NORTH AUCKLAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19658, 9 June 1927, Page 8

NORTH AUCKLAND.

the wairoa district. TIMBER AND DAIRYING. PROGRESS OF DARGAVILLE. PASSING OF OLI? SCENES. [by our special commissioner.] When I came down from Kirikopuni to Dargaville, on the Northern Wairoa, I realised that this western portion of North* Auckland has utterly changed its character since I first knew it. Then the only approach was by water from Helonsville, and the country on either side tho great river was in forest. There were timber mills every few miles along the waterfront, and timber ships up to 2500 tons capable of carrying up to 1,000,000 ft. of sawn timber were swinging with the tide, or moored to inadequate wharves taking in kauri for various parts of the world. Some of the mills employed 100 hands and cut over 250,000 ft. of timber a week. It took over 16,000,000 ft. of logs to keep one of the larger mills going for a year, so that one can understand what life and stir there was on tho river in those days. What busy scenes up in the distant forests, where men were felling the giant trees! What cracking of whips and swearing of strange oaths where bul lock teams dragged huge logs to the waterways! What excitement and danger in the tripping of dams in flooded creeks! What adventure in steering rafts of logs down swift tideways! To-day there is only one mill at work on the river, and as I chatted with its owner, Mr. A. J. Martin, and heard his stories of old days, I regretted that no one had arisen in New Zealand to write the story of the wonderful timber days on this wonderful river. Northern Wairoa Eiver. Whenever I stand by the shores of the Northern Wairoa River, especially where . the banks show tall, bamboo-like sedges and mangroves, I expect to hear the droning cry of dingy wallahs, or smell the pungent smoke from jungle villages. This river is Eastern in character and continental in size. There is nothing like it elsewhere in New Zealand. The. wide flats of low-lying land, the strange outlines of Tangihuia and Tutamoe to the east and to the north; the fantastic peaks of Tokatoka and other old cones rising apparently from the river southward, give a quantity and strangeness to the scene which is foreign to this country. But whatever it is in appear ance, the Northern Wairoa district is today a peaceful and promising farming region. It is difficult to define what is actually meant by the Northern Wairoa district. If it included the lands within the water shed of the river it would mean the greater part of the North Auckland peninsula, but, strictly speaking, nowadays it means the Hobson County and part of the Otamatea County, totalling about. 600,000 acres. As is recognised, this part of North Auckland has yielded in the past enormous wealth in timber, kauri gum and flax, but I believe its agricultural pro duction even now is equal to the best returns it ever had from kauri gum and timber,, and I am sure its agricultural production must largely increase as years go by. Growth ol Dairying. The district possesses over 250,000 acre.-> of rich river flats, which at a low esti mate can be made to yield a return oi £lO an acre, and its grazing lands should average at least £2 an acre when properly farmed, so that its revenues will be for all time on a large scale. The growth of dairying in the district has been remarkable. The Northern Wai roa Dairy Company commenced operations in 1902 with an output valued at £4532. In 1912 it had increased to £36.632, in 1922 the value was £163, while for the present year it will not ue far short of £300.000. , ' . The factory is now reaching the limit of its capacity, which is 2000 tons, and the company, »in order to meet the rapid increase in butter-fat. production, is about to erect a pew factory further up the river. v These figures give some idea of the capacity of this part- of North Auckland for dairying, but only a faint idea, because only a portion of the good land is farmed, and only a portion of that farmed is up to its 'maximum capacity. Eiver Town of Dargaville. Dargaville is the • business centre for the Northern Wairoa district, and although it is 40 miles from the river mouth, it is in reality a sea port, for comparatively large vessels can reach it, and it carries on an extensive river and sea-borne trade with steamers. The town has altered out of ali knowledge during recent years. The plain, unpainted weatherboard buildings so typical of timber towns have given place to handsome structures in brick and concrete. It bears all the evidence of prosperity, and evidently its citizens have faith in its future, for they are planning still greater extensions and improvements. The new bridge across the river links it with the rich flats of Ruawai and Tokatoka; the new railway will give it communication with Auckland and the North, and the extension of the Kaihu railway, which has its terminus in the town, will give it command over the trade of the coastal districts'as far as Hokianga. It. is easy enough to predict a great increase in production and population for the Northern Wairoa district, because it has so much rich land within its borders and such a fine climate. There is bound to be a rapid improvement in the lands now in the rough, and a steady subdivision of the larger holdings into small farms. There is still great scope for the winning of new farming country from the tidal flats and the building up of lands at present too low, by the process of warping, for the Northern Wairoa is one of the few rivers in New Zealand whose waters are so rich in silt that they can be used to create new soil wherever stop banks can be built.