NORTH AUCKLAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18586, 19 December 1923, Page 13

NORTH AUCKLAND.

AREAS NEAR CITY. - : '■■ , ; . •, '-.:,. ,■ :C;r".■ ■ WsS?&# % GtTMLAND DAIRYING. " ... [BY OWL special COKHISsIOHEtt]. ; v \ _ No. iL .. ■;• r : .. '; Almost at the gates of Auckland city there are great \ areas of unoccupied and unused land. No other city in New Zealand has so \ much waste country in its vicinity. The Waitemata county, which | spreads north , and west of the northern, metropolis, -' contains nearly 200,000 acres, absolutely unimproved and unproductive. A- considerable " portion of ; it' is : owned ; or held by men who cannot or ; will not work it, for out ;of the 275,187 acres held by individuals under all forma of tenure in this county, only 120,874 , are cultivated, and much of this area is cultivated in a very primitive sort of way. . . ': Vi. If the unused land ; consisted of ; high, mountainous country, or broken hills, there would be soma excuse, but, except for the Titirangi and Waitakere • ranges which border it to the westward; the greater proportion of the country is ploughable, .and a large area of it consists of useful -clay loams, which under proper cultivation can be' made into K very profitable fruit farms, dairying, or even grain-growing farms. . v -■''':; /•" : -- '",

/ I- happen to have worked .Waits- j mata soils myself for a good number of j years, and I have seen 'in Various parts j of ; the country and on various . types of soil good pasture, heavy yielding orchards and' excellent gardens made from unpromising looking scrub Country, and lam firmly convinced that every acre in the county which can be ploughed can be made highly productive. ' On my recent trip through North Auckland I broke my journey at Henderson in order to inspect a dairy farm which I had been told compared very v favourably in yield with some of the more famous dairy farms in the Waikato „ and elsewhere. This farm-dies to* the westward of j the Kaipara railway, arid is nearer to Swanson than Henderson. We drove for some miles between beautiful and well-grown orchards and vineyards, which prove that the soil is not incapable of intensive production, and then came; into barren' looking hill land mostly covered with stunted .manuka and fern. ; The farm in question is situ-, ated among these hills and is part arid parcel of them, being nothing/ more originally than what i« often contemptuously described as poor gum country.

Rick Pasture on Poor Land. ~; The farm is 57 acres in extent, and: is now all in grass most luxuriant sward of rye, cocksfoot : and clovers. .vj If is owned arid has been brought to its present pro-, ductive state by Mr. G. Peterson j;r it carries to-day ' a herd of''3o dairy .cows, jne horse, and nearly 3000 head of poetry. ■■ Last; season,' this herd averaged' 290 lbs. of butterfat per head and promises, to yield as much, if not more, this season, which ;no one: will ':■ deny %is ; a big yield. Even , without any .aDowance 'for the poultry or for , room taken up by the homestead and buildings \ and roads, ijj mean* a cow ■■ to less than two acres, bat as <\ a matter of fact the carrying Opacit y; :: is a cow to less than one a half acres. There are nearly 3000 adult ducks and hens, besides ; nearly] as many chickens and ducklings; arid ; these have a free range on the grass and will consume ap much green feed as two or three cows. : A..;;':;-. At present values the returns for buttery fat from this ;small farm ' will total ovor £652. In the flush of the season the poultry provide ■'; up to '<■■ 900 dozen eggs 'per week, worth . at a : low estimate : £46, ani at certain periods from 150 to "200; roosters and drakes are sent to market, worth from 3s to 4s * per head. Of course,;; all the returns from the .poultry cannot be credited to the farm for, much ofi their food ha*'to be purchased, f but the > value ; of* the skim milk and the; grass which they eat ; should add nearly £100 to the returns obtained, from!, the land, or \-i,% total:; of ; about £760, per . year from 57 acres, and, in addition, of • course, there-is the free homestead and a large amount of the food ~ required for a family of eight .people,", ' The Biidwood Settlement. ,1 quote this farm as an: example of what may >be done iby -j other on < these Waitemata lands. Larger returns, than those' mentioned are obtained in some instances from- fruity growing/" but |nf* dairy ; farm costs less to establish and less to work than mi fruitf farm, and 5 there is a ; greater? arid more * permanent marketer dairy produce. : Mr. ' * Peterson did riot start on this '• holding with a large amount £of capital. >He landed in New;; Zealand fifteen years ago: with. something : over £30 in his pocket. He has not made Ms farm productive by any \ mysterious;or prolonged process: he has done it simply by good cultivation, heavy manuring and heavy top-dressing with artificial fertilisers. The example he has set is of immense importance Ito c the city and to the district: northof Auckland, " for there hundreds ofi thousands of acres lying idle to-day. which could be turned into dairy farms -more easily, and l possibly- at- a ; less; cost,> than this striking little holding among . the Swanson foothills. - , From Mr. Peterson's property we drove to the Birdwood settlement, which •• lies further to i the north and overlooks the Waitemata • harbour, between / Henderson and; Swanson. Birdwood was cut lup/jby, the . Government i a.', little while f ago into: small holdings, partly improved sby.plough-, ing and grassing, and offered to returned soldiers and others. The Birdwood scheme' was excellent in • conception, \ but :• it» /ex.;. ecution - was, and- is, faulty.; -If; the' directors of it had broken i the greater ij part of it into pasture any way near as good as Mr. Peterson's, and provided a -.decent road, there is no reason why a number of dairy farmers should not have I been successfully established:: there by now.>* But the officials responsible for ? - the scheme cot ■it into too small holdings, too small even for fruit farms, 5 and they sold these holdings at; far too high a - price, even": to returned *< soldiers/'; and * come of • - these sections are utterly unsuitable for orchards ; they' face '. to the south and west and are fully• exposed to i the prevailing cold winds, I and they are valued at from £19 to £29 -per acre for • land r which : is * only worth, ; even with '■» its '| improvements, £8 to '£& per acre. Only land with a northerly aspect should have been, opened as fruit farms; >•, and the < least the Government could have - done ; was to have providedi.a good' road; v \ If a private landowner cuts up an estate for ; sale, •heis 5 compelled 'by ' law.: form metal roads, substantial % culverts M and bridges, etc. The State, which I ought to set a* ! good I example, cut up T-, Birdwood; sold,it at an exorbitantly high price, and gave vile earth 1 ' tracks which, even to summer 'time, will not permit even moderate loadsi'to be - carried on . them, and in winter time ;., are ■': impassable: and ; 'thus does it encourage the small settler : ; and the utilisation 'of the \ waste gumlands. -Jlf : the Birdwood settlement '» to be made" a success,-some of the I present holdings should be doubled %in size. and;. reduced in ; price, and r the sections facing west arid south should be turned / into pasture or * timber belts. ,r .;;\ ( M *