EXPANSION OF DAIRYING

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVIII, Issue 17932, 7 November 1921, Page 9

EXPANSION OF DAIRYING

, ». PROGRESS IN KING COUNTRY. IMMENSE POSSIBILITIES. [et oun srEciAL commissioner..] Tbo progress mado by the dairying in(Juslry in tho Kiny C'onnlry i:; truly remarkable, and the possibilities for its future expansion in this part of New Zealand can scarcely bo appreciated except by those who have recently travelled over its partly-developed or under-developed lands. I" W y<fers tho value of butter and cheeso raised on the farms between Taumannuii and To Awamulu has risen from a total of about £12,000 to nearly 5400,000, and tliero is no reason why in tlio course of a few years even this largo total may not bo doubled. It must bo remembered that the King Country until rocenily was hampered by the difficulties of Maori land * ownership; by lack of good roads, and by the necessity of breaiing in raw lauds to productive uso. Much of it has had to go through tho sheep and rattle stage before it was suitable for dairying, and in all parts there has been the inevitable heavy costs of establishing factories and equipping farms with dairying herds and dairying plant. If in ten j-ears a district at the start largely in feni and scrub and bush can build up a dairying output worth £400,000, what ran it do in the next ten years, when many of the natural drawbacks have been overcome, and most of tho artificial disabilities wiped out ? At the present time much of tho dairying output, in tho King Country comes from tho districts westward of the Main Trunk line, between Ohura and Pirongia, where for a distance of about CO niilea, with tho exception of a few minor breaks, thero is a broad Wretch of splendid land, amply watered and enjoying a-favourable climate; but potential dairying land is not confined to tho western sido of tho Main Trunk, because tho eastern side, long locked up under Maori titles, contains equal, if not larger, areas awaiting development, and from Taringamotu to Wharepuhunga there stretches a tract of country which may yet rival tho west. People who havo seen the Waikato, rise from its old stagnation to one of tho greatest dairying districts in the world will bo ablo to realise what opportunities there aro in this north era part of tho King Country, for it possesses most of the natural advantages which have assisted the Waikato and a good many peculiarly its own. Cheap Dairying Lands. Coming fresh from tho hnndred-pounds-an-acre lands of Taranaki and North Wellington, I had ample scope for making comparisons with the dairy farms about. Te Kniti and Otorohanga. It is obvious to me that if men can do well by milking cows in Taranaki under conditions that now rule there they can do a great deal better, financially speaking, in the Kins Country, providing that they keep the same class of • stock. In spite of all that is claimed for the luxuriance of Taranaki pastures, their carrying capacity is evidently little greater than the same class of grasses in the King Country. Judging by what I saw and by what I heard in reply to numerous questions, I should say that in Taranaki it requires one and a-half acres of-good average land to keep a cow through tho year. Thero are plenty of farms in tho King Country which can do this easily, and many moro can be .made to do" just as well with very little trouble and expense, while the capital cost of the land is much less than in the- famous dairying province. Just over that low range of hills which lie to the westward of To Kuiti is the Oparure Valley, when I saw it last, was all under Maori ownership. It is a lovely valley, containing stretches of kahikatea swamps, bordered by easy limestone slopes, from which sush innumerable clear, cool springs. 1 suppose there are from 7000 to 8000 acres of undeveloped dairying land in this valley, which is quite near to the Main Trunk line, and yet values thero are comparatively low. I saw a fine little farm of 137 acres which had been sold for £25 an acre, nearly all flat, and most of it rich, black limestone soil. A friend//of mine, associated with two or three others, secured a block of 1400 acres in this valley about seven years ago, and a good deal of development work has been done. There are now about 600 acres under grass, and 100 acres under the plough; 450 acres consists of drained swamp, and I should think this portion of the estate compares well with any class of land in the Dominion. At tho present time tho improved land is carrying 300 head of cattle/ 800 breeding ewes, and about a dozen horses. Beyond Oparure, stretching westward and northwards, are other valleys and flats divided by low, broad-slopea limestone ranges, making as charming and promising a class of country as ODe could wish to see. This class ofi land runs at the back of Hangatiki and Otorohanga, broadening out northward inWj that great spread of rolling downs which lies between the Main Trunk line and Pirongia,' ' East of tho Main Trunk. On various occasions I havo had opportunity to see something of that part of the King Country which lies eastward of the Main' Trunk lino between the Poniu and the Waimarino Plains, and last summer I had a bird's-eyo view of it from the summit of Mount Whaka- ? mini. It is one of tho greatest of Auckland's easily accessible undeveloped districts. In some parts idlo areas lie within sight of the railway, and certainly within from'ls to 20 miles from tho railway arc some hundreds of thousands of acres of good land, which only require • human enterpriso and capital to mako productive. Tho formation of roads, the encouragement of tho Maoris to _ mako their lands available, and tho opening up of the Crown lands aro tho chief requirements, and from a national point of view th'is should be moro economical and profitable'than the settlement of tho distant Drcwera. The land is moderately high to tho west and north of Lake Taupo but huge areas are ploughablc, and the highest hills rarely more than 2000ft-. above sea love], arc crowned with valuable timber. Further north the land spreads out in long undulations ana becomes most attractive farming country. During my recent visit I Travelled for some distanco north of To Kuiti, and carao back via Otorohanga, and saw many thousands of acres of country *hich I last saw under remarkably high tern, being turned into first-class dairy farms. Three or four years ago thero *&s no dairy factory at Otorohanga, and . when one was built with a capacity for 3000 cows, it was thought to bo far jhear7 of requirements. Tbo increase has been so rapid that the factory will soon M taxed to its uttermost. Last year there was aSO per cent, increase, and this year I believe it will be still greater, and' the probability is that in a little wh'lfl provision will have to bo made for doubling its capacity. Ido n ot think lam far wrong in saying that the land in this district, when properly ■armed can, aero for acre, produce as much butter-fat as tho Hawera. district, which it m,uch resembles, but, where land is threo or four times as dear. There are immense areas on both sides of the Railway quite capable of carrying a cow jo an acre* and a half. But the deep Jnablo loamy toil is admirably adapted W the growth of lucerne, the plant powing well' without the assistance of inoculated soil, and with a small area °f lucerno for supplementary feed in the 6 ummei / heat, and a moderate break of J°°t crops, I am sure much of the counWJ would carry a cow to tho acre. Otorohanga will, I believe, soon rival •jlataraata and other famous Waikato dairying centres, and tho area of potcnI Jial dauying country is so large, that ~!^ 0 is room for several large dairying ceattej.