NORTH AUCKLAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20152, 12 January 1929, Page 8

NORTH AUCKLAND.

GROWTH OF DAKGAVILLE. WAIROA TRADING CENTRE. KAURI GUM AND DAIRYING. AREAS FOR SHEEPFARMING. [by our special commissioner.] No. XIV. The chief trading centre of the Northern Wairoa is Dargaville, the largest town on the western side of North Auckland. It spreads along the low banks of the river from Kaihu creek to tho older settlement of Mangawhare, which is now embraced within its boundaries, and although only 20 years old as ft borough is ,quite well equipped with modern conveniences and apparently has a prosperous future. It is a river port and a sea port. Although situated over 40 miles up the Wairoa, vessels of 2500 tons capacity come up to its wharves. Dargaville has been slow in evolving. The existence of the navigable river though a decided advantage to any town •was against it in the earlier days because population, and to some extent trade, spread wherever timber mills were erected, and there was no real concentration of population, while industries wore scattered. Moreover until a few years ago Dargaville was practically without any road connection with other parts of New Zealand, being cut off by the wide, bridgeless river and by the Kaipara Harbour. Even now it is not linked up with the railway system of the North, though that will be rectified when the line is completed that will connect the Kaihu section of railway with the North Auckland Main Trunk. Link Across River. It is' really only since the Northern Wairoa settled down as a farming district that Dargaville has been sure of its foundations, because it is only since then that it gave up its dependence npon the river and began to develop its roads. Today a magnificent bridge gives it connection with the rich lands on its eastern banks and with the railway at Paparoa, while well made highways give it command of the western districts as far north as Hokianga, and inland up the great valley for some distance toward Mangakahia. Its connection with the Main Trunk line at Kirikopuni and the extension of the Kaihu line should increase its trading area, but even without these the full development of the large areas of rich land adjacent to it must increase its population and importance. In. speaking of the gum industry of the North in the past sense I may have given the impression that all the deposits of this valuable material had been worked out. This would be a mistake. Even under the old methods men are still engaged with spade and spear, but scientists have been at work recently seeking a way to utilise the immense quantities of this resin found in the remains of the kauri forests that lie buried in the extensive swamps, and which in a fine state of division is mixed with peat and Eoil. Extraction of Kauri Gum. Those acquainted with kauri gum declare that more of it exists in this form than was ever secured by the diggers, but the trouble hitherto has been to extract it on a commercial scale. It appears, however, as if this difficulty had been overcome. At Babylon, a few miles np the / Kaihu valley from Dargaville, large works have been erected for the treatment of kauri timber which is heavily impregnated with gum. Tens of thousands of acres in this district alone are so thickly studded with this timber that cultivation has been impossible. The timber lies on the surfaces in masses; it is mixed with the soil many feet in idepth. To-day settlers have been given a new impetus to get rid of this timber. They are being paid 8s a load for the gummy material, and this has two good effects. It induces them to clear their lands and it gives them ready cash for the work. The gummy timber is taken to the factory, macerated by powerful machinery and the broken material subjected to a soaking in alcohol, which dissolves the gum into liquid form. This liquid is filtered from the timber residue; the alcohol is separated from it by evaporation and used over and over again and the gum, absolutely free from foreign matter, is poured into containers, where it hardens as it cools. Finding Profitable Market. This is the mere outline of the process employed. That it is successful is proved by the large quantity of gum already extracted. The chief thing now is to find a profitable market for the material obtained. High-class gums are always in demand and this gum, besides serving all the old purposes for which gum has been used, is capable of producing a plastic, adhesive and non-acidic, so there should not be any great difficulty marketing it'. Whether a modification of this process, or some similar process, can be applied to extract the gum from the peaty soils has yet to be proved, but it should rot be impossible. Anyhow, there are millions of tons of gummy timber in North Auckland and to utilise it would be a boon to the farmer as well as to the manufacturer. Dairying, as I have already stated, is the greatest industry in the Northern Wairoa to-day and will be still greater, for there are over 200,000 acres of dairying land in the valleys of this river, much of which is as rich as the best in New Zealand. But sheep farming is expanding steadily and with railway communication fat lamb-raising will become an important. feature. Sheep and Cattle Areas. Along the west coast from the Kaipara Heads to Hokianga there is a fairly wide strip of/coastal land, much of which is ploughable and nearly all of which can be turned into sheep pasture. It is still largely unimproved and much of it is unoccupied, but under cultivation and with the moderate use of manures it grows paspalum and other grasses remarkably .well and is particularly healthy country. Cattle-raising is another branch of farming which is expanding in the Northern Wairoa. Nature has made it a good beef country, but until recently it was a difficult and expensive matter to get fat beasts to the market. With the railway already within easy driving distance this as comparatively simple. That farming has mado considerable strides in the Northern Wairoa is shown by the fact that in 1903 there were only about 50.000 acres under cultivation, while to-day there are over 150,000 acres in the Hobson County alone, and more than this within the boundaries of the district. ■ But there are still large areas lying idle and farmers with a moderate amount of capital might, do much worse than seek a holding in this part of New Zealand. Land values have not been " boosted" as high as in many other parts and there are some fine soils, while like other parts of North Auckland it enjoys a climate that is exceptionally beneficial for nearly every branch of farming.