SETTLEMENT PROBLEMS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18942, 13 February 1925, Page 11

SETTLEMENT PROBLEMS

AUCKLAND SWAMP AREAS. HAURAK! AND RANG ITAI Kl. THE SUBSIDENCE TROUBLE. QUESTION OF STATE ADVANCES. fur T7IXJSGHAPII.' —OWN CORRESPONDENT. J WELLINGTON. Thursday. Interviewed on his return from an inspection of tho South Auckland district tho Hon. A. D. McLeod, Minister for Lands, stated that his tour had been bo : .h interesting and instructive. "The various places visited," said Mr. McLeod, "involved travel by motor-car over a total distance of over 1300 miles, which was accomplished in less than three toeeks and often over roads which to say the least were atrocious. A variotv of difficulties obtain over the wide area traversed, among the chief of which are land drainage, deterioration into fern and second growth, inability to finance, and the dealing with lands—both private and State—still undeveloped. " Taking drainage first, there are in both the large areas comprising the Hauraki and the Baugitaiki Plains problems which are not easy of immediate solution. As in all ventures of a more or less problematic nature the State and its employees come in for a considerable amount, of criticism, much of it nudeserved, The great bulk of tho drainage operations of the past which have turned out to be successful have been, generally speaking, carried out where the fall for' drainage purposes gavo greater margins than obtains in either of the swamps mentioned. A cam, the component matter which goes toward tho building up of peat is now proved to vary enormously, according to the nature of the surrounding hill lands whence the swamps sre fed. The percolation of water from limestone or papa hills apparently leaves an amount of sediment throughout peat areas varying from 90 per cent, to 60 per cent., according to tho distance from hills or river banks, and when drained the subsidence which follows is equal approximately to the wasto matter contuiucd in the peat. ''Thus it is common in such swamps to find that land showing perhaps 15ft. of peat will find a solid and permanent grassable surface after subsiding, _ say, 10ft. Tn the Hauraki and Rangitaiki areas, however,, over a. greater area than was anticipated, either by practical farmers or skilled engineers, tho subsidence is proving to be up to 90 per cent, and 95 per cent, of the original depth of pent. Meeting tho Losses. '"lt is now known that the unstable nature of the detritus, etc., coming from pi.mice hills leaves little or nothing in the peat, areas as a body for soil formation. The point is nmv raised that tins rimnld have been known to engineers, but laboratory tests (such as are now being taken) over almost every hundred - anis or so are the only means of arriving at a correct estim.-ic of the probable nbsidence in swamp lands. Settlers on the Rangitaiki area, in particular having a wide knowledge of swamp lands, purchased both freehold and native lauds at. extremely high prices, and to-day, as the result of flood overflows, somo of the sections are nothing but ponding areas for months at a time. It is feared that, with further subsidence, the ponding may become permanent, unless pumping is resorted to; but. generally speaking, that i system of reclamation is regarded as an unpayable proposition. Of course, there is a considerable area of good land within the Rangitaiki Plains which cats be ..kept permanently dry, but it is certain that the area cannot carry tho load of interest and maintenance rates together wih interest charges upon bona fide improvement loans borrowed by tho settlers. I say bona fide for the reason that large mortgages still exist in the shape of unpaid balances of purchase monevs, and these, in my opinion, as far as values are concerned, may bo written off as worthless. How the State and private losses are to be met and the position adjusted is a matter for immediate investigation and legislation, and T propose to bring i tho question before, the Cabinet at st, early a date as possible. Back to Scrub and Fern. " Then thero is the question of dealing with those lands which have deteriorated through going back into a second growth of fern, scrub, etc., but as this is being investigated by a commission of experts I will not refer to the difficulty here except to say that the need for something being done without delay is obvious, and that it is receiving tho Government's earnest attention. " Next in order comes tho problem of areas more or less condemned as being either cattle or sheep sick. These areas arc almost impossible of exa' t location oven by the residents of affected localities. Many settlers are loud in their complaints against the State Advances Office in respect of lending, and although it may be said that the office in question is inclined to .place a ban on wide areas, only portions of which are definitely proved to be ' sick,' I cannot disagree with the dcoartment's statement that the office was instituted, and is still being carried on. not as a source from which to draw finance for more or less doubtful experiments, but i for bonafide lending at cheap rates upon J sound securities. In other words, experimenting in doubtful securities k? not the true function of the State, Advances Department or even of an agricultural bank, which a few so fondly cherish as a, possible ! avenue of escape from unenviable circurn- i stances. " How to help a settler with finance on ; a security of which, he himself is doubtful is a problem not easy of solution. Still, I admit that things cannot long remain as at present in the badly-affected areas, and sotne effort will require to be made to find j experimental finance if settlers are to re- j main on their holdings. The Undeveloped Areas, " Lastly, there is the question of the J settlement of wide areas of entirely undeveloped fern lands in tho pumice area. That development is possible can hardly be gainsaid in face of the work done in isolated localities by such men as Mr. Earie Vaile and others. The keynote of success, however, appears to lie in the use of cheap fertilisers, which in most t localities are impossible to obtain under present road and rail facilities. Another 1 undoubted drawback to successful settlement is the large area freeholded from the natives by syndicates and individuals, . upon which little or no development has • taken place, and for which priecs rang- ■ ing from 50s to £5 per acre are being . asked. I feel sure that no development . can teke_ place at such prices under ores- ' enC conditions, and it is certainly not the policy of the Government to give extended road and rail facilities to men holding large areas for purely speculative purposes. My own opinion of the lands m question is that 5s and not £5 per acre is nearer the true value under present conditions. If development is to take place at all upon tho plonghable lands referred to, I feel sure it can only be ' accomplished in areas not exceeding 500 acres or less, and it is my intention to further investigate _ the holding of large tracts of wholly-unimproved lands. The . largg area still held by natives is eiso ■ a problem, where the growth of noxious weeds in somo localities is, to say the least, alarming. "By the foregoing it might be assumed , that I hold a very poor opinion of the ' South Auckland lands in general, but that is not the case. With malice aforethought ! I selected a tour which would take roc through as many as possible of the 'danger zones of a large land district, and in going from one point to another I saw much that would please the heart of any farmer or any Minister, in the shape of smiling homesteads, splendid pastures, and 1 «!eek-skinned dairy cattle of high stand- j ar «. Auckland's output of butter-fat in ">"*rious forms gives ample proof of its great productivity." ;