha to use it in anything like equitable term". Butter Factories in the Thames Valley. The main centres of dairying in the Thames Valley are at Te Aroha and Paeroa. There are large and well-equinnerl factories at both these places, and 'both places show record outputs this season. In both districts new land is constantly heinj; brought into use. and Paeroa in particular is rapidly opening up new and promising districts. Paeroa is now deal-. ing with a considerable amount of butterfat from the Hauraki Plains, and the quantity must increase very largely in the near future, as fresh blocks of drained swamp are opened to settlement and as the lands recently settled are turned into pasture. The Paeroa , factory is drawing butter-fat from beyond Wnikino. and from places like Komata and Oniahu. Last year the Paeroa factory manufactured 585 tons -of butter, and this year it will probably make 700 tons. As the new blocks recently opened about Tama and others like Opane come into production Paeroa's butter trade must of necessity grow, and it seems almost certain that it will become one of the great dairying places of the Dominion.